"I would be very very annoyed"- Nelly Korda sympathizes with fans over slow play
Nelly Korda is at Tiburon Golf Club in Florida, where the CME Group Tour Championship will be played from Thursday, 21 November. Addressing fans' woes, the World No. 1 spoke out against slow play.
During her pre-event press conference, Korda claimed that slow play "really drags the game down." She was adamant that it was something that "really, really needs to change."
As per the video uploaded by NUCLR Golf on X, Korda said:
"I personally think it's a pretty big issue. I think it's not good for the fans that come out and watch us. If it was me personally, I would be very, very annoyed watching for five hours, over five hours, five hours and 40 minutes, close to six. I just think it really drags the game down. I think that it really, really needs to change."
Nelly Korda did not limit herself to describing the phenomenon but called for penalties to be imposed on players who unnecessarily slow the pace of play. She also criticized the fact that some players do not prepare their shots sufficiently in advance:
"Players just need to be penalized...To be standing over a putt for two to three minutes, that's ridiculous. When a group in front of me is on the green and I'm in the fairway, I'm already getting ready. I'm getting my numbers ready, talking about the shot, so by the time it's my turn, I already have my game plan.
"People start their process a little too late and they stand over it too long. Again, I think we need more people on the ground to monitor pace of play. I don't think we have enough people to monitor it."
After sharing her views on slow play and the problem it poses for the LPGA Tour, Korda talked about the tour's main needs to continue its development. She reiterated that slow play is the main problem on the tour, as it is important to have more hours on television, especially prime time.
Nelly Korda supports Charley Hull's views on slow play
The issue of pace of play has been a topic of conversation on the LPGA Tour for a long time. Charley Hull revived this discussion after the ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge last week.
At the time, Hull said that she thought the solution should be to take away the tour card from players with three slow play calls.
Hull also said that she was sure her 'solution' would never be implemented. Nonetheless, Nelly Korda and other top stars shared the video on Instagram Stories, according to Golf.com's Claire Rogers.