LPGA Tour Introduce Tough New Slow Play Rules For 2027

A general LPGA Tour official event sign on a blue background — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Despite plenty of penalties being handed out for slow play, the LPGA Tour was actually getting slower this year according to its data - so the tour has introduced even tougher sanctions to speed things up in 2027.

Timing data for the year showed penalties increased, the number of timed holes went up 12 percent and although overall the pace of play flatlined, the average time of twosomes in tournament play actually increased by seven minutes.

"The data told us we were heading in the wrong direction," LPGA player president Vicki Goetz-Ackerman said in a memo to players on Tuesday at The Annika in Florida.

The Pace of Play Committee unveiled tougher new sanctions for 2027 including the removal of warnings, stricter time limits and increased fines - all of which were welcomed by World No.1 Nelly Korda and others including Charley Hull.

"I’m a big fan," Korda said. "Anything to get the game a little faster for us players, for fans, for everyone, I think they’re doing a really good job.

"I mean, at the end of the day, no one wants to be out here for five-plus hours. No player wants to. Nobody wants to watch it. I think we’re just moving in the right direction."

Hull, one of the quickest players on Tour, added: "I think it's good. Anything that is going to be harsh I think is good.

"I'm happy about that. Hopefully we can play in four hours now. It literally took me an hour and 40 to play in the Pro-Am today. Like that's great. I wish we did that on Tour."

Pace of play is a huge topic in pro golf, and especially on the LPGA Tour, so after seeing the stats the tour has decided to go even further to avoid things getting out of hand.

In 2027, there's no warnings before players are fined for taking too long over their shots, so anyone taking up to five seconds longer now gets a $2,000 for a first offence, $4,000 for the second and $8,000 on a third.

Taking between 6-15 seconds too long sees players handed a one-shot penalty and a fine, while 16+ seconds over will result in two shots gone and a fine.

There's a crackdown on repeat offenders too with anyone getting timed on 35 holes (down from 40) during the season given a hefty $35,000 fine - and additional fines of $1,000 a hole until 40 and $2,000 thereafter.

And to underpin all of this, the excessive shot time limit has been cut by 10 seconds down to a flat one minute.

"Pace of play matters to our players, our fans and our partners, and we committed to reviewing our policy every year to make sure it’s working," an LPGA spokesperson told Golf.com.

"After a close look at this season’s data and conversations with our players, we’re strengthening the policy for 2027 with tighter time limits and stronger, earlier consequences for players who exceed them.

"Going forward, we’ll keep measuring, keep listening to our players and keep adjusting as we work to further improve pace of play."

The LPGA will hope that players soon get the message to quicken up and avoid slow play becoming a serious issue again.

LPGA Pace of play rules 2027

Excessive shot time limit reduced from 70 to 60 seconds
No warnings issued before being fined
Players taking 1-5 seconds over fined $2,000 for 1st offence, $4,000 2nd offence, $8,000 3rd offence
Players taking 6-15 seconds over fined AND issued one-shot penalty
Players taking 16+ seconds over fined AND issued two-shot penalty
Played timed for total of 35 holes over a season fined $35,000
Players timed for 36-40 holes fined extra $1,000 per hole, and for 41-45 holes fined extra $2,000 and so on.

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.