Lexi Thompson had just returned from the third round of the 2024 The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican when she famously acknowledged that the slow pace of play at the LPGA was becoming a problem. The former child prodigy remarked, “I don’t really know why it’s gotten worse, but it has unfortunately.” So, when Lexi Thompson teed off at Erin Hills about seven months later for the U.S. Women’s Open, it was quite shocking to see her in the spotlight regarding the issue. Thompson has finally decided to address it, but not before receiving some disapproving looks from Charley Hull.
Lexi Thompson teamed up with Nelly Korda and Charley Hull during the opening round of the U.S. Women’s Open. From the very first hole, Hull seemed to lose patience with Thompson. After a tense round, neither Hull nor Thompson finished in the top 30. This frustration became evident in a clip posted on social media, which showed Hull waiting as Thompson took her time over a putt, prompting Hull to let out a noticeable sigh. As the clip made rounds on the internet, more and more people dragged Thompson, leading to her responding the way she has now.
Talking about the week, including refuting any “retirement” rumors, Thompson said in a latest Instagram update: “Wasn’t the week I was hoping for . I just want to say a few things, first big thank you to the @usga , the volunteers, and fans this week for making the week possible ! The @uswomensopen has always held a special place in my heart ever since I was 12, and it always will. In reality my game wasn’t ready for the week even though I put a lot of hard work into it, but that wasn’t going to stop me from fighting through the week. I also want to add on this , because pace of place was a huge talk this week.
Want people to realize our group basically waited on every single hole on the group in front , we were never out of position/warned/ or on clock. I’ll be the first one to say I’m not as fast as my playing partners the two days, but I’m also the last person that wants to be out there for six hours. So before you make assumptions, make sure you get all the facts right before basing it on pictures and little clips. That’s all! .”
Undoubtedly, slow play might have been a big issue at the U.S. Women’s Open, but was it entirely Lexi Thompson’s fault? When the clips circulated on the internet, Hull was also dealing with her own issues of missed fairways, missed putts, and wrong reads, among others. The same was with Korda. Aside from their performance, another glaring fact works in Thompson’s favor: Charley Hull and Nelly Korda are some of the fastest players in the LPGA circuit. So, no matter who you team up with, the third player is bound to look like a problem. So, did the first round impact Lexi Thompson? Yes. In the end, they wrapped up their round in just under five and a half hours.
The issue may not have played a part in the Thompson situation, but it did at Erin Hills in other cases. Golf journalist Beth Ann Nichols expressed her frustration on Twitter, stating, “Coverage was supposed to conclude at 5 PM!” In a follow-up tweet, she shared alarming details: “It took the last group over three hours to play the front nine,” indicating a pace that could lead to six-hour rounds. To deal with the issues, the LPGA circuit introduced several policy changes in March.
In March 2025, the LPGA introduced new rules regarding the pace of play. Players who exceed their time by 1-5 seconds will receive fines, while those who go 6-15 seconds over will face one-stroke penalties. Anyone exceeding 16 seconds will incur a two-stroke penalty. However, officials enforce these rules inconsistently across different tournament formats, as major championships follow separate USGA guidelines. Even though the steps were taken by both the USGA and the LPGA, the problems do not seem to have been eradicated, as seen in a U.S. Open qualifier case.
The LPGA fined nine slow players during the U.S. Open qualifier
Nine players faced one-stroke penalties for slow play during the U.S. Women’s Open qualifier at Grey Oaks Country Club in Naples, Florida. Aline Krauter was among them and was visibly upset by the ruling, fearing it would jeopardize her chance to qualify for the major. Although she shot a one-under 71 in her first round, the penalty placed her in a playoff for the final spot after her group missed a checkpoint by a few minutes.
Krauter maintained that she played “ready golf” and urged her partners to speed up, saying, “I explained to him that my role on the golf course is to make birdies, to play fast and to have good etiquette and nothing else. It is not my job to speed anyone up.” However, officials concluded that her group was 20 minutes over the allotted time, resulting in the penalties. This ruling stemmed from the Florida State Golf Association’s Pace of Play Policy, instead of the USGA, which employs a checkpoint system to ensure players finish each hole within a designated time.
Krauter voiced her frustration with the appeal process, recalling, “The guy from scoring looked at me and said, ‘Well, yes, this is the appeal, but it’s over now,’ and starts laughing.” Will the USGA empoy the same at the U.S. Women’s Open now that it’s almost ending?
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