Korda, Thompson not 'ruthless,' but agree LPGA's slow play a big issue

Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson might not feel as "ruthless" as Charley Hull when it comes to suggestions for fixing the LPGA Tour's issue with slow play, but the American stars agree something has to be done.

Korda and Hull were battling for the lead at The Annika during the third round last Saturday that took five hours and 38 minutes to complete. Hull held the 54-hole lead, but Korda caught and passed her English rival on Sunday, dropping her final putt as darkness descended following another five-hour round.

Hull called the situation "ridiculous," said she fell sorry for the fans who have to endure the long rounds and offered a solution sure to curb the growing issue.

"I'm quite ruthless, but I said, 'Listen, if you get three bad timings, every time it's a two-shot penalty," she said. "If you have three of them you lose your tour card instantly. I'm sure that would hurry a lot of people up and they won't want to lose their tour card. That would kill the slow play, but they would never do that."

Asked about Hull's solution on Tuesday ahead of the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship this week, Korda called it "funny," while agreeing more measures need to be taken. The LPGA has doled out penalties and fines, but that hasn't stopped the trend of five-hour rounds becoming the standard.

"It's a pretty big issue," said Korda, the world's top-ranked player. "I think that it really, really needs to change.

"Players just need to be penalized. Rules officials need to watch from the first group. Once they get two minutes behind, one minute behind, it just slows everything down."

Thompson will be playing her final event as a full-time LPGA Tour member this week. The Florida resident echoed concerns for fans coming out in the heat to