Carolta Zimdar (Spain) was disqualified on the second day of the U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour’s major Amundi Evian Championship ($6.5 million purse) after refusing to accept a slow play ruling against her.
The 33-year-old finished her second round at the Evian Resort (par-71, 6527 yards) in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Monday (Sept. 29) with a 1-over-par 72. However, she left the field without signing her scorecard, saying she could not accept a two-stroke penalty on the ninth hole.
“The group of 14 received their first warning on the seventh hole,” an LPGA spokesperson said, “and were unable to make up the time on the seventh hole, so they were counted from the eighth hole onward.” “Her shot time on the ninth hole was subject to a two-stroke penalty under the LPGA Tour’s Pace of Play Policy.”
Before submitting her scorecard, she protested to the rules officials, but her protest was unsuccessful. Eventually, she accepted the disqualification after insisting that she would not add the two-stroke penalty to her scorecard. Rule 3.3b(3) states that a player is disqualified if the submitted score is lower than the actual score.
Timea competed alongside Anna Norquist (SWE) and Celine Herbin (FRA). Playing in strong winds of 25-32 kilometers per hour, the players had a tough task ahead of them, so their average stroke average of 71.75 the day before dropped to 74.7.
After two days of play, four-over-par was the cut line, so a two-stroke penalty would have put Timea at six-over-par and out of contention. However, it is unusual for a player to reject the ruling of a tournament committee. Her companion Norquist shot 1-under par to finish in a tie for 22nd place (even par), while Herbin lost three strokes and missed the cut by one shot at 5-over par. 메이저사이트
This is not the first slow-play penalty for Timea. In 2021, she thought she had won the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play against Sarah Schmelzel with a birdie on the final hole, only to lose due to a slow-play penalty.
She recently won the Ladies European Tour (LET) Aramco Team Series event at Trump International in Florida. On the LPGA Tour, she has two career wins, at the 2016 KEB Hana Bank Championship in South Korea and the Lorenaochoa Invitational that year.
According to a rule revision in 2019, players are encouraged to make strokes within 40 seconds of unimpeded play. Previously, it was 50 seconds for the owner and 45 seconds for the next player. In Rule 5.6a, the penalty for the first offense is one stroke, the penalty for the second offense is an additional stroke, and the penalty for the third offense is disqualification.
In Golf Rule 5.6b, a player’s speed of play is likely to affect the playing time of his group and the groups behind him, as well as the other players in the round. Consider the time to prepare and execute each stroke, the time to travel to another location, and encourage the most prepared player to play first, regardless of distance.
The third round of this major series will be broadcast live on JTBC Golf from 3:15 p.m. on Sept. 29. In addition to commentator Han Hee-won, professional Choi Na-yeon will serve as a guest commentator.