Friday morning saw history made at the 2026 Solheim Cup, but the day turned sour by the afternoon, with many voicing complaints about one particular player’s pace of play. The pairing of Carlota Ciganda and rookie Julia Lopez Ramirez took on World No. 1 Nelly Korda and Lauren Coughlin in a fourball match. It was the marquee feature of the afternoon. She sank a clutch 12–15-foot putt on 18 to halve the match and keep the overall score tied at 4–4. But instead of rejoicing, fans targeted her for her brutal pace of play.

Reportedly, it took nearly three hours to complete just nine holes because of Ciganda’s significant delays. But this isn’t the first time she has faced criticism for a slow pace of play. During the 2024 Solheim Cup, the officials placed her group on the clock, but they still took five and a half hours to complete the round. This prompted backlash from fans against officials for not acting sooner. Viral footage from the LET Spanish Open in December 2024 shows her taking 1 minute and 24 seconds for an approach shot.

While being put on the clock is one thing, Ciganda has also faced harsher actions for her slow-play habit. At the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship, she received a two-stroke penalty for exceeding her allowed time after her group was on the clock. She appealed the decision, but the officials denied it. However, she took a bold step by not adding the penalty to her scorecard, which led to her disqualification from the event under Rule 3.3b(3).

Earlier, in 2021, this same issue cost her an LPGA title. Playing at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play event, she hit a birdie on the last hole and thought she had won. However, officials notified her of a bad time after the round. This resulted in a penalty, which cost her the title.

The scrutiny intensified because she was playing against Nelly Korda, a vocal opponent of slow play. She called for stricter actions and penalties on multiple occasions.

“The Rules of Golf are the Rules of Golf and they should be enforced,” she said at the 2023 AIG Women’s Open. “If I was a spectator and I was out here for 5½ hours to 6 hours, you know, it’s tough to watch.”

She said fans want to watch a sport that’s continuously moving, not continuously stalling. Therefore, officials need to act fast and enforce the rules of golf.

Fans call for Carlota Ciganda on the clock

One viewer summed up the frustration: “Obviously pace of play does not matter for Ciganda. Why is she not on the clock?” While highlighting the issue, the comment also puts officials under scrutiny. It reflects a broader perception that officials were not enforcing pace rules quickly enough.

Other viewers were even more critical. “Ciganda is incredibly slow. Really brutal watch,” one fan wrote, while another said, “Ciganda took forever to hit just to launch it left.” A third fan said, “The Ciganda/Lopez Rodriguez pairing is a pace of play nightmare.”

These reactions echo a wider concern about lengthy rounds in professional golf. Nelly Korda has repeatedly acknowledged the same thing in her comments. She is well aware of how brutal it can be to watch a five- to six-hour-long round, regardless of whether you are on the course or watching from the comfort of your home. She even criticized golfers who take several minutes over a putt.

The user took a jab at the result, too. Despite taking a long time, the Spaniard couldn’t produce a promising result. The incident gave fans, already annoyed by long routines, another reason to demand stricter timing.

The strongest reaction called for a permanent solution rather than occasional intervention. “World needs to come together and put Ciganda’s slow a** on the permanent clock!” one user wrote. The language may seem harsh, but the underlying demand is straightforward. The comment reveals that fans want timing rules to have visible consequences rather than allowing officials to decide when to put a player on the clock.

Those reactions also reflect a wider debate about pace across professional golf. Many players have faced similar criticism, and others, like Korda and Charley Hull, are calling for stricter action. But regardless of what officials and management decide, fans clearly don’t like slow play at all.