Play as it lies. That’s the directive LPGA pros got at the start of the Chevron Championship. Sounds ideal except for the fact that the course conditions at soggy Memorial Park Golf Club were anything but that. The last couple of days in Houston, Texas, saw a lot of rain. The fairways were flooded enough for the course to be evacuated thrice in two days. Players already had a tough course to wrestle with for four days, and the LPGA just made it tougher with a curious decision.

Given how wet the course was, pros expected preferred lies to be in play. However, they were shocked to learn that despite mud getting in the way of a perfect ball flight, the LPGA decided not to allow players to lift, clean, and replace. It cost the players dearly. Beth Ann Nichols of Golfweek reported that Brittany Lincicome, who has won the Chevron Championship twice before, counted at least seven times that her ball had mud on it, which impacted its flight. Frustration and dismay were also evident in Lydia Ko‘s voice when she spoke after the round.

“It’s a complete guessing game,” said the 2016 winner of the Chevron Championship. She had to deal with a mudball on the third hole and was left wondering why the LPGA Tour didn’t allow preferred lies as it generally does during regular events. For the record, there is no special rule for the majors, and that’s what has left most players perplexed. Haeran Ryu (E/T38) landed in tricky spots a couple of times, and in most cases, her recovery shot went haywire as dirt on the ball caused erratic flight. Nasa Hataoka (+2/T80) succumbed to a double bogey on the par-5 eighth thanks to mudball again. But no one was hurt as much as Lincicome.

Looking to grab her third Chevron Championship title, she had a horrid time in the first round of the event. After 18 holes, she shot a 6-over 78. Six bogeys and twelve pars were enough to push her down to T122 on the leaderboard. Seven mudballs throughout the day had a huge role to play in that. Yet the tournament officials didn’t budge.

“Our intent is to play the ball down when conditions support it, and we believe they do. Our Rules team monitored the course throughout the week; worked closely with Superintendent Parker Henry, who has done a tremendous job with the course conditions; took in direct feedback from players and caddies; and made the determination that the course is playable as intended,” the official statement read.

Hannah Green, who has won four times this season and carded a 1-over 73 on Thursday, cited another possible reason behind the reluctance to implement preferred lies.

“I feel like we need to have our ruling go to a card length instead [of] a club length. Because I feel like the reason why we never play it up is because we actually are somewhat changing the angle of the shot. With a scorecard length, you can’t. Maybe one day that rule will change and help us out a little bit.”

The PGA Tour changed the rules of preferred lies after receiving a lot of complaints. They modified the relief from club length (46 inches on average) to full scorecard length (11 inches). That made the rule more palatable. However, the LPGA Tour still follows the club length rule for preferred lies. Green believes that’s the reason the tournament officials don’t apply it frequently in challenging conditions. She believes that if the LPGA Tour also changes the rules, then the tournament officials will be more comfortable exercising them.

However, it’s worth noting that the PGA Tour didn’t change the preferred lies rule on a whim. They faced a lot of backlash from the fans before they decided to modify it.

Why the LPGA Tour needs to learn from the PGA Tour instead of waiting to change the rule

As mentioned, the PGA Tour didn’t decide to change the preferred lies rule all of a sudden. After implementing it for a few events, they realized there was a major flaw in it that didn’t receive approval from the fans. The most backlash they faced was during the TOUR Championship in August 2025. After constant rain and flooded fairways, the tournament officials were forced to apply the preferred lies rule for three straight rounds. And that didn’t sit well with the fans.

They criticized the event officials for making the situation too convenient for the players. Especially in the third round, they were furious that the rule was in play despite there being no rain for many hours.  That must have forced Brian Rolapp and Co. to modify it enough that it doesn’t give the players too much of an advantage.

Speaking of the LPGA Tour, if they want to consider changing the rule, then they need to take the PGA Tour as an example. If they wait too long for the fans to react to it, then the product might become too frustrating for them to continue watching it. However, if the rule is modified soon, then not only will they avoid the backlash, but also make it just convenient enough for the LPGA Tour stars to get some relief in events with bad weather conditions.