Arpichaya Yubol shot -8 across three rounds at the 2026 ShopRite LPGA Classic, hit her fairways, found her greens, and still walked away without the title. The margin between her and champion Celine Boutier was one shot. The same as the penalty she received for slow play on hole 13 during Saturday’s second round. But she is only counting positives.

On Instagram, after the $2M event, she poured her heart out, expressing her true feelings about still chasing her first LPGA win.

“Finished runner-up once again at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, a course that continues to test my game every time I play here. My first win feels so close. I still believe, and I will continue to work hard and give my very best every single day. A special thank you to my dad for always being by my side.”

In her previous few outings to the ShopRite LPGA Classic, in 2024, she finished 21st, and in 2023, she had missed the cut. But this week, Yubol had interesting numbers. Her round 1 was a 65 (-6). She hit 14/14 fairways, 15/18 greens, and 27 putts. Then her round 3 was a 66 (-5). There she hit 11/14 fairways, 15/18 greens, and 28 putts. Round 2 was where things unraveled. She carded a 74 (+3), hit only 8/18 greens, took 29 putts, and picked up the slow-play penalty on 13. This one hole effectively decided the tournament for her.

Under the LPGA Tour’s current slow play rules, 6 to 15 seconds over the time limit triggers a one-stroke penalty. Sixteen or more seconds means two strokes. It is a stricter system, and golfers are feeling it.

In February 2026, Jin Hee Im was penalized at the JM Eagle LA Championship for slow play while she was in the playoffs. And as a result, she lost to Hannah Green. Back in 2025, Yan Liu took a two-stroke penalty on hole 7 during the R2 of the Amundi Evian Championship and missed the cut.

Anyways, so far, Yubol’s season has been a hit and a miss. She has had two runner-up finishes in 2026, at the Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba and ShopRite. In between, she also posted a T29 in Saudi Arabia and a T34 at the Mizuho Americas Open.

Slow play penalties are not isolated incidents. The bigger problem runs much deeper on the LPGA.

LPGA pros aren’t happy with slow play

Ina Yoon was hit with a one-stroke slow play penalty on hole 15 during R2 of the 2025 Maybank Championship. Clearly, Yubol’s situation at ShopRite was not a one-off. These penalties are becoming a pattern across the tour. And the frustration extends beyond the players being penalized.

Nelly Korda has been direct about it. She called slow play a “pretty big issue” for the LPGA and said she would be “very, very annoyed watching as a fan.”

Long-time tour caddie Olly Brett was asked on The Mixed Bag podcast whether the LPGA’s slow-play penalty system was actually working. “I don’t know,” he said before admitting that even getting a round from five hours down to four hours forty-five minutes would count as progress.

Charley Hull’s suggestion was the most blunt. She suggested reducing the number of weekend fields from 65 to 55 players, sending them out in two-ball groups, and imposing shot penalties on repeat offenders, with a three-month tour ban if the issue persists.

“I’ll probably be hated for saying this,” she admitted. But someone had to say it.

With slow play plaguing the LPGA Tour, do you think penalties are the way to go?