‘Playing For a Livelihood’: LPGA’s Most Eccentric Star Breaks Character to Make an Urgent Plea

Slow play is something that has been bothering golfers and fans a lot. It takes the fun out of playing and watching. Both players and fans feel that it is high time for the Tours to do something about it. On one hand, the PGA Tour is reducing its field sizes, but the LPGA Tour has not taken any concrete action yet. Players like Nelly Korda and Charley Hull have outwardly spoken about the pace of play. Hull even suggested that the Tour cards of the pros should be taken away. It is now Angel Yin’s turn to share her two cents about the plaguing issue.

In a recent interview with Chantel McCabe, Yin discussed the issue of slow play and how it may be improved in “All Square.” According to the LPGA pro, “The players can improve on being faster, but at the end of the day, I think the course setup isn’t promoting fast play. Then, no matter how fast the player can play, the course is too difficult. They’re going to score a higher score. So, I think it can be spaced out correctly.”

She continued, “There are some holes that we would play in a tournament where a rope official is just there. I think it’s good to play in difficult golf courses” She further expressed how for her, it’s not just about the game – it’s about her livelihood. “I think it’s good to play in difficult golf courses, and I love difficult golf courses, but if it’s unreasonable, then maybe that’s an issue. Then we can’t move along because we’re playing for a livelihood,” she emphasized.

Yin mentioned that she and other golfers are not playing the sport for leisure but to earn money, “So, it’s not like we can just play like a Sunday golf round where we just don’t give a crap. We just hit it around, shoot 72, and then go home and have a beer with our buddies. It’s different. This is our life. It’s like we go to a company, and their CEO wants the exact numbers from the accounts, not just an estimate.”

She also remembered her first year on the LPGA Tour and reflected upon how “it was so slow.” “I think I could have made a taco, put the taco stand away, and then eaten the taco, sat down, rested, and then hit my golf shot, and it still would’ve been okay,” Yin added with a grin. She then concluded by saying, “I think players are actively trying to be better. But we have to start thinking it up.”

For Yin, who has been vocal about her frustrations with the Tour, it’s time for a change. A while ago, when she was asked if Tour was able to capitalize on the rising fame properly, she declined, saying, “No.” She mentioned that the buzz around Caitlin Clark playing in an LPGA pro-am last week “didn’t feel like it got out there enough.” Yin whenever speaks, she makes sure to light up the room with her charming persona, so for her to speak so passionately about the slow play again points out that this issue needs to be addressed soon.

For Yin, it’s not just about the players taking too long to hit their shots, but the course design also has a significant impact. And it’s not the first time Yin has emphasized this. She did it previously as well.

Angel Yin speaks out on how golf course design is contributing to slow play

Angel Yin had been unapologetically vocal about her take on slow play from the very start. And she did it again in her own sarcastic, casual style when Charley Hull said, “It’s ridiculous, I feel sorry for the fans how slow it is out there.” Yin, acknowledging the same said, “So, I have my opinions. I know Charley Hull gave an answer. I just found out about it this morning. It was pretty funny and I joked about it on the golf course today. But if I have to really say, over the years I’ve been on tour, I think it was worse before.”  The same thing she did in the current interview.

She recalled how she used to wait for so long earlier and humorously compared it with the current situation, noting that “now we have a good mixture of fast players and then that’s when the slow players really start showing up”  Yin believed that the increased pace of play among the majority of players has highlighted the issue of slow play. “Because the majority of the girls are playing much faster, where you cannot be really too slow or then you start getting behind,” she explained.

Yin previously also acknowledged that there are other factors at play, such as course setup and spacing issues, which can contribute to delays. “Although we are having more delays on the tees this year,” she noted, “but that could be course setup this year, the spacing and everything. Our pro-ams are slower. That could also be a spacing issue.” Ultimately, Yin doesn’t think it’s fair to pin the blame solely on the players. “So I don’t really think it’s specifically the players,” she concluded.

What do you think is the primary reason behind slow play? Share your perspective in the comment section below!