Yealimi Noh’s first few tournaments at the LPGA Tour didn’t go as planned. First, she joined the Tour in a year curtailed by COVID. So, the South Korean-born American golfer was considered a rookie in the technically second season of her professional career. Even there, the youngster was fined $10,000 in a tournament where she earned  $4,247 for a 61st-place finish.

It goes back to the 2021 Kia Classic. Ko, after a second-round 74, was taking it slow. She was also with her new caddie on the moving day. In the front nine, a rules official followed her group. Noh noticed but later became oblivious to it. Rookie mistake. 

The officials warned her on holes no.10 and 12. It would’ve gone without a hefty fine. During her slow-play issue at the LPGA Tour debut in 2020 Gainbridge LPGA, this event was seen as an extension of her rookie year, and the pace-of-play violation at the Kia Classic was treated as a repeat offense. Hence, a fine of $10,000 against the paycheck of $4,247 reached Yealimi Noh.

Per a report on Concord Clayton Pioneer, by that time, Yealimi Noh had only earned  $15,742  that year. “Obviously now I’m never going to do that again hopefully, which is good. It’s hard to get over; that’s a lot of money,” Noh was quoted in a Golfweek report. 

Hers was one of the costliest slow-play fines in the LPGA Tour. In retrospect, it might have been better considering she got a warning at the start of his career. Unlike some players, who had to incur a heavy penalty for slow play violations. 

LPGA Tour’s harshest slow-play penalty on golfers after Yealimi Noh’s fine

Lucy Li: Li was also an LPGA Tour rookie when she received a hefty fine from the LPGA Tour. On the seventh in the third round of the Chevron Championship. Per reports, officials gave Li’s group several warnings before the Tour decided to impose a fine. 

Carlota Ciganda: The memory of the Carlota Ciganda episode is still fresh. The Spaniard refused to add a two-stroke penalty for slow play and eventually received a disqualification from the Evian Championship for signing the wrong scorecard. Ciganda later claimed she was wrongly being targeted for slow play. Ciganda, however, faced a backlash from fans at this year’s Solheim Cup for slow play.

Klara Spilkova: Made the cut and yet had to exit? That was the case for this 25-year-old Czech golfer. She was on the right side of the cutline at the 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. But then the LPGA Tour imposed a slow-play penalty and added two strokes. She missed the cut by one shot. 

Lexi Thompson: She probably had to endure the worst slow-play penalty. After an agonizing loss at the 2022 KPMG PGA Women’s Championship, the 27-year-old was also fined for slow play. The penalty was a $2000 fine. The final group took 5 hours and 45 minutes to finish.

Notably, Anna Davis missed the cut at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur this year due to a one-stroke penalty.