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Charley Hull was paired with Lexi Thompson and Nelly Korda during the first and second rounds at the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills. Photos and videos started circulating on social media, where it appeared Hull was losing her patience with the pace of play. The assumption on social media was that Hull’s frustrations were specifically targeted at Thompson. In one, Hull was sitting on the ninth tee box while Thompson was still putting on the eighth green.
Hull made the cut on the number and Thompson (73-74) missed the cut by two. Neither player directly addressed the issue, until now.
As the final groups began their rounds on Sunday, Thompson posted on Instagram about her experience at Erin Hills. She began by thanking the USGA, fans and volunteers for their efforts and saying that she didn’t have the week she’d hoped she would. And then she got into the pace of play.
“Want people to realise our group basically waited on every single hole on the group in front , we were never out of position/warned/ or on clock,” Thompson wrote in her post. “I’ll be the first one to say I’m not as fast as my playing partners the two days, but I’m also the last person that wants to be out there for six hours. So before you make assumptions, make sure you get all the facts right before basing it on pictures and little clips. That’s all!”
Hull is a notoriously fast player, and as Thompson admitted, she doesn’t match that tempo. But Thompson saying that their group was never put on the clock means that even if she was slower than Hull, her pace didn’t affect the group’s ability to keep up with the group ahead of them.
In 2024, Hull said she’d want ‘ruthless’ penalties for slow play, including a two-shot penalty for every bad time a player receives, and an ultimate penalty of losing your tour card if you get enough bad times.
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Main Image: Stacy Revere
