Golfer Carlota Ciganda from Spain was eliminated from the Evian Championship on Friday after refusing to update her scorecard with a two-shot slow-play penalty.
Ciganda stated her sentiments in an Instagram story. She declared: “Very poor performance from the LPGA rules official, they don’t understand what professional golf is about. They only look at their stopwatch as if 20 seconds is going to make a difference. I had family and friends watching and they all said it was impossible I took that long to hit that putt!
“Yesterday was tough out there with windy conditions and difficult pins and I wish everyone gets treated the same and they don’t pick on the same players all the time! That’s all!”
Ciganda penalized
According to an LPGA spokesman in a statement to CNN, Ciganda, who began from the 10th tee, was ending her second round at the par-five 9th hole when she was penalized two strokes by rules officials in compliance with the LPGA Tour’s Pace of Play Policy.
Currently ranked as world No. 31, the penalty would have raised Cigands’s score to three-over 74 for the round and six over par overall. She would have ultimately missed the five-over-par cut line at the major in Evian-les-Bains, France.
However, according to an LPGA representative, Ciganda did not add the two-shot penalty after her appeal to the rules officials was “heard and denied,” and after leaving the recording zone, she was disqualified for signing the wrong scorecard.
The statement expressed: “Ciganda was allowed an appeal with the advance and lead rules officials before returning her scorecard, which was heard and denied. Therefore, a two-stroke penalty was upheld…Ciganda opted not to add the two-stroke penalty to her signed scorecard. She was told that leaving the official recording area with a signed score lower (without the penalty strokes) would lead to disqualification, and left on her own accord.”
Cover Photo: IG
Source: CNN
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