LPGA 2-time winner Carlota Ciganda claims to being ‘picked on’ amid disqualification at Evian Championship

Ciganda shared her side of the story after being disqualified at the Evian Championship following her second round.

LPGA’s Carlota Ciganda was disqualified after the second round of the Evian Championship last Friday. The rules officials disqualified her for signing an incorrect scorecard resulting from slow play.

Following the incident, the two-time LPGA winner responded on her Instagram page, giving her side of the story.

“I got a few messages about the DQ from yesterday,” she said in an Instagram story. “I want to be very clear and the reason I did not sign a 7 on the last hole is because I don’t think I took 52 seconds like the Rules Official said. I had a 10 footer on the last hole, last putt and the group behind they were not even on the tee on a par 5.”

“Very poor performance from the LPGA rules official, they don’t understand what professional golf is about, they only look at their stopwatch like 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!”

She carded a 1-over 72 Friday but was supposed to add a two-stroke slow play penalty to that. An LPGA spokesperson said her group received a warning on No. 7 for being out of position, per Sports Illustrated. Ciganda and her group failed to make up the time and got timed on No. 8.

On the ninth hole, the spokesperson said Ciganda’s time warranted a two-stroke penalty. During scoring, she was able to appeal with the lead official but was ultimately denied.

Since she opted not to add the penalty, Ciganda was told she would be disqualified if she did not make the correction. She opted to walk out of the scoring tent.

While it’s rare for rules officials to give out stroke penalties, especially on the LPGA, the 33-year-old is no stranger to it.

Most recently, in 2021, at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play, she received a penalty on the final hole, causing her to lose that match.

The conditions were tough at the Evian Resort Golf Club on Friday. There were howling winds and tricky pin positions, but not everyone played slow.

“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 wrote.