AIG Women's Open: Carlota Ciganda makes strong start after 'unfair' slow play penalty at Evian

Carlota Ciganda believes she is penalised more frequently for slow play than other players and has critised the "subjective" rules in place to try and quicken up the sport.

Ciganda was disqualified from the Evian Championship last month after refusing to add a two-shot slow play penalty during her second round, with the Spaniard later criticising the LPGA Tour rules officials for a "very poor performance".

Nelly Korda backed the decision to enforce the Rules of Golf on her when asked during her pre-tournament press conference ahead of the AIG Women's Open, while Solheim Cup Suzann Pettersen admitted that Ciganda needs to "speed up".

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"I think I am a nice person and I respect everyone when I play, so I just hope they can do the same with me," Ciganda said after her opening round at Walton Heath. "Some players, they play quicker and some players, they are slower.

"I mean, of course, I can be quicker, but a lot of them can be quicker too. I don't want to put too much focus. I just play golf and I love what I do, and that's it.

"I know I'm not quick, like I know that there are a lot of quicker players out there. I think there are a lot of slow players and they don't get penalized and they don't get timed as much as I do, so I don't think that's fair."

On the rules about pace of play, Ciganda added: "They always say the time starts when it's your turn to play, but when is that? It's just so subjective. I think in the end, if they put a referee in every group, a lot of girls will be penalised and I think sometimes it's not fair. It's not something that I can control so I don't want to think too much."

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Ciganda mixed three birdies with a lone bogey during a two-under 70 at Walton Heath, seeing her set the initial clubhouse lead on the opening day, with the Solheim Cup star pleased by progress made with her own pace of play.

"Yeah, on the greens, a little bit quicker," Ciganda explained. "We've been practicing the routine and I think we were fine today. We've been waiting a few holes for the group in front, so I think we did a good job.

"You have to understand that it's professional golf and we are playing for a living and sometimes in majors, if you hit it in the rough or get in a bad situation, it's going to take longer.

"If you make a couple of bogeys, it's just a couple more minutes, so I think they should understand that a bit more."

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