Celine Boutier won the ShopRite LPGA on Sunday, although it may have been Arpichaya Yubol who was left wondering what might have been.
Yubol shot a one-under 66 on the Bay Course at the Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in Galloway, NJ, on Sunday, which was good enough to move him into sole second place and earn $183,814 in the 54-hole event. At age eight, she finished one stroke behind Boutier.
But then you remember what happened on Saturday.
The LPGA Media account tweeted Saturday evening that Yubol was assessed a one-stroke penalty for slow play during her second round Saturday. The tweet said she was penalized for “exceeding the maximum time allowed for her stroke total set on hole #13.”
It is the second time a pace-of-play penalty has been issued on the LPGA this season. Jin Hee Im was also penalized one stroke during the third round of JM Eagle.
In February 2025, the LPGA announced it new game pace policy which took effect that spring. The LPGA already had a warning system and timing guidelines for players out of position, but the updated policy included a new overtime penalty structure. Under these changes, one to five seconds over a time would be a penalty; six to 15 seconds would be a one-stroke penalty and 16 seconds or more would result in a two-stroke penalty.
Yubol’s 73 Saturday was changed to a 74. Under LPGA policy, a player is designated for the stroke total for a hole, not a specific stroke.
Despite the rare penalty, it was a good week for 24-year-old Yubol. After missing the occasional start earlier this season, she is now back to second runner-up of the year. Although she still finished one shy of Boutier, who closed with a 66 to come from four shots back to win. The 32-year-old pro also won the ShopRite in 2021; this was her first win since the Maybank Championship in 2023.
Next? of Women’s US Open begins Thursday at the Riviera in Los Angeles.
“It’s definitely always good to bounce back from a win,” Boutier said. “I think it’s going to be a very different challenge for sure with different course conditions, but I’m excited to see what the course is like. Happy where my game is, so let’s see what I can do there.”
