LPGA player misses major cut after slow play penalty

China's Yan Liu was hovering around the cut line when she was assessed a two-stroke penalty for slow play during the second round of the Evian Championship on Friday.

Liu, who started her round on the back nine at the Evian Resort Golf Club, was playing the seventh hole when she was assessed the penalty, according to Golf Digest.

She went on to double bogey the par-5 and followed it up with another bogey.

Liu rebounded to birdie her final hole but missed the cut at the fourth major of the year by three shots.

The penalty is part of the LPGA's attempt to improve pace-of-play issues that have been heavily criticised by several of the tour's marquee players.

The LPGA updated its pace-of-play policy in February, implementing a fine for a player who is 1-5 seconds over the allotted time limit, a one-stroke penalty for being 6-15 seconds over and a two-stroke penalty for a player taking more than 16 seconds over the time limit.

Liu is the second player to be assessed a two-shot penalty, joining Chisato Iwai, who during the Black Desert Championship in May was the first player to be handed a two-stroke penalty.

In all, there have been four slow-play penalties since the new policy was issued, according to Golf Digest.

Liu entered the Evian Championship in France ranked 107th in the Rolex Women's World Rankings.

However, she has now missed five of her past six cuts.