Officials from LIV Golf strictly enforced slow play during the Chicago tournament.
On Friday, LIV Golf officials issued a strong warning to former Masters champion Patrick Reed and his group before fining and penalizing his playing partner Richard Bland by one stroke.
At the end of the last round of LIV’s Individual Championship at Bolingbrook Golf Club in Illinois, Reed had a great start, tying for fourth place with a two-under-par score.
On the course, Reed was paired with Richard Bland and Charl Schwartzel, but neither player had the same luck as Reed, finishing with scores of one over and two over, respectively. But the talk of the day was more about the slow play warning they all received than it was about their scores.
Five holes into the group’s round, officials noticed that they were dragging behind the pace. By the seventh hole, the trio was given a strict directive, demanding that they shoot within 40 seconds or face consequences.
Bland experienced the pain of disobedience. Despite making a birdie on the par-five 12th hole, the Englishman received a one-stroke penalty. This changed not only what he would have received as an even-par round but also resulted in thousands of fines for him.
According to a spokesman for LIV Golf, “Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Reed, and Richard Bland received an official warning from a rules official following their fifth hole of the day, hole 10, when they were not only behind time par but also out of position on the golf course.”
“A rules official officially timed the group, who had further lost position on the course, following their seventh hole of the day (hole 12). “A player has 40 seconds to play each stroke, with an additional 10 seconds if they are the first to play any stroke in the group,” states the LIV Golf League’s Pace of Play Policy.
“Bland’s second stroke on the 12th hole was timed longer than allowed by policy. An official contacted Bland right away, and he was fined $10,000 (£7,500) and given a one-stroke penalty.”
On Sunday, the £13.7 million Individual Championship winner will be announced, and Jon Rahm appears to be the clear favorite to win.
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