Former Masters winner Patrick Reed received a caution from LIV Golf officials on Friday, while his playing partner was hit with a one-stroke penalty and a hefty fine.
Reed hit the links with Charles Schwartzel and Richard Bland for LIV Golf’s big finale, the Individual Championship, at the Bolingbrook Golf Club over in Illinois, with the former hitting two-under-par to tie for fourth after going 36 holes, with plenty more to play.
Schwartzel and Bland didn’t have as much luck, finishing the day off the pace by two-over and one-over respectively. But it was not their end-of-day tally that was causing a scene; rather, it was the trio getting nagged for dawdling around the greens.
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LIV Golf top brass marked the trio down for slow play just five holes into the fray. By the seventh, they were handed a slap on the wrist. Officials had them on the clock – shouting out a swift 40 seconds per shot.
Bland bore the brunt as he bagged a brill birdie four at the twelfth only for his sluggish play to smack him with a one-shot penalty, bumping his birdie to a bogey and hitting his pocket hard, reports the Mirror.
A rep from LIV Golf said: “In round one, the group of Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Reed and Richard Bland were officially warned by a rules official after their fifth hole of the day (hole 10), where the group was out of position on the golf course as well as behind in relation to time par.”
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“After their seventh hole of the day (hole 12) the group, who had further lost position on the course, was officially timed by a rules official. In accordance with the LIV Golf League’s Pace of Play Policy, ‘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’.”
On the 12th hole, Bland’s second stroke was timed exceeding the allotted time per policy. Bland was immediately notified by an official and assessed a one-stroke penalty as well as fined $10,000 (£7,500). Bland’s score for the par-5 14th hole, including the one-stroke penalty, resulted in a score of 5.
Brooks Koepka lead the way after the first round, having played a flawless round of eight-under-par. Koepka was four shots ahead of Paul Casey, with Anirban Lahiri trailing in third place at three-under. The winner of the $18 million Individual Championship will be determined this weekend, with Jon Rahm looking like the favourite to take home the title. The Spaniard started off with a one-under-par 69, while his main competitor Joaquin Nieman finished the round two-under.
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