Joaquin Niemann was assessed a two-stroke penalty after the second round at LIV Mayakoba. Here’s why

By

[PHOTO: Manuel Velasquez]

The first LIV Golf event of the season now has a little more drama to it.

Leader Joaquin Niemann, who shot an opening-round 59 at Mayakoba, appeared to shoot a one-under 70 on Saturday in Mexico to take a four-stroke lead into the final round. However, LIV Golf announced overnight (Australian time) that Niemann was assessed a two-stroke penalty, meaning his 70 turned into a 72 and his four-shot lead over Jon Rahm and Dean Burmester dropped to two.

The violation was regarding a drop from a cartpath on the par-5 13th hole. It was determined that the Australian Open champion failed to drop the ball within a club length, meaning that he played the ball from the wrong position, which is a two-stroke penalty. It falls under Rule 14.7a. Under the exception in Rule 3.3b(3), as LIV Golf posted on Twitter/X, the rules committee added the penalty to Niemann’s scorecard, giving him a 7 instead of a 5 on the 13th hole.