Joaquin Niemann given two-stroke penalty before LIV Golf Mayakoba final round

LIV Golf has confirmed Joaquin Niemann has been assessed a two-stroke penalty following round two at Mayakoba.

04 Feb 2024

Joaquin Niemann given two-stroke penalty before LIV Golf Mayakoba final round — Joaquin Niemann given two-stroke penalty before LIV Golf Mayakoba final…

Joaquin Niemann has been assessed a two-stroke penalty following the second round of LIV Golf Mayakoba and will now take a two-shot lead into the final round.

LIV Golf confirmed the decision to dock Niemann two strokes from his second round just several hours before the start of the third and final round.

Niemann fired a course-record 12-under 59 at Mayakoba on Friday to race into a five-stroke lead.

He then thought his final-round lead was going to be four shots after posting a 70 to move to 13-under par.

But that's now been changed to a 72, and the lead is now just two shots as he has been pegged back to 11-under par.

LIV Golf rules officials were informed of a potential violation of the rules by Niemann after his round on Saturday night.

It all stemmed over Niemann's drop from the cart parth on the par-5 13th hole.

After more deliberation on Sunday morning, Niemann was informed he had broken the rules and was assessed a two-stroke penalty.

Niemann is understood to have measured out two club lengths relief from the path, when it should have only been one.

This is the video of Joaco Niemann’s bad drop form LIV Mayakoba. Not putting a club down to measure the distance is about as clumsy as it gets from a tour pro. @JCotino
pic.twitter.com/A65iu0urdS
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) February 4, 2024

Here's the statement the LIV Golf League posted on social media:

"Saturday evening, following the play of round two, the rules committee became aware of a potential rules violation pertaining to Joaquin Niemann and his drop from the cart path on the par-5 13th hole.

"After reviewing the drop with Joaquin on Sunday morning prior to the final round, it was determined that he had played from a wrong place after taking relief incorrectly. Joaquin failed to drop within his one-club length relief area. The penalty for playing the ball from a wrong place is the general penalty (2 strokes) under rules 14.7a. Under the exception in Rule 3.3b(3), the rules committee revised Joaquin's score for round two to include the 2-stroke penalty on hole 13 from a 5 to 7."

Niemann now leads by two strokes over LIV Golf debutant Jon Rahm and South Africa's Dean Burmester.

Sergio Garcia is now just four shots off the pace, armed with his new putter that barely anyone has ever heard of before!

Golf fans have been deliberating the actions of Wyndham Clark's footwork and drop on the 16th in the third round en route to firing a course-record 60 at Pebble Beach.

What do you make of the decision to penalise Niemann late in the day? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.

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