Why was LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann docked two penalty strokes?

Matt Chivers

Joaquin Niemann’s excellence from the first two days at LIV Golf Mayakoba was diminished as he was assessed a penalty before the start of the final round…

Joaquin Niemann‘s four-shot lead at LIV Golf Mayakoba was halved before the final round following a rules violation.

LIV Golf revealed in a statement that Niemann played from the wrong place after incorrectly taking relief from a cart path on hole 13 at El Camaleon Golf Course.

Niemann “failed to drop within his one-club length relief area” on the par 5 which led to a two-shot penalty.

LIV’s rules committee became aware of the issue on Saturday evening and administered the penalty on Sunday. His score on the hole was changed from a five to a seven.

Having shot a staggering 59 in round one and a moderate 1-under-par 70 in round two which was later turned into 1-over, the Chilean’s score was reduced from 13-under-par to 11 at the start of round three.

He held a two-shot advantage over Jon Rahm and Dean Burmester with 18 holes left in the first event of the LIV Golf season in 2024.

Joaquin Niemann: LIV Golf administers costly penalty, but under what rule?

Niemann was penalised under Rule 14.7a which concerns the place where a ball must be played.

Rule 14.7a says after starting a hole, a player must make each stroke from where their ball comes to rest, except when the rules require or allow a player to play from another place.

A player can’t play from the wrong place of course, so this results in the general penalty of two shots.

[object Object][object Object][object Object]

Rule 3.3b (3) concerns the wrong score for a hole. If a player returns a scorecard with a wrong score for any hole, they can be disqualified if the returned score is lower than the actual one.

The exception is failure to include an unknown penalty. If one or more of the player’s scores are lower than the actual scores because they didn’t include a penalty stroke that they didn’t know about, the player isn’t disqualified.

If the mistake is found before the end of the event, the committee revises the score of that hole or holes by adding the penalty strokes that should’ve been included.

NOW READ: Two aces! Teenage star becomes hero at Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific

NOW READ: 13 teams, but 54 players? Breaking down the LIV Golf format

How much have you enjoyed the Joaquin Niemann Mayakoba performance this week? Tell us on X/Twitter!

About the author

Matt Chivers

Matt has been playing golf since the age of 13 and was largely inspired to take up the game by countless family members who played golf during his childhood.

Matt is a member at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal playing off a 5 handicap, just a pitching wedge away from his hometown of Dover where he went to school and grew up. He has previously been a member at Etchinghill and Walmer and Kingsdown in Kent.

Having studied history at the University of Liverpool, Matt went on to pass his NCTJ Exams in Manchester a year later to fulfil his lifelong ambition of becoming a journalist. He picked up work experience along the way at places such as the Racing Post, the Independent, Sportsbeat and the Lancashire Evening Post.

Matt joined NCG in February 2023 and is the website’s main source of tour news, features and opinion. He has reported live from events such as the Masters, The Open, the Ryder Cup and The Players Championship, having also interviewed and spoken to many of the biggest names in the sport.

Consuming tour golf on what is a 24/7 basis, you can come to Matt for informed views on the game and the latest updates on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour and LIV Golf.

What’s in Matt’s bag: Cleveland HiBore XL Driver driver, Cobra LTDx 3-wood, Benross BR-Pro irons, Ping Glide 4.0 wedges, Odyssey putter.

Twitter