Slow-play police issued a ticket to a slow-player on Saturday.
Richard Bland, an Englishman, was the first to be penalized for slow play on LIV Golf in the second round at Valderrama Golf Club.
Bland played his tee-shot too slowly at the par-3, 217-yard 15th hole. LIV has released a statement explaining the situation.
The release stated that “in round two, a rules official officially warned the group of Dean Burmester and Sergio Garcia after their fourth hole of the day, (hole 8), where the group had been out of position on a golf course, as well as being behind in time par.” A rules official timed the group after their 9th (hole 13) hole, where they had lost more position on the course. According to the LIV’s Pace of Play policy, “A player is allowed 40 seconds for each stroke. An additional 10 seconds are given if the first person in the group plays a stroke.”
Richard Bland was the first player to hit the ball on the 15th hole. He received a first-shot time of 84 second. This was more than the time allowed by the policy. Bland was immediately informed by an official, and a penalty of one stroke was assessed. Bland’s 4 score on the par-3 hole 15 resulted in 5 after the penalty.
Richard Bland’s one-stroke penalty in the Rd. 2 #LIVGolf Andalucia pic.twitter.com/t1rqOKT6bu
LIVGolfComms July 1, 2020
On the PGA Tour, slow play penalties are very rare. Jon Catlin who regularly plays on the DP World Tour was the last to receive a slow play penalty at the 2021 PGA Championship in Kiawah. It has come under scrutiny this year despite the fact that pace of play has plagued the professional game for many years. Adam Hadwin, a PGA Tour veteran, noted that Jessica had recently called him out for his slow play.
Hadwin said to CBS in his post-round interview after the Rocket Mortgage Classic, “[She] said: ‘You seem uncomfortable out there. You look like you are deciding too many things [and] taking too much time.'” “[She said,] ‘It isn’t just me.'” “It seems that the fans at LACC also called me out on it.”
Just doing my part in the battle against slow play in golf
https://t.co/ojGbcUsP4I
Jessica Hadwin July 1, 2020 HTML0
Hadwin was aware of this and, on Saturday, he shot a 9-under 63 at Detroit Golf Club to jump into contention for his 2nd PGA Tour title.
