LIV golfer’s slow play penalty costs him £200,000

Never has the saying ‘time is money’ been more accurate than at LIV Golf’s event at Jeddah on Sunday.

For the second time on the fledgling Saudi-backed breakaway league, referees issued a sanction over a clear breach of slow play rules during the final round at the Royal Greens Country Club

Adrian Meronk has only been a LIV player for a matter of weeks, but incurred a rare penalty at the $25million event in his threeball with Jon Rahm and Kevin Na.

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The Pole was issued a one-shot penalty on the par-5 18th, his 16th, after exceeding the allotted time to play, causing him to drop from a share of fifth with Rahm to joint sixth.

Meronk’s group had been warned by officials that they were falling behind after eight holes, and had their shots timed by a rules official on their 14th hole after failing to speed up.

Two holes later and playing his approach shot first, Meronk fell foul of the rules.

“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,” a LIV Golf statement explained.

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Explanation of one-stroke penalty assessed to Adrian Meronk on Sunday at #LIVGolf Jeddah pic.twitter.com/LRZbJ5bC2j

— LIV Golf Communications (@LIVGolfComms) March 3, 2024

“On the second stroke of the 18th hole, Adrian Meronk, who was first to play, received a time exceeding 2 minutes for his stroke. This exceeded the allotted time per the policy. Meronk was immediately notified by an official and assessed a one-stroke penalty. With the one-stroke penalty, Meronk’s score of 4 on the par-5 18th hole resulted in a score of 5.”

Meronk ultimately earned $508,750 for his endeavours in Jeddah, but would have banked $750,000 had he not been penalised for slow play.

Therefore, Meronk’s extra 70 seconds over his approach on the 18th effectively cost him roughly £200,000.

Meronk joins Richard Bland as the only other player to be stung with a slow play penalty. His Cleeks GC teammate was punished for the exact same offence during last year’s event at Valderrama.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.