The LIV star received a rare slow-play fine – and it wasn’t the first time

One could argue that speed of play has never been more important than in LIV Golf, where the shot starts every round. With a full field of 54 players, each hole is always at its three-player capacity. Any group that slows things down too much will be out of position, and hold everything else back.

Enter Richard Bland, Patrick Reed and Kevin Na.

LIV is in the Chicago area this week, playing in the season-ending Individual Championship at Bolinbrook Golf Club. Brooks Koepka built a 4 lead through 18 holes, but the story of the day came from the aforementioned trio.

Starting their day on the 6th hole, Bland, Reed and Na were well out of position, pace-wise, of the group ahead of them by the time they reached the 10th hole, their fifth of the day. They were also behind in time-par, the allotted time a team is expected to use on each successive hole on the course.

Bad shots happen, penalty shots happen, rules and officials don’t intervene, play can slow down. Golf is happening. But these three don’t have the reputation of being the fastest golf club. They were quickly warned by officials on the 10th hole. Two holes later, little had changed. In fact, according to LIV officials, this group has lost even more than the group in front of them. On the 12th hole, the officials stepped in to announce that the team was legally “on the clock.”

Meanwhile, the logistics are pretty clear. When timed, players have 40 seconds to play a shot when it is their turn. They will get an extra 10 seconds if they are the first to tee off. It takes longer than that, except for any unusual situation that arises, and that player will receive a penalty, both on his score and pocketbook. Richard Bland unfortunately found that out.

Bland’s second shot on the par-4 12th exceeded the 40-second time limit, earning him an immediate penalty, turning his par 4 into a bogey 5. Along with it, he received a $10,000 penalty. With that penalty, his even-par round of 70 was bumped to 71. LIV released a statement afterwards.

While this situation may be rare, it is not the first time it has happened to Bland this year. Earlier this summer, at Valderrama in Spain, Bland was assessed a single penalty for taking 84 seconds to play a tee shot on the par 3. That week, it might just be the difference between a 14th tie and a 12th tie, but in a $20 million tournament, that slow-play penalty costs more than just a $10,000 fine.