Richard Bland has been enjoying the season of his career! Having made his debut, the 51-year-old bagged two wins – Senior PGA Championship, and the US Senior Open. However, he is yet to clinch a victory in the breakaway league. Nonetheless, he stands on the list.

The LIV Golf Chicago is in full swing. After a successful opening round, Bland is tied for 21 with eleven others. However, he is still running on this list. Having bagged a top-25 finish in all the expenses, he is in 19th of the individual standings. This is far away from the drop zone. However, his luck doesn’t seem to be on his side.

Richard Bland falls prey to a one-stroke penalty

Richard Bland scored 1-over, with three birdies, and four bogeys throughout. However, his group, consisting of Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Reed, and him had started from the back nine. The game went well until an official warned them after their 5th hole. They were out of position on the golf course and running behind the given time to make the shots.

When they reached the 12th hole (their 7th hole of the day), they further lost their position on the course. This led to an official time-out by the official. As per 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.”

When Bland reached the 12th hole, his second stroke exceeded the time limit as per the policy. His stroke and timings were reviewed, but no discrepancies were found. As a result, he was issued a one-stroke penalty and fined $10,000.

Bland is nearly nine strokes behind Brooks Koepka, who leads the event after scoring an 8-under. With two more rounds remaining, what are Bland’s chances of winning the title of the Player of the Year?

The contest is between Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann

While Brooks Koepka is in the lead, and Richard Bland still has room to catch up, the final fight is between Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann. In the LIV Golf standings, only the Legion XIII Captain and the Torque GC Captain have the best chances of claiming the title. Rahm stands at 195.17, while Niemann is at 192.20, leaving a significant gap between them and the rest of the field.

Tyrrell Hatton, currently third in the standings, trails by 48.71 points—a gap that will be hard to close even if he wins the trophy in Chicago. Hatton is currently T38 on the leaderboard, while Rahm and Niemann are T11 and T4, respectively. Who do you think will claim the final title? Let us know in the comments section below!