Wild rules are broken at LIV Q-school professional benefits at the crucial moment

If you were trying to identify the next big thing in 2015, Ollie Schniederjans would be on your short list.

Until he wasn’t.

All of which helps explain why this week the Schniederjans are golfing halfway around the world in an effort to set up a new home with LIFE Golfwhere purses are $25 million and last season only seven players earned less than $2 million.

Joining Schniederjan at the LIV Golf Promotions event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were 92 other hopefuls, only one of whom – the winner of the 72-hole event – will earn entry into LIV for the 2025 season (although the top 10 finishers , including ties, will earn full exemptions to the 2025 Asian Tour International Series). we say were because after Friday’s second round at Riyadh Golf Club, the field was reduced to 20 players who will play 36 holes on Saturday to determine the champion.

Shortening a field to a round number usually requires a playoff, and this event was no exception. On Friday, six participants — the Schniederjans among them — finished 36 holes tied for 20th at three under, meaning a sudden-death playoff was necessary to determine which of those players would advanced.

When Schniederjans and MJ Maguire were the only players to make the playoff first — the 396-yard par-4 18th — the 6-to-1 playoff quickly became 2-to-1, so it remained when Schniederjans and Maguire played again. 18 and made similar birds again. On their third round of the home hole (fourth including regulation), Maguire found the fairway but Schniederjans did not; after holding water, his ball landed in a sandy waste area approximately 30 yards from and to the right of the green. His lie looked wicked—his ball was rooted against the rough collar on the far side of the sand—and she it Was wicked, especially given the size of the approach Schniederjans was facing.

Bad break? No, quite the opposite, in fact, because Schniederjans would get free relief from an unusual rule.

Thanks to a local rule put in place by LIV this week to prevent players from getting injured when facing unsafe shots like this, Schniederjans was allowed to identify his closest point of relief — in this case, the harsh light. OUTSIDE waste zone – and drop his ball within a length of that spot.

“It’s a short enough shot that he wouldn’t really hurt himself, but you can’t factor that in when you’re making local rules,” LIV Golf analyst Jerry Foltz said on the air.

Su-Ann Heng, LIV’s course reporter, called the decision “a big break,” later adding of the fallout, “MJ is watching it very closely as well.”

Schniederjan’s break was made even better when during his release procedure, his ball rolled twice out of the relief zone, meaning he was allowed to put the ball on a perfect lie.

“Sometimes, the rules work to your advantage,” Foltz said.

To which Heng said, “However, if you’re MJ, I’m sure you’re a little disappointed.”

Schniederjans didn’t hit his approach as cleanly as he would have liked, leaving himself about 10 feet for birdie. Maguire’s drive from the middle of the fairway also left a little to be desired as he ran 20 yards from the hole from where he missed a 3. Then it was Schniederjan’s turn: he holed the putt and cruised into Saturday’s final with 36 hole, or miss it and play a fourth playoff hole. As Schniederjan’s ball rolled toward the cup, there was no doubt. Bingo.

Asked about the decision after the round, Schniederjans said, “I was assuming I was getting relief, but I hadn’t been in that place all week. It was definitely a great break.”

Of course, for Schniederjans, there is still a lot of work to do. Thirty-six holes and 19 players still stand between him and a chance to prove himself in the LIV’s big money showdowns in 2025. But that opportunity is something Schniederjans desperately wants.

“I’ve been through a lot,” he said Friday evening as dusk settled over the Riyadh Golf Club. “I want to play again against the best players in the world. I think I’ll be back, I’m completely healthy. I just want to prove myself again and get that opportunity.”

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