Joaquin Niemann handed a 2-stroke penalty at LIV Golf’s Mayakoba event

Joaquin Niemann was hit with a penalty for something he did incorrectly during Saturday's round of LIV Golf at Mayakoba. To kick-start the LIV season, the golfer had been golfing quite well but the penalty puts a damper on what has otherwise been a dominant start to the season. The event isn't over yet, and he will try to regroup from the issue.

The statement read:

"Saturday evening, following the play of Round Two, the Rules Committee became aware of a potential rules violation pertaining to Joaquin Niemann and his drop from the cart path on the par-5 13th hole."

They continued:

"After reviewing the drop with Joaquin on Sunday morning prior to the final round, it was determined that he had played from a wrong place after taking relief incorrectly. Joaquin failed to drop within his one-club length relief area. The penalty for playing the ball from a wrong place is the general penalty (2 strokes) under rules 15.7A."

They went on to say that they'd retroactively revised his score for the 13th hole from 5 to 7, which took him from par to a double bogey unfortunately. He is still currently in the lead, but his grip is loosened as a result.

Niemann comes in ahead of Dean Burmeister (-9), Jon Rahm (-9) in his debut event, Sergio Garcia (-7), Brooks Koepka (-5) and Dustin Johnson (-4). They are all trying to catch back up to him and hoping that this is the window they need.

Despite chasing Niemann, Rahm was off to a great start in his debut. He's faltered a little bit since then, but it was a good start to his LIV career. He said earlier in the tournament via CBS Sports:

"The last hurdle was trying to figure out how the warm up was going to affect me [with] everybody going shotgun [start]. It didn't seem to be any different to other starts or restarts I've had in the past. It was quite fun. The atmosphere is clearly very different and I think it showed. I felt very relaxed out there. It is a little bit similar to how I play at home with my buddies with music in the cart. It was pretty much a perfect day."

Perhaps the two-stroke penalty incurred by Niemann would give him the boost he needs to get back to the top of the leaderboard.

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Joaquin Niemann discusses opening 59

The reason a two-stroke detraction isn't as damaging to Joaquin Niemann's winning case this weekend is because he got off to a brilliant start. The opening round saw him shoot 59.

Joaquin Niemann is in great position

He said via CBS Sports:

"I just realized it. I was really in the zone. I was playing great and I said to myself, 'Just keep doing the same.' I got to the 18 and people started shouting at me to go for a 58, and I was like 'Shit, it's a par 71.' When I got to 12 I didn't realize if it was [par] 72 or 71 and I didn't want to do the math. I just wanted to keep doing what I was doing ... I was able to be under 60 which is pretty cool."

It remains to be seen if Joaquin Niemann can keep it up and earn a victory in the first LIV Golf event of the season.