The rules of the field are broken in LIV Q-school benefits pro in the final time

If you were trying to identify the Next Big Thing in 2015, Ollie Schniederjans would be on your short list.

Until he isn’t.

All of this helps explain why this week Schniederjans is golfing halfway around the world in an effort to find a new home with LIV Golf, where the purses are $25 million and last season only seven players earned less than $2 million.

Joining the Schniederjans at the LIV Golf Promotions event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were 92 other hopefuls, only one of whom – the 72-hole winner – will have the chance to enter LIV for the 2025 season (although the top 10 finishers, including ties, will earn a full exemption from the Asian Tour’s 2025 International Series). We say be because after Friday’s second round at Riyadh Golf Club, the field was called for 20 golfers to play 36 holes on Saturday to determine the champion.

Deciding the field down to a round number usually requires a playoff, and this event was no exception. On Friday, six entrants – the Schniederjans among them – finished 36 holes tied for 20th at three under, meaning a sudden-death playoff was needed to decide which of these players would advance.

While Schniederjans and MJ Maguire were the only players to birdie the first playoff hole — the 396-yard par-4 18th — a 6-for-1 playoff went 2-for-1 , which is how it stayed when Schniederjans and Maguire played again. 18 and he made the same birds again. On their third round of the home hole (fourth in regulation), Maguire found the fairway, but Schniederjans did not; after carrying water, his ball landed in the sandy foul about 30 yards short and to the right of the green. His lie looks wicked – his ball rests on a hard collar surface on the long side of the sand – and it was they are not bad, especially considering the extent of the shooting that Schniederjans was facing.

A bad break? No, quite the opposite, actually, because Schniederjans was about to get free relief from the unusual rule.

Thanks to a local law instituted by LIV this week to prevent players from injuring themselves when faced with a critical shot like this, Schniederjans is allowed to point to his nearest point of relief – in this case, the light outside drop spot – then throws his ball half the length of the club to that spot.

“It’s a short enough shot that he wouldn’t have really hurt himself, but you can’t take that into account when you’re designing the rules for the area,” LIV Golf analyst Jerry Foltz said on the radio.

Su-Ann Heng, a reporter for LIV, called the decision a “big break,” later adding, “UMJ is also very close to it.”

Schniederjans break was made even better when during his fall, his ball bounced off the fairway twice, meaning he was allowed to place his ball on a perfect lie.

“Every once in a while, the rules work in your favor,” Foltz said.

Heng said to him: “However, if you are MJ, I am sure you are 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 effort from the middle of the fairway was also uncalled for as it ran 20 feet near the hole where he failed to make a 3. Then it was Schniederjans turn: hole the putt and advance to Saturday’s final 36 holes, or miss it and play the fourth qualifying hole. As Schniederjans ball rolled towards the cup, there was no doubt. Bingo.

Asked about the decision after the round, Schniederjans said, “I thought I was getting comfortable, but I haven’t been in that place all week. Obviously that was a big break.”

Yes, at Schneiderjans, there is still a lot of work to be done. Thirty-six holes and 19 players stand between him and a chance to prove himself at LIV’s big money tournaments in 2025. But that opportunity is something Schniederjans desperately wants.

“I’ve been through a lot,” he said Friday evening as dusk fell at the Riyadh Golf Club. “I want to play again with the best players in the world. I think I’m getting back to being completely healthy. I want to prove myself again and get that opportunity.”