After a strong performance, David Puig was sitting comfortably at T3 on the 2026 Hero Dubai Desert Classic leaderboard. Chasing down fellow LIV Golf pro Patrick Reed was not possible, but he was still in a great position to earn a huge share of the $9 million Rolex Series purse. However, a key decision by the DP World Tour officials changed things minutes after the tournament ended.

As per reports, “David Puig was assessed a 2 stroke penalty to drop from T3 to 7th.”

Puig and French veteran, Julien Guerrier, were tied for third before the Spaniard was handed the penalty. However, with the LIV Golf pro dropping down to T7 now, Guerrier will be handed a $568,112 paycheck for finishing solo third.

As far as Puig is concerned, his earnings will drop to $232,655. Notably, the two-stroke penalty cost him a whopping $335,457.

The reason he was penalized for was that he breached a rule on the 18th hole. According to Rule 12.2b, one can’t ground their club immediately in front of or behind the position of their ball in the bunker during the practice swing. The DP World Tour officials noticed that he had done just that on his third shot on the par-5 18th hole. After going through the evidence, he was handed the two-stroke penalty.

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His overall score for the round also took a major hit. He went from a 1-over par for the day to a +3. His efforts on the 72nd hole turned from a par save into a double bogey. The Spaniard certainly wouldn’t be quite pleased with the ruling.

That said, Puig has been a part of a lot of controversy lately. He was in the spotlight a few days ago because of his LIV Golf team.

LIV Golf faces backlash for putting the spotlight on David Puig

Last week, Nacho Elvira‘s win at the 2026 Dubai Invitational was a celebration for every Spaniard in the world. You would think that the Spanish LIV Golf team, Fireballs GC, would not ignore his achievements while giving credit to David Puig for finishing T3 at the event. But what they did was quite shocking.

The LIV Golf team shared a picture of the leaderboard featuring Puig in third position. However, they specifically edited out Elvira from the top of the standings. It wasn’t as if Elvira had ever spoken ill of LIV Golf. As such, everyone was puzzled by their actions, and it didn’t sit well with the fans.

The tweet from Fireballs GC caught a lot of heat. Fans questioned their intent for posting such an image and accused them of disrespecting the champion.

After all the criticism David Puig and his team faced last week, was he under too much pressure at the Emirates GC?