Niemann says he was ‘extra-penalized’ for U.S. Open club toss, tells his side of story

LIV Golfer Joaquin Niemann felt he was "extra-penalized" for a club throwing incident in the first round of the U.S. Open, but makes the cut.

Published Jun 19, 2026  •  Last updated 39 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Joaquín Niemann of Chile prepares to play a shot on the third hole during the second round of the U.S. Open. Getty Images

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SOUTHHAMPTON, N.Y. — LIV Golfer Joaquin Niemann felt he was “extra-penalized” for a club-throwing incident in the first round of the U.S. Open that turned a quintuple-bogey nine into an 11, yet somehow the Chilean golfer still managed to make the cut.

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“I mean, I hit it two times out of bounds on the right, two bad swings. Then, yeah, got pretty frustrated,” he said on Friday. “I’m not someone that like to be in that behaviour. I’m the first one to judge myself when I don’t behave on the golf course.

“Yeah, that was a misbehave from my part. I felt like a little bit extra penalized with two-shot penalty, but I think it is what it is. I think I’m going to learn from it. It definitely kind of helped me a little bit to have a better round today.”

Niemann bounced back from Thursday’s 78 with a sterling five-under par 65 and will play the weekend after finished 36 holes at three-over par.

What was the incident?

The incident occurred Thursday evening, just as the horn blew to halt play for darkness. Niemann was playing the par-4 sixth hole and had just hit two tee shots out of bounds, and was examining a bad lie in the native area after his third tee shot.

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“I saw a lot of ants there and I was just asking the referee if they were fire ants, and like, he says, no.” Niemann said. “To be honest, I wasn’t angry asking him. I was pretty normal, pretty chill, because I knew I needed to keep going.

“After that shot, I hit it, I lay up, and the whole frustration went inside me,” he added. “After I hit that shot, all the frustration that came inside me and had my club in my hand and I couldn’t resist to throw it away.”

The Athletic‘s Gabby Herzig reported that she spoke with a tournament volunteer who estimated the frustration-flung wedge flew approximately 50 yards.

“I mean, I was looking around. There was no people, obviously,” he said. “No one there. I’m not proud of it, but yeah, I mean, sometimes, you know, all the expectation of trying to play well and things doesn’t go your way, you get frustrated, and that was me there.”

What was the penalty?

After completing his first-round early Friday morning, Niemann was notified of the two-stroke penalty under Rule 1.2b that governs the Code of Player Conduct.

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“Signed my scorecard and then a referee came up to me and said, ‘I need to talk to you.’ I was, like, sure. I knew I had a misbehaviour, but I feel like everybody had some, and it’s never going to anything major like two-shot penalty, you know?” Niemann said.

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“They consider with the whole committee that it was a right decision to give me a two-shot penalty,” he added. “Obviously I was trying to argue back and try to don’t get those two-shot penalty. But, yeah, I mean, it’s their decision. I wouldn’t be happy seeing players throwing clubs and behaving that way so yeah, I mean, I agree.”

Niemann managed to gather himself in the half-hour he had between the end of his fog delayed first round and the beginning of his second round. He went out and carded the stunning 65 to work his way back under the cut line, although all questions on Friday focused on his club throw and penalty.

“Yeah, I played good today too, though. Thank you. Thanks for asking,” he said.

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