Joaquin Niemann Assessed Eventful Two-Shot Penalty at 2026 U.S. Open

On Friday morning, Joaquin Niemann was assessed a two-stroke penalty for breaching the player conduct policy under Rule 1.2b. The penalty stemmed from an incident on Thursday evening, right before play was suspended. Per The Athletic, Niemann hit two tee shots out of bounds before requesting relief from fire ants after his third tee shot came to rest in the fescue. A witness reported that he kicked the flag a volunteer used to mark his ball, kicked around some more in the sand, and then launched his club. The club throw was cited as the conduct that triggered the penalty.

Due to Thursday morning’s fog delay, Niemann did not complete his first round until Friday morning. It wasn’t until after he signed his scorecard on Friday that a USGA official informed Niemann of the penalty. The nine he had carded on No. 6 turned into an 11.

Thirty-seven minutes later, Niemann began his second round.

He responded by firing a 5-under 65, tying for the low round of the day and delivering an impressive display of putting the two-shot penalty behind him.

The rules controversy, however, was not entirely behind him.

Following his second round, Niemann and several members of his team engaged in a heated conversation with USGA official Craig Winter at the player entrance to the driving range. Afterward, Niemann shook Winter’s hand, then headed into the press tent to take questions from the media.

“Yeah, that was a misbehave from my part,” Niemann said when asked about the rules incident. “I felt a little bit extra penalized with the two-shot penalty, but I think it is what it is.”

To Niemann’s credit, he accepted responsibility for his actions. While he clearly felt that the punishment was excessive, he did not dispute throwing a club.

LIVE BLOG: Notes and amusements from the second round

“I wouldn't be happy seeing players throwing clubs and behaving that way so yeah, I mean, I agree.”

While Niemann was inside the interview room acknowledging his mistake, a different scene was unfolding on the driving range. Members of his team expressed anger at Gabby Herzig of The Athletic about her reporting on the incident. Earlier Friday, after the penalty had been announced, Herzig tracked down a volunteer who witnessed Niemann’s club throw and obtained additional details about what transpired.

When she later approached Niemann’s team for comment, his caddie, Diego Salinas, berated her, pulled up her report on his phone, called her a “clown,” and argued that it was irresponsible to report the details of an incident she had not personally witnessed. Herzig responded that the report was based on an eyewitness account from a volunteer who identified himself by name, but said she was interested in hearing Salinas’s version of the events. Salinas responded that providing his side was not worth his time.

Herzig also repeatedly asked which aspects of the reporting were inaccurate. Not once did anyone from Niemann’s camp refute any of the details within the report.

Throughout the contentious interaction, the core argument from multiple members of Niemann’s camp was that there was plenty of bad behavior from other players in the field, but none of them had been penalized. They also argued that Niemann’s affiliation with LIV Golf does him no favors when it comes to rulings and public perception.

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Pete Cowen, one of Niemann’s coaches, explained that the team had attempted to appeal the ruling, taking issue with the discretionary nature of its application. Cowen also revealed that Niemann had broken down in tears on the range after learning of the penalty earlier that morning.

Somewhat lost amid the controversy was the golf itself. Less than 40 minutes after being informed of the penalty, Niemann birdied five of his first six holes and went on to tie the low round of the day.

“Took me probably 30 minutes to get over it, then two minutes to hit some tee shots, two putts, and then go out,” Niemann said. “I mean, nice birdie on the 1st and the 2nd. So, yeah, it was a good start.” He currently sits T-46 at 3 over.

This U.S. Open has not gone according to plan for the 27-year-old Chilean, whose major championship résumé continues to leave much to be desired. But with two rounds remaining, he has an opportunity to climb the leaderboard and put the rules controversy in the rearview mirror.