Joaquin Niemann says he’s “not proud” of being the primary golfer penalised for breaking the brand new code of conduct launched for main championships in 2026.
The Chilean was given a two-shot penalty by US Open officers on Friday, shortly after finishing a fog-delayed first spherical.
The 27-year-old was punished for “critical misconduct” beneath rule 1.2b after throwing his sand wedge in frustration on the sixth gap after he twice hit tee pictures out of bounds after which had an ungainly lie.
That meant Niemann’s 9 was upped to an 11 on the par-four gap and he finally signed for an eight-over 78 earlier than responding with a five-under 65 within the second spherical to sit down simply contained in the projected minimize line at three over par general.
“I completed my spherical, signed my scorecard, after which a referee got here as much as me and mentioned ‘I would like to speak to you’,” Niemann mentioned.
“I knew I had a misbehaviour however I really feel like all people had some and it is by no means going to be something main like a two-shot penalty, you realize?
“They thought of with the entire committee that it was a proper resolution to offer me a two-shot penalty.
“I used to be making an attempt to argue again but it surely’s their resolution and I really feel like I would not be joyful seeing gamers throwing golf equipment and behaving that method so, yeah, I agree.”
Niemann had been at degree par for his spherical earlier than reaching the sixth gap and reportedly needed to have his membership delivered back to him by a police officer., external
“I hit it two instances out of bounds then obtained fairly pissed off,” he added.
“I had a foul lie, I noticed a whole lot of ants and I used to be simply asking the referee in the event that they had been fireplace ants and he mentioned ‘no’.
“I wasn’t indignant asking him. I believe they blew the horn (to droop play for darkness) however after I hit that shot all of the frustration got here inside me and I had my membership in my hand and I could not resist to throw it away. There was no-one there however I am not happy with it.”
The code of conduct coverage has been a serious speaking level this season with Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and Spain’s Sergio Garcia each reprimanded for his or her behaviour at The Masters in April.
