SOUTHAMPTON, US — Joaquin Niemann became the latest example of golf cracking down on bad behavior when the USGA penalized him two shots Friday (Saturday in Manila) for heaving his club while making a 9 — which turned into an 11 — late in the first round of the US Open.
Perhaps as spectacular as his meltdown was the recovery.
About a half-hour after being informed of the penalty, Niemann birdied five of the first six holes of his second round and shot 65 to easily get inside the cut line. He would be the first player in 97 years to make 10 or worse on a hole and still make the cut.
“All the frustration that came inside me and had my club in my hand, and I couldn’t resist to throw it away,” Niemann said. “There was no people, obviously. No one there. I’m not proud of it, but yeah, sometimes all the expectation of trying to play well and things doesn’t go your way, you get frustrated. And that was me there.”
And then the USGA made him an example, skipping the warning and going straight to a two-shot penalty — the third step is disqualification — for what it cited as serious misconduct.
The USGA cited Rule 1.2b on “Code of Conduct.” Among incidents that fall under this category are unacceptable language and abuse of clubs or the course.
While the rule has always been in place, the USGA and all the other golf organizations have met in recent years to develop consistent guidelines for a conduct policy, applied separately by each of the organizations at their tournaments.
