DistantNews
Support us
Joaquín Niemann receives historic penalty at US Open for throwing club
🇨🇱 Chile /Sports

Joaquín Niemann receives historic penalty at US Open for throwing club

From Cooperativa · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • Chilean golfer Joaquín Niemann received a two-stroke penalty at the US Open for throwing his club during the first round.
  • The penalty was deemed a serious offense under the tournament's code of conduct, marking a historic first for a major championship.
  • Niemann expressed frustration with his performance but acknowledged his behavior and the penalty, aiming to learn from the experience.

Chilean golfer Joaquín Niemann faced a historic penalty at the US Open after throwing his club in frustration during the first round. The two-stroke penalty, a first for a major championship due to unsportsmanlike conduct, followed a challenging opening day for Niemann.

Niemann had a difficult Thursday, carding an +8, largely due to a disastrous sixth hole where he hit two consecutive shots out of bounds, resulting in a quintuple bogey. In a moment of frustration, he threw his club, an action the tournament organizers classified as a serious breach of their code of conduct.

The truth is I hit it out of bounds twice to the right, two bad shots. So yes, I got pretty frustrated. I don't like behaving like that. I am the first to judge myself when I don't behave well on the golf course. It was a fault on my part. I felt a bit more penalized with two strokes, but I guess that's how things are. I'm going to learn from it. It certainly helped me a bit to have a better round today.

— Joaquín NiemannNiemann's reflection on his penalty and performance after the second round.

"The truth is I hit it out of bounds twice to the right, two bad shots. So yes, I got pretty frustrated. I don't like behaving like that," Niemann commented Friday after his second round. "I am the first to judge myself when I don't behave well on the golf course. It was a fault on my part. I felt a bit more penalized with two strokes, but I guess that's how things are. I'm going to learn from it. It certainly helped me a bit to have a better round today."

Niemann also cited distractions like red ants near his ball and poor lighting as contributing factors to his frustration. "All the frustration took over me. I had the club in my hand and couldn't resist the temptation to throw it," he confessed. Despite the penalty, Niemann improved significantly in the second round, shooting a -5, bringing his total to three over par, though he remains distant from the leader, American Wyndham Clark at -7.

All the frustration took over me. I had the club in my hand and couldn't resist the temptation to throw it.

— Joaquín NiemannNiemann explaining the moment he threw his club.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Cooperativa in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog