Niemann makes most of his New York minute after rocky US Open start

The Chilean put himself in position to qualify for next year's Pebbel Beach tournament.

LESSON LEARNED: Joaquín Niemann of Chile plays a shot from the second tee at Shinnecock Hills. Pic: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

For a player who was never even on the fringe of contention, Joaquin Niemann garnered a good bit of attention this week at the US Open.

That’s because he became the first player under the tournament’s “Code of Conduct” policy to receive a penalty – a severe one at that – on a hole where he hit two shots out of bounds and then threw a club in frustration.

Niemann, from Chile and who plays for the LIV Golf League, rebounded nicely from his first-round 11 on the sixth hole – a hole where he had a total of four penalty shots – to first make the cut and then climb the leaderboard on Sunday.

His final-round 66 had him on the cusp of qualifying for next year’s US Open at Pebble Beach. The top 10 players and ties are exempt into the championship the following year.

“Obviously good golf takes care of it,” Niemann said after a final-round 66 at Shinnecock had him on the cusp of one of his best major championship performances. “What I was trying to do was put up a low round. I was focusing on trying to hit 63, trying my best. Ended up just short, but really happy with the round today.” 

It was a tumultuous week for Niemann, whose violation occurred late Thursday afternoon on the sixth hole, a par-4 that was his 15th of the round. He hit two tee shots out of bounds, then finally got a ball in play and believed he was entitled to relief due to fire ants.

Denied, he played the shot before the horn blew halting play. At that point, he flung his club toward the green. The referee who witnessed it was not identified and Niemann did not get the two-stroke penalty until after he finished his round the following more.

“I was not trying to offend anyone,” Niemann said. “I think it was something more -- it was more something kind of like against me. I was frustrated. I had my expectations, which are always super high. I was playing good golf. I knew it was going to be a tough week, a long week, a challenging week.

“After seeing that and knowing that the best score I could do was an eight, it kind of frustrated me a lot. I'm not happy doing that. I'm not proud about throwing a golf club. I get I deserve it in a way; I don't know. But there's nothing I can do. I feel like I learned from it.”