Things went from bad to worse for Chile’s Joaquin Niemann at the U.S. Open after a two-stroke penalty turned his quintuple-bogey nine into a septuple-bogey 11 at Shinnecock Hills.

Niemann, who started his round on the 10th hole, reached the par-4 sixth with his opening round still within reach. After hitting his first two tee shots out of bounds, he finally put a ball in play with his fifth stroke but lost control when his sixth shot did not go according to plan.

In a short statement, the USGA said: “Joaquin Niemann was assessed two penalty strokes for throwing a club on the 6th hole during Round 1. This act was determined to be serious misconduct under Rule 1.2b.”

After his approach shot fell short of the green, Niemann threw his club in frustration on Thursday night.

According to reports from The Athletic, the Chilean had requested a USGA rules official for relief from fire ants that were near his ball. The official denied the request, and that added to Niemann’s frustration.

Reportedly, the Torque GC captain kicked a ball-marking flag in the grass and threw his club 50 yards just before the round was halted due to bad weather conditions.

However, Niemann was assessed the penalty early Friday morning. His score increased from a quintuple-bogey nine to a septuple-bogey 11.

He ended the first round with an 8-over 78, significantly hurting his major championship hopes.

What exactly is Rule 1.2b?

Rule 1.2b of the Rules of Golf states that "players are expected to play in the spirit of the game by acting with integrity, showing consideration to others and taking good care of the course," giving tournament committees the authority to enforce appropriate player behavior on the course.

However, the level of penalty ranges from a single stroke to total disqualification. It depends on the seriousness of the misconduct.

Earlier in the year at Augusta, Spain’s Sergio Garcia made headlines when he broke his driver on a cooler and was issued a code-of-conduct warning.

Niemann became the first golfer to be penalized under the code-of-conduct policy in a major this season.

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Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav