LIV Golf star becomes first player to receive two-shot penalty for club throw at US Open

LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann has entered the history books for an unwanted reason after becoming the first player to receive a penalty under the new code of conduct rules governing major championships in 2026.

Officials at the US Open handed the Chilean a two-shot sanction on Friday following his fog-delayed opening round at the tournament.

The 27-year-old was deemed guilty of "serious misconduct" under Rule 1.2b after hurling his sand wedge in a moment of frustration during play at the sixth hole.

Niemann has since acknowledged he is "not proud" of the incident that led to the historic punishment.

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The trouble began when Niemann, who had been playing at level par, struck two consecutive tee shots out of bounds on the par-four hole.

His frustration mounted further when he found himself facing a difficult lie, with the golfer spotting ants near his ball and querying whether they were fire ants.

After officials sounded the horn to suspend play due to darkness, Niemann struck his shot, and the accumulated anger proved too much to contain.

He launched his club away from him, though he noted nobody was in the vicinity at the time.

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The sand wedge was reportedly retrieved and returned to him by a police officer.

Reflecting on the sequence of events, Niemann explained: "I finished my round, signed my scorecard, and then a referee came up to me and said 'I need to talk to you'.

"I knew I had a misbehaviour but I feel like everybody had some and it's never going to be anything major like a two-shot penalty, you know?

"They considered with the whole committee that it was a right decision to give me a two-shot penalty.

"I was trying to argue back, but it's their decision, and I feel like I wouldn't be happy seeing players throwing clubs and behaving that way, so, yeah, I agree."

Despite initially attempting to contest the ruling, Niemann ultimately accepted the committee's verdict.

He continued: "I hit it two times out of bounds then got pretty frustrated.

"I had a bad lie, I saw a lot of ants and I was just asking the referee if they were fire ants and he said 'no'.

"I wasn't angry asking him. I think they blew the horn (to suspend play for darkness) but after I hit that shot all the frustration came inside me and I had my club in my hand and I couldn't resist to throw it away.

"There was no one there, but I'm not proud of it."

The code of conduct policy has emerged as one of the most discussed topics of the 2026 season, with several high-profile incidents already occurring at major events.

Scotland's Robert MacIntyre and Spain's Sergio Garcia were both issued reprimands for their conduct during The Masters in April, though neither received the stroke penalties now applied to Niemann.

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