SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. -- Chile's Joaquín Niemann drove two balls out of bounds on the par-4 sixth, his 15th hole of the round, on Thursday shortly before first-round play at the U.S. Open was suspended because of darkness at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
It would get only worse for the LIV Golf League captain once play resumed Friday morning.
Niemann ended up carding a quintuple-bogey 9 on the hole, but it was later changed to a 7-over 11 after the United States Golf Association docked him a two-stroke penalty for throwing a club on the hole. Niemann, 27, ended up posting an 8-over 78 in the first round.
Despite the penalty setback, Niemann regrouped to shoot a 5-under 65 in the second round. He was on the cut line at 3 over at the time that he finished.
"I hit it two times out of bounds on the right, two bad swings," Niemann said. "Then, yeah, [I] got pretty frustrated. I'm not someone that like to be in that behavior. I'm the first one to judge myself when I don't behave on the golf course.
"Yeah, that was a misbehave [on] my part. I felt like a little bit extra penalized with a two-shot penalty, but I think it is what it is. I think I'm going to learn from it. It definitely kind of helped me a little bit to have a better round today."
On Thursday night, Niemann threw his club after his approach -- his sixth shot on the hole -- came up short of the green while he was trying to finish.
A U.S. Open volunteer who witnessed the exchange told The Athletic that Niemann asked a USGA rules official for relief from fire ants near his ball. When Niemann was denied, he kicked a flag that had been marking the ball in high native grass and threw his club at least 50 yards.
Niemann said there were ants around his ball, and he asked a USGA official if they were fire ants. He was told they weren't.
"I wasn't angry asking him," Niemann said. "I was pretty normal, pretty chill, because I knew I needed to keep going and try to shoot the [least] possible. I think they blew the horn already. I'm not sure if they did or not, but after I hit that shot, [and it was] like all the frustration that came inside me and had my club in my hand, and I couldn't resist to throw it away."
The USGA said Niemann's act was determined to be "serious misconduct" under Rule 1.2b of the Rules of Golf, which dictates 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."
The rule allows tournament committees to "establish and enforce specific standards of player behavior on the course, utilizing penalties ranging from a single stroke to total disqualification depending on the severity of the misconduct."
Niemann said he was informed of the penalty after signing his scorecard. He said he was unaware of the rule that allowed the USGA to penalize him. He had 37 minutes to get ready for the second round.
"Obviously, I was trying to argue back and try to not get the two-shot penalty," Niemann said. "But, yeah, I mean, it's their decision. I feel like I wouldn't be happy seeing players throwing clubs and behaving that way, so I agree."
Niemann, who is ranked 80th in the Official World Golf Ranking, is the first golfer to be disciplined under the code-of-conduct policy in a major this season.
In April, Sergio García was issued a code-of-conduct warning, a first at the Masters, when he broke his driver on a cooler during an outburst on the second hole of the final round at Augusta National.