By Amy Tennery
SOUTHAMPTON, New York, June 19 (Reuters) - Chilean Joaquin Niemann received a two-stroke penalty on Friday for throwing his club on the par-four sixth hole during his opening round at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
The LIV golfer had a dreadful start on the sixth hole at the famously tricky Southampton course on Thursday, hitting two drives out of bounds before chucking his club in frustration when he missed the green on his approach shot, as windy conditions tested competitors.
Organisers said the act constituted "serious misconduct," and he carded a septuple bogey for the hole. He shot an eight-over par 78 in the opening round.
"I hit it two times out of bounds on the right, two bad swings. Then, yeah, got pretty frustrated. I'm not someone that likes to be in that behaviour. I'm the first one to judge myself when I don't behave on the golf course," Niemann told reporters.
"That was a misbehave from my part. I felt like a little bit extra penalised 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."
Niemann was at three-over par through the first two rounds of the tournament, after carding a five-under par 65 on Friday.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Southampton, New York; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Ken Ferris)
