Joaquin Niemann received an extremely harsh two-stroke penalty during the US Open at Shinnecock Hills in June.
It wasn’t so much that Niemann should not have been penalized for throwing his club, but more the fact that other players weren’t dealt the same punishment for similar offences during the US Open.
The Chilean performed remarkably well after his opening-round 78 at Shinnecock Hills, ending up in a tie for seventh.
Joaquin Niemann deserves huge credit for the mental strength he showed to haul himself back inside the top 10 at the US Open.
The LIV Golf star came out to complete his first round on Friday at Shinnecock, and he made an 11 on the sixth hole, which included a two-stroke penalty for throwing his club.
Niemann’s club throw at the US Open cost him just under $700,000, and that would have been hard to swallow.
However, having a real chance to win taken away would have hurt him even more.
R&A CEO comments on Joaquin Niemann’s two-shot penalty at the US Open
After his round, Niemann said he felt hard done by at the US Open, as other players who committed similar offences escaped scot-free.
Niemann’s coach criticized the USGA for penalizing the Chilean at the US Open.
And now R&A CEO Mark Darbon has delivered his verdict on Niemann’s US Open penalty.
Darbon was asked whether he believes the USGA handled the situation correctly.
“Look, it’s up to the U.S. Open to determine how they deal with their own incidents,“ he replied.
“For us, I feel very confident that we’ve got a good process that we’ve built off the back of introducing this player code of conduct for their on-course behaviour.
“So we have a clear decision-making process around that. We’ve obviously rehearsed and talked through a number of scenarios that could play out in that space. So I think we’re well set to deal with any issues if they come up on that front.
“We believe that we have a responsibility to play a leadership role to ensure that fans watching all around the world see appropriate behaviour from the world’s best players as they participate in our championship, and that’s why we’ve got the code of conduct in place.“
R&A promise more transparency for fans
Golf fans weren’t shown what Niemann actually did before being penalized.
The USGA received criticism for their lack of transparency around the issue.
Darbon was asked whether the R&A would keep fans in the loop more, if a similar issue arises this week during The Open.
“I think you’ll get a clear explanation from us around why we may distribute penalties or warnings, yes,“ Darbon said.
“I think it would depend on the context, but I think what’s important is that we have clear rationale and explanation for any choices that we make under the umbrella of that policy.“
It will be interesting to see what happens if there is an incident at Royal Birkdale which requires some kind of penalty to be dished out.
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