Anger management at the U.S. Open
Clark's and Niemann’s disciplined recoveries from misbehavior episodes
The Daily Drive continues coverage of the 126th U.S. Open from veteran golf insider Bob Harig at Shinnecock Hills. To support our work as independent golf journalists, please consider subscribing for what amounts to little more than $1 a week.
Wyndham Clark (right) has had plenty to smile about at Shinnecock (Dustin Satloff/USGA)
Friday was a rollercoaster of ups and downs
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Ferris Bueller dropped that pearl of wisdom, of course. He could have been talking about the U.S. Open on Friday.
There was Dustin Johnson, 4-under and in second place through 28 holes. Five holes later the 2016 champion was 4-over and needed to hang on just to make the cut.
There was Jon Rahm, 2-under and tied for fifth after the first bogey-free round at Shinnecock since the second round in 2004. Eighteen holes later despite the calmest conditions he was 6-over and facing the next 27 days off before his next competitive round at the Scottish Open.
There was Bryson DeChambeau, going to sleep in red figures and inside the top 10 and waking up to drop five strokes in the first five holes he played en route to missing his third major cut of the year.
There was Joaquin Niemann, who got assessed the U.S. Open’s first two-shot misconduct penalty that turned his 9 on the sixth hole he finished up Saturday morning into an 11. He immediately turned around and birdied five of the first six holes he played (including No. 6) to help him shoot a 65 that kept him in the tournament despite that opening 78.
There was Collin Morikawa, nine shots off the lead after an opening 73. A second-round 65 moved him up to sixth place at 2-under with an opportunity to join Jack Fleck (Olympic Club in 1955) as the only players to come from as many as nine behind after 18 holes to win.
Welcome to the U.S. Open at Shinnecock, where anything might happen … or Wyndham Clark might walk away with another major trophy.
In today’s DD …
Bob Harig contrasts Clark’s and Niemann’s ‘misbehaviors’
Second-round notes
Joaquin Niemann’s temper and club toss cost him two strokes in U.S. Open (Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
‘It was a misbehavior on my part’
By Bob Harig
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Wyndham Clark’s anger management issues cost him a good part of the last year as he has attempted to rehabilitate his image and get his golf game back to U.S. Open-winning levels.
Joaquin Niemann’s similar issues cost him two strokes this week as he attempts to break through in a major championship, a frustrating reality for the gifted Chilean golfer who has dominated on LIV Golf but done little on the biggest stages.
Clark’s leading 64-69 start to the 126th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills offers an interesting juxtaposition to Niemann, who after throwing his club in anger before play was suspended late Thursday got hit Friday morning with the first known player conduct penalty since the major championships began emphasizing it this year.
It turned an already deep hole after he made a quintuple-bogey 9 on the par-4 sixth hole into an 11 on Friday morning when he finished up a round of 78. Amazingly, he rebounded with a second-round 65 to finish at 3-over — 10 shots behind Clark but at least playing the weekend.
“It was a misbehavior on my part,” a contrite Niemann said afterward.
Clark is fortunate that the conduct policy related to Rule 1.2b was not enforced last year when he flung his driver in disgust at the PGA Championship, hitting a billboard behind a tee — ironically for the mobile phone company he represents — and barely missing a spectator.
That was followed by an outburst at the U.S. Open where — after he missed the cut at Oakmont — Clark put his foot through one of the vintage lockers in the iconic clubhouse. That brought a rebuke from the club as well as a ban that wasn’t resolved until the golfer made restitution, apologized and gave a donation to charity.
Clark was in a funk. The 2023 U.S. Open winner had fallen from a high of No. 3 in the world to 75th without a top-10 finish since last summer’s Open Championship before sealing his first win in more than two years at last month’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
The way he played made it all the more satisfying as he shot a final-nine 28 at TPC Craig Ranch and a round of 11-under-par 60. It marked his fourth PGA Tour win and his first victory since Pebble Beach in 2024, when he also shot a 60 in the third round that ended up being the clincher after storms cancelled Sunday’s final round.
After the victory at the Byron Nelson, Clark owned what occurred the year before.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “I have to first thank a lot of people because what happened last year at Oakmont wasn’t the greatest thing. My sponsors — Power Design, Sofi, T-Mobile, Lexus — all of them stayed with me, which means a lot. I’m very thankful for that.
“The greatest thing about having a downfall like that is the comeback. It feels really special after having a really tough year and grinding it out.”
Clark elaborated on this ahead of the Open at Shinnecock.
“That was a really challenging time and something I’ve deeply regretted and feel awful that I did that,” he said. “But there were so many good lessons in that that really taught me a bunch. I’ve really come a long way, and I’m excited for this year’s (U.S.) Open for some redemption and to move forward and enjoy the challenges of Shinnecock and how great this place is and how amazing this championship is.”
Clark’s 36-hole score of 7-under par gives him a four-shot advantage over Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, Sam Stevens and Tom Kim heading into the weekend.
Niemann — in the field this week based on LIV Golf’s 2025 season standings when he won five times (he was the highest finisher not exempt) — has struggled on the biggest stages, with only one career top 10 in a major at last season’s PGA Championship. The former Latin America Amateur champion was in contention at even par through 15 holes Thursday before things went terribly awry.
As darkness started closing in, Niemann hit two tee shots out of bounds right at the par-4 sixth hole. After finally getting his third tee ball in play, it came to rest in deep fescue, from where he sought relief due to what he suspected might be fire ants.
The rules official denied his relief, and after chopping his sixth shot out into the fairway with a wedge, Niemann didn’t finish the hole as the horn suspending play for the day had blown.
But according to report by The Athletic, who spoke to a hole volunteer who witnessed the incident, Niemann angrily swiped at the small flag placed by a volunteer at the spot of his ball. Then after hitting his shot, he flung his wedge more than 50 yards toward the out of bounds. A police officer reportedly retrieved his club and returned it to him.
When play resumed early Friday morning, Niemann hit on the green and two-putted for what he thought was a nine. After the round, he was confronted by USGA officials and told that two strokes were being added to his score.
“This act was determined to be serious misconduct under Rule 1.2b,” the USGA said in a statement.
When the USGA and R&A presented new rules in 2019, they added a new “code of conduct” policy, which this year the governing bodies of the men’s majors have sought to enforce, listing for players the standards at the outset of the tournament.
Rule 1.2b 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. It unequivocally states the tournament committee’s authority to penalize or disqualify a player for any serious misconduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game.
At the Masters, Sergio Garcia received a warning during the final round when he smashed his driver on the second tee and took out a water cooler. He could have been penalized or disqualified, but the Masters Committee chose to give a warning first.
At Shinnecock, the USGA has determined misconduct to be: “If a player’s (or their caddie’s) behavior is so far removed from what is expected in the spirit of the game of golf, in accordance with Rule 1.2b, the Chief Referee, in consultation with the Championship Director, may apply a penalty of two strokes or disqualification, taking account of the frequency, impact, intent and severity of the misconduct.”
They determined that Niemann crossed the line.
Niemann argued his point but ultimately handled the assessment well. He bounced back immediately after the penalty when he turned back around to start the second round, making birdie on five of his first six holes — including an eight-stroke improvement on No. 6 — and shot 65 to share the low round of the day with Collin Morikawa.
After his second round, Niemann stood up and talked to the media to explain what happened.
“I hit it two times out of bounds on the right, two bad swings. Then, yeah, got pretty frustrated,” Niemann said. “I’m not someone that likes to (have) bad behavior. I’m the first one to judge myself when I don’t behave on the golf course. Yeah, was a misbehave from my part. I felt like a little bit extra penalized with 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, who claims he was not previously aware of the conduct policy, said he was not angry about the ruling on the course but that frustration got the best of him after his layup shot. The horn then blew ending play for the day.
“I couldn’t resist to throw it away,” he said. “I was looking around. There was no people, obviously. No one there. I’m not proud of it, but yeah, I mean, sometimes, all the expectation of trying to play well and things doesn’t go your way, you get frustrated, and that was me there.”
While he’s unlikely to catch Clark from 10 shots behind on the weekend, Niemann can look to the leader as an example of how to deal with deal with anger issues and move on.
Good play certainly helps.
“There was definitely a lot of uncertainty last year, even if I played good going into the weekend, just because I didn’t really believe I could keep playing good just because I hadn’t seen it, versus now regardless of where my game is at, I feel like good things are going to happen, and I can continue to play good,” Clark said. “Momentum is a huge thing in golf, and I feel like I have it right now. Just keep it going. Keep pushing that momentum ball down the hill.”
Xander Schauffele is back in the mix as usual at the U.S. Open (Logan Whitton/USGA)
Second-round notes …
Cut buster: Brooks Koepka was trying to extend his leading active streak of consecutive cuts made in the U.S. Open to 12, but it got away from him with a flurry of late bogeys. Harris English could have taken over the mantel, but a double 39 on his second nine Friday sent him packing as well. The new streak leaders are Xander Schauffele (a perfect 10-0) and Hideki Matsuyama (10) with Brian Harman (9) alone in third after Patrick Reed also missed the weekend.
Don’t bet against X: If you’re considering a big wager on a top-10 finish in the U.S. Open, why pick anyone other than Schauffele? He’s never finished worse that T14 in nine prior starts and Friday’s 66 moved him into a tie for second and lowered his already record U.S. Open scoring average to 70.237 in 38 career rounds (minimum 20 rounds).
No surprises: While Koepka (70.917, 48 rounds) bowed out, each of the other top five leaders in career U.S. Open scoring average (again, minimum 20 rounds) all made the cut this week: Morikawa (70.643, 28), Scottie Scheffler (70.767, 30) and Rory McIlroy (70.967, 60).
When Harry met Shinny: Harry Higgs – who famously doffed his shirt on the rowdy 16th hole in Phoenix – nearly made another fashion faux pas when he absent-mindedly showed up for the first round Thursday wearing shorts that are only allowed in practice rounds. He had to borrow trousers before shooting 71. A day later he was as high as second place on the leaderboard in his fifth major before settling at T7 with a 68. Higgs did finish T4 in his major debut at the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah.
He miss, he miss, he miss, he make: Max Greyserman was cruising along tied for second at 3-under facing a 20-foot birdie putt on the ninth. But that devilish pin placement bit him when he pounded his 2-footer for par 7 feet past the hole and made double. He shot 73 and fell to T34.
Amateur stakes: Ryder Cowan hung on with a 72 to enter the weekend tied for 11th at even par with the likes of world Nos. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy and major winners Gary Woodland and Brian Harman. But the low amateur medal is not guaranteed as the world’s top-ranked amateur Jackson Koivun and top-ranked junior Miles Russell both made the cut at 3-over while fellow ams Marek Fleming and Eric Lee stayed alive on the number at 4-over. The last time as many as five amateurs made the cut in a U.S. Open was in 2015, when there were six: Beau Hossler, Ollie Schniederjans, Brian Campbell, Nick Hardy, Denny McCarthy and Jack McGuire.
Big move: Scottie Scheffler snapped a 10-round streak of not breaking par at the U.S. Open with a 2-under 68 Friday. More significantly, he jumped up 39 spots from T49 to T10, seven strokes behind Clark. It is the largest leaderboard jump from round 1 to round 2 in Scheffler’s major championship career, which says more about how well he usually stands after opening rounds in majors.