Not long after Joaquin Niemann received a two-stroke penalty for “serious misconduct” at the U.S. Open, Jon Rahm, winner of the championship in 2021, could be heard on the Friday broadcast dropping a hard F-bomb after a missed putt.
According to the new “Player Code of Conduct” guidelines being implemented at the men’s major championships this year, language like that falls under one of the 14 examples of “unacceptable behavior” that could be disciplined. Rahm was given no penalty.
Later on Friday evening, video emerged on Golf Channel’s “Live From” program of another Rahm incident during the second round. In the clip, the Spaniard can be seen kicking his driver forward multiple times. Perhaps a bout of World Cup fever, or, again, one of the examples of “unacceptable behavior” outlined in the Code of Conduct policy:
So can someone explain like I’m 5 why this wasn’t also a 2 stroke penalty if we’re dinging guys for chucking clubs this week? pic.twitter.com/dwFMEwUfA4
— David Woods, PGA (@davidwoodspga) June 20, 2026
Reminder: Rule 1.2b, which deals with player conduct, was introduced in 2019, but it was this year, 2026, when the organizations that run the four majors made a point to actually begin enforcing this rule. Sergio Garcia and Robert MacIntyre were each quietly warned for their outbursts at the Masters in April.
Then came Thursday evening at Shinnecock, where Niemann was playing the sixth hole, his 15th, as darkness set in. After hitting two drives out-of-bounds, Niemann put his fifth shot in play, then asked a rules official about getting relief from what he believed were fire ants near his ball. No relief was granted. He played his next shot and, according to a report in The Athletic, kicked a volunteer’s flag and chucked his sand wedge some 50 yards.
That’s where the two-stroke penalty was applied for “serious misconduct,” per the USGA. Niemann acknowledged that he did throw his club. “I’m not proud of it,” he said Friday afternoon, “but yeah, I mean, sometimes, you know, all the expectations of trying to play well and things doesn’t go your way, you get frustrated, and that was me there.”
Yet while not denying what he did, the Niemann camp was frustrated with being given the penalty because of what they believe is an inconsistency in the application of the Code of Conduct rules. They argued that Niemann’s act was not far more aggregious than what others might have done on the course, and that he was being unduly penalized by comparison. It was part of what Niemann was arguing with USGA officials after the second round in an effort to see if the penalty could be rescinded. But according to the USGA, there was no appeal process for the penalty and that the key decision makers were all in agreement with the ruling.
Niemann’s case, however, seems to be amplified with the surfacing of video on Rahm (also there was no video of Niemann’s club throw). As outlined in the Player Code of Conduct sheet, an example of unacceptable behavior is “abuse of player equipment, such as violently and intentionally throwing or kicking a club in anger, with negligent regard of the consequences, or violently and deliberately destroying or damaging clubs or a golf bag.”
If Niemann’s offense warranted a two-stroke penalty, what about Rahm’s outburst? Did it not meet that criteria?
The issue is somewhat moot; Rahm missed the cut without any penalty assessed. But it creates a gray area that could be something to follow this weekend as it opens up the USGA—and all the governing bodies running majors—to extra scrut