Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee went after modern professional golf’s on-course behavior following Joaquin Niemann’s two-stroke penalty at the U.S. Open, calling out club throwing and profanity as a failure of composure at the highest level of the game.
Speaking on Golf Channel’s Live From The U.S. Open, Chamblee used the incident to address what he described as a broader pattern of poor conduct across professional golf.
“It rains F-bombs on the PGA Tour,” Chamblee said. “Clubs get thrown all the time. Tee markers get destroyed.”
“It rains F-bombs on the PGA Tour. Clubs get thrown all the time. Tee markers get destroyed.”
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) June 20, 2026
“Composure is a skill, and it's lazy to throw clubs and it's lazy to drop F-bombs when you know the whole world is watching.”
Brandel talks about the code of conduct that has been put… pic.twitter.com/zvA3OwAbf3
Chamblee pointed to recent incidents beyond Niemann, including Jon Rahm audibly using profanity after a missed putt at Shinnecock. He acknowledged understanding the frustration of competitive golf but argued the standards for players on television are higher than they were for previous generations.
“Composure is a skill,” Chamblee said. “It’s lazy to throw clubs and it’s lazy to drop F-bombs when you know the whole world is watching.”
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Chamblee traced the shift in behavior to Tiger Woods, saying he never witnessed Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, or Phil Mickelson throw a club or use profanity on the course. He called Woods one of the most profane players to ever play the game, arguing that because Woods was rarely held accountable, the current generation of players normalized the behavior.
“Everybody who’s playing now grew up watching him,” Chamblee said. “These are Tiger’s progeny, if you will.”
Chamblee also referenced Sergio Garcia’s behavior at the Masters and Wyndham Clark’s locker incident at the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont as moments that contributed to the push for formal standards.
“What Sergio did at Augusta National, I think that kind of sent a message,” Chamblee said. “These guys have run amok and it’s great that the code of conduct has been put in place.”
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Niemann became the first player penalized under the new code of conduct policy adopted by the major championships in 2026. The USGA assessed him two penalty strokes for throwing a club on the sixth hole during the first round at Shinnecock Hills, ruling the act as serious misconduct under Rule 1.2b.
Per The Athletic, volunteer Tristan Chang witnessed the incident and told reporters that after Niemann’s fifth shot found the native area, he sought relief from what he believed to be a fire ant mound but was denied by a rules official. Niemann then kicked a flag that had been marking his ball, kicked the grass, and threw his club approximately 50 yards.
Niemann was in tears for most of the 37 minutes between finishing his first round and starting his second on Friday morning, per Golf Channel, after being informed of the two-stroke penalty. His quintuple-bogey 9 became an 11, pushing his opening round to 8-over 78.
“I’m not someone that likes to be in that behavior,” Niemann said. “I’m the first one to judge myself when I don’t behave on the golf course. Yeah, that 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.”
Niemann’s coach Peter Cowen disputed the decision, arguing the penalty was applied selectively. “It’s arbitrary,” Cowen said, per Golf Channel. “They picked him out of a load of people who threw clubs yesterday and gave him a two-shot penalty. It depends on whether you like him or you don’t like him. It’s either got to be two shots for throwing a club for everybody or not.”
Cowen said he witnessed three other players throw clubs on Thursday and noted there was no video of Niemann’s incident. “It’s one man’s word against Joaquin,” Cowen said.
