How much money Joaquin Niemann’s club throw and two-stroke penalty actually cost him at the US Open

Joaquin Niemann finished the 2026 US Open in fine form after his shocking opening round put him behind the eight-ball.

Niemann posted an opening-round 78 at Shinnecock Hills.

The Chilean came out to complete his first round on Friday and made an 11 on the sixth hole, which included a two-stroke penalty for throwing his club in anger.

Advertisement

Joaquin Niemann produced some truly superb golf over the next three rounds at the US Open, posting scores of 65, 72 and 66.

Shinnecock Hills was extremely challenging over the final three rounds of the tournament, so for Niemann to shoot those scores really was hugely impressive.

Joaquin Niemann said he was treated harshly at the US Open, after he discovered he had been docked two strokes.

And he may be even more angry when he sees just how much the club-throwing incident cost him financially.

How much money Joaquin Niemann’s two-stroke penalty cost him at the US Open

Third place received $1,532,530, while a solo fourth place finish was good enough for a cheque worth a cool $1,074,363.

Advertisement

Had Niemann not received a two-stroke penalty, he would have finished on one-under par in a tie for third alongside Tom Kim.

That means that he would have pocketed a share of the third and fourth place winnings combined.

That amounts to $2,606,893. Dividing that by two and we end up with $1,303,446.50.

Niemann earned $617,090 for finishing in a tie for seventh at Shinnecock Hills – obviously a very nice payday.

However, his two-stroke penalty cost him a whopping $686,356.50.

Could Joaquin Niemann actually have won the US Open?

Had he made a par instead of an 11 on the sixth hole in his first round, he would have won the tournament by two strokes, and walked away with the $4,500,000 winner’s cheque.

Advertisement

However, it is worth noting that we will never know what would have actually happened had Joaquin Niemann parred the sixth hole during his first round at the US Open.

Who’s to say that, had Niemann not received the penalty, he would have been as fired up to go out and shoot a 65 in second round?

Also, had he made a par instead of an 11 on that sixth hole, how would he have handled being near the top of the leaderboard throughout the remainder of the tournament?

We will never know the answers to those questions.

However, the fact that Joaquin Niemann lost out on so much money, and indeed the chance to win the US Open, will undoubtedly still really frustrate him.