Niemann handed two-stroke penalty for throwing club at US Open

Chilean Joaquin Niemann received a two-stroke penalty on Friday for throwing his club on the par-four sixth hole during his opening round at the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.

The LIV golfer had a dreadful start on the sixth hole at the famously tricky Southampton course on Thursday, hitting two drives out of bounds before chucking his club in frustration when he missed the green on his approach shot, as windy conditions tested competitors.

Organisers said the act constituted "serious misconduct," and he carded a septuple bogey for the hole. He shot an eight-over par 78 in the opening round.

"I hit it two times out of bounds on the right, two bad swings. Then, yeah, got pretty frustrated. I'm not someone that likes to be in that behaviour. I'm the first one to judge myself when I don't behave on the golf course," Niemann told reporters.

"That was a misbehave from my part. I felt like a little bit extra penalised with a 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 was at three-over par through the first two rounds of the tournament, after carding a five-under par 65 on Friday.

Elsewhere, Wyndham Clark built a four-shot lead heading into the weekend, reaching the halfway stage on Friday at seven under par.

The 2023 US Open champion made headlines a year ago when he wrecked a locker after missing the cut at the tournament at Oakmont.

But he has been all poise this week where he carded a six-under-par 64 in the first round and a one-under-par 69 in the second.

Two-time major winner Xander Schauffele, the 2022 champion Matt Fitzpatrick, American Sam Stevens and South Korea's Tom Kim shared the second spot on the leaderboard, at three under par.

"Yesterday, I really drove it great, and then I was just really conservative into the greens. These greens are obviously the challenge of this golf course," said Clark.

"Then today I kind of did the same thing. Wasn't as sharp, but the consistency of hitting it to kind of conservative targets really paid off."

Clark cancelled out a bogey at the par-four ninth with birdies at the 12th and 13th on Friday but ran into trouble late in the round when he landed in the bunker twice en route to another bogey on the par-five 16th. He held his nerve with a beautiful 33-foot putt for another birdie on the par-four 18th.

"The nice thing on that green is everything kind of funnels towards the hole as long as you kind of match the speed a little bit. I hit a good putt, and it was tracking," Clark told reporters. "It was a great way to finish the round. I really didn't putt my best on the green, so it's nice to have that momentum going into tomorrow."

Clark will not have history on his side this weekend, as no second-round leader at the last four US Opens at Shinnecock has gone on to win the tournament.

Starting on the back nine, Schauffele (66) jumped up the leaderboard with a single bogey on the par-five fifth hole, the only blemish in an otherwise superb day with five birdies. The Englishman Fitzpatrick birdied twice in the final three holes to avoid calamity and card an even-par 70.

Stevens (69) finished the day with three birdies and two bogeys while Kim (67) produced some of his best golf with four birdies and a bogey.

"It's a golf course that can beat you up pretty quickly," said Fitzpatrick. "You have to stay patient, but you know, if you are chasing, you can't really afford too many mistakes."

SCHEFFLER'S GRAND SLAM BID IN TROUBLE

Pre-tournament favourites Scottie Scheffler (68) and Rory McIlroy (71) were on the fringes of contention, seven shots off the lead in a crowded tie for 11th place at even par.

"If there's a course where you feel like you still have a chance if you're seven back going into the weekend like I am, it's definitely this one," said the back-to-back Masters winner McIlroy.

World number one Scheffler is attempting for the first time to complete the career Grand Slam of golf's four majors, after winning last year's PGA Championship and British Open.

"This golf course can change pretty quickly, so we'll see how the golf course presents itself tomorrow," said Scheffler, who drained a nearly 41-foot putt for birdie on the par-four 15th. He put up two more birdies and a bogey for the day.

BIG NAMES STRUGGLE

Clark's playing partner and former champion Dustin Johnson of LIV Golf was among several high-profile collapses on Friday.

Johnson was second after a terrific opening round (66) but tumbled down the leaderboard with three bogeys, a double bogey and a quadruple bogey against two birdies for a seven-over-par 77.

His fellow LIV competitors Jon Rahm (78) and Bryson DeChambeau (75) missed the cut, along with defending champion J.J. Spaun (71) and Australian Adam Scott (75), who was competing in his 100th consecutive major this week.

The cut came in at four over par, with 67 professionals and five amateurs advancing.