SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — The U.S. Open summary for Joaquin Niemann looks like this: 71 holes of solid golf, one really bad one, a thrown club, a two-shot penalty and the willpower to not spend too much time wondering about what might have been.
"If my grandmother had tires, she'd be a car," Niemann said Sunday, after wrapping up a tournament sullied by an opening-round 11 on the par-4 sixth hole that featured two tee shots out of bounds and two penalty strokes for hurling his club in frustration.
Niemann shot 4-under 66 in the final round to finish at 1-over 281. It doesn't take heavy math to imagine the possibilities had he not shot 7-over par on one hole. More urgently, when he left the course, his 281 put him in a tie for seventh, which would earn him the invitation for next year that goes to the the top-10 finishers and ties.
His 66 paired with a 65 he shot in the second round, shortly after learning his 9 on No. 6 had been **** ped up two shots for violating the code of conduct. It meant Niemann was a good bet to tie for the two best rounds of the tournament along with recording the single worst one-hole score of the four rounds.
"A good experience, a good test for myself," he said. "What happened on Thursday and coming back, I was pretty proud of" myself.