On a tough opening day at this 2026 US Open at Shinnecock Hills, star LIV Joaquin Niemann he was holding his own. That is until his final hole on Thursday night.
Moments before first-round play was suspended as darkness fell on Day 1, and just after joining two late birdies to get into contention, Niemann suffered an ugly collapse on the 6th hole that could end his hopes of winning his first major.
The worst part for the eight-time LIV winner? He still hadn’t finished the hole when the horn blew, so he was forced to sleep on it and return to the still unfolding nightmare. early Friday morning.
Joaquin Niemann’s overnight exit at the 2026 US Open
Talk about the stuff of nightmares. Niemann’s situation qualifies on multiple fronts.
The 27-year-old Chilean professional has dominated LIV Golf for the better part of two years (although without winning the LIV Individual title in any of them). But since joining the inaugural tour a few years ago, he hasn’t been able to take his elite game to non-LIV events.
Niemann played three events in 2024, with his best finish a T22 at the Masters. He did not qualify for the US Open that year.
Last season, he earned his best major finish ever, a T8 at the 2025 PGA, but then promptly missed the cuts at both the Open and the US Open.
This week, Niemann will play his third major of the year in the Shinnecock Hillsbut it is only his second major start of 2026 after failing to earn an invitation to the Masters.
Departure 10 pm late thanks to a fog delayNiemann struggled early Thursday, bogeying the par-4 14th and par-5 16th to finish his front nine at two over.
But when he went to the front nine, Niemann’s fortunes and game began to change. He birdied the 3rd and then added another on the par-5 5th. Suddenly, Niemann was back at even par and in deep contention.
That’s when disaster struck.
Thanks to the late start, by the time Niemann’s set reached the 480-yard par-4 6th on Thursday evening, darkness had begun to fall and it was clear that play would be suspended at any moment.
Niemann surely wishes the round had been called a few minutes earlier. On the 6th, he sent his first shot far enough to the right that it crossed the fairway that runs along the side of the hole.
That shot ended up well out of bounds, forcing Niemann to reload and hit his third tee shot. Still reeling from the first missed ball, Niemann reeled in and fired again… only to see his second ball fly almost exactly the same line as the first.
OB again.
In just a few minutes, Niemann found himself taking his third shot from the tee, but thanks to penalties, he hit 5.
While Niemann’s third shot didn’t go OB like his first two, it ended up in a home stretch that reaches the middle of the 6th fairway like a peninsula. From a fat lie, he could only advance his sixth shot 113 yards to the fairway.
In a cruel twist of fate, play was officially suspended due to darkness at that point, meaning Niemann had to go back to his rental apartment and try to sleep knowing he was laying 6 on a par-4 fairway.
Niemann woke up bright and early on Friday, and at 6:35 a.m. ET he returned to the unfolding disaster he had been forced to abandon less than 10 hours earlier.
A look at Joaquin Niemann’s 6th hole in Round 1 of the 2026 US Open.
USOpen.com
His seventh shot on the hole, and his first on Friday, went just short of the green. With his eighth shot, the LIV star finally made it to the dance floor, where he decided to officially record a five-bogey 9.
With that lopsided number, Niemann dropped from even par to five. In the leaderboardhe dropped nearly a hundred spots from T17 to T112.
Thanks to his unceremonious collapse, Niemann won’t be fighting for position over his final 21 holes on Friday. Instead, he will struggle just to make the cut.
;)
