Niemann posts career-best major result with T7 finish at 2026 U.S. Open, earns 2027 exemption
Torque GC Captain finishes strong on Sunday at at Shinnecock Hills, placing inside the top 10 to secure spot at Pebble Beach next year
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann finished the 126th U.S. Open at 1 over and tied for 7th, capping a week that swung from adversity to redemption.
Players who finish inside the top 10 of the U.S. Open earn exemptions into the championship the following year, meaning Niemann will compete at Pebble Beach in 2027.
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Niemann's week will be remembered for the wild swings within it — an opening 78 that included an 11 on the par-4 sixth, two tee shots out of bounds, and a two-shot penalty for a club throw that followed him into Friday morning. He answered with one of the more remarkable response rounds of the championship, a second-round 5-under 65 built on five birdies in his first six holes.
"I played great," Niemann said of his overall week. "I feel like I've been playing great golf lately. I've got a great team around me. We're working towards our goal, that is obviously winning out here. We're getting closer and closer."
Niemann was direct in owning the moment that led to his penalty.
"I'm not happy doing that. I'm not proud about throwing a golf club," he said. "I get I deserve it in a way; I don't know. But there's nothing I can do. I feel like I learned from it."
A top-4 finish in the U.S. Open also secures a Masters invite for the following year, which Niemann fell just shy of.
Niemann explained the frustration stemmed from a tightly compressed sequence — two wayward tee shots on the same hole, an unusually long and late day on the course, and the realization that even his best remaining swing would only salvage an 8.
"I never try to offend anybody, not even the volunteers that were there," he said. "I know they do their job and they put the flag, and they do the best they can. They don't pay them to be there; they do that because they like it. I was frustrated; I kicked the flag. I didn't get pissed because I got a fire ant there. After everything went through, went back to those tee shots, and after remembering those two tee shots, I just threw the club. It was just frustration, but it's more because of the passion that I have to get better and better."
Rounds of 72 and 66 followed across the weekend, capping a finish that marks Niemann's third top-20 showing in his last five majors — with a guaranteed chance to improve on those finishes next June.
"I don't know. I feel like I need to improve a lot more," Niemann said. "It's nice to see better results. I feel like I've been playing great golf lately. I've got a great team around me. We're working towards our goal. That's the only direction I've seen since I started playing golf, that I always get closer to my goals and my dreams. I know it's one step forward to that."
