THE MODERATOR: Joaquin Niemann, 5-under 65. Just a great round of golf. Start there.
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: You birdied 5 of 6 holes at a U.S. Open. What was working well during that stretch?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I mean, everything, everything was on. Yeah, I mean, hit great tee shots. I kind of went out with a pretty aggressive mindset, so yeah, I mean, it worked out.
Sometimes, especially in these tournaments, could go the other way, and this time it worked.
Q. Joaquin, can you explain what happened on No. 6 last night? Did you think you deserved to be penalized?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I mean, I hit it two times out of bounds on the right, two bad swings. Then, yeah, got pretty frustrated. I'm not someone that like to be in that behavior. I'm the first one to judge myself when I don't behave on the golf course.
Yeah, that was a misbehave from my part. I felt like a little bit extra penalized with 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.
Q. There was a report, something about (indiscernible) fire ants or something like that and you were trying to get some relief off of that? Is that what triggered you?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I was playing good golf. I got expectations. I would like to win this tournament, as anybody here. Yeah, I mean, I work hard every day to give me my best chance on winning.
Yeah, I mean, I hit two terrible tee shots, came out of nowhere. Hitting the golf ball at 8:30 p.m., I felt like my body wasn't quite there. Yeah, I had a bad lie on the third tee shot in between the fairways, and it was a pretty bad lie.
I saw a lot of ants there, and I was just asking the referee if they were fire ants, and like, he say, no. To be honest, I was pretty -- I wasn't angry asking him. I was pretty normal, pretty chill, because I knew I needed to keep going and try to shoot the less possible.
After that shot, I hit it, I lay up, and the whole frustration went inside me. I think they blew the horn already. I'm not sure if they did or not, but after I hit that shot, yeah, I was -- like all the frustration that came inside me and had my club in my hand, and I couldn't resist to throw it away.
Yeah, I mean, I was looking around. There was no people, obviously. No one there. I'm not proud of it, but yeah, I mean, sometimes, you know, all the expectation of trying to play well and things doesn't go your way, you get frustrated, and that was me there.
Q. Just as a quick follow, how did you mentally kind of clear yourself into your second round to shoot the number you had? How were you able to do that?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: I think with just good team around me. Finished the round, I have four or five people on my team around me. I was frustrated. They were trying to get me up. I just tried to do my best.
Q. Joaquin, what club did you throw?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: My sand wedge.
Yeah, I played good today too, though. Thank you. Thanks for asking.
Q. If you don't mind, were you aware of this rule about misconduct?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: No. I mean -- no, I wasn't.
Q. When they told you, where were you? Was it like on the tee or inside? Did you try to argue it at all or state your case? Did you have any ability to see if they would change their mind?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I mean, obviously I finished my round this morning. I had three holes left. Signed my scorecard, and then a referee came up to me and said, I need to talk to you. I was, like, sure. I knew I had a misbehavior, but I feel like everybody had some, and it's never going to anything major like two-shot penalty, you know?
So, yeah, I mean, he start talking to me. They consider with the whole committee that it was a right decision to give me a two-shot penalty, which I kind of, like, a little bit -- obviously I was trying to argue back and try to don't get those two-shot penalty.
But, yeah, I mean, it's their decision, and I feel like, yeah, I wouldn't be happy seeing players throwing clubs and behaving that way so yeah, I mean, I agree.
Q. Just to clarify, did they tell you then before you signed your card?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Right after.
Q. Right after. So then they went and added it after that?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah. And they added on my 6th hole. Yeah, I didn't break two digits there.
Q. How much time from getting that penalty before you teed off?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: 37 minutes.
Q. Oh, you counted?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah.
Q. How did you shoot 65? That's a lot going on from Thursday night, from finishing, from the penalty. How did you do it?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, it was hard. I mean, took me probably 30 minutes to get over it, then two minutes to hit some tee shots, two putts, and then go out. Yeah, I mean, nice birdie on the 1st and the 2nd. So, yeah, it was a good start.
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