On Golf Channel’s “Live From,” Brandel Chamblee pointed to Tiger Woods’ on-course profanity and club-throwing as an exception that drew little criticism, while also referencing recent U.S. Open incidents involving Joaquín Niemann and Jon Rahm.
By Friday, the conversation at the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills wasn’t only about who could score under pressure—it was about what players do when pressure boils over.
During the first round at Shinnecock Hills, Joaquín Niemann was issued a two-stroke penalty after throwing a club and violating golf’s new code of conduct policy. The incident happened on the par-4 sixth hole, where he ultimately recorded an 11.
Then, in the second round of the championship, Jon Rahm was caught on a hot mic screaming the f-word after missing a short putt.
The week’s focus on behavior carried into the Golf Channel’s Friday edition of “Live From,” where Brandel Chamblee tried to locate the moment cursing and over-the-top outbursts started to feel less like an interruption and more like background noise.
Chamblee didn’t dress it up. He compared today’s standards to what he said he never saw from some of the game’s biggest names. “I never saw Jack Nicklaus throw a club. Never heard him yell an F-bomb. Never heard a profane word from him on the golf course,” Chamblee explained.
He kept going. “I never saw Palmer do it. Never Tom Watson. Pick your player. Greg Norman, all the bad losses he had, he never threw a club, never swore. Say what you like about Phil Mickelson, but I’ve never seen him throw a club or drop an F-bomb,” he continued.
And then he pivoted to the player whose name has long been synonymous with intensity: Tiger Woods.
“The same wasn’t true about Tiger Woods. One of the best players ever, we all love him, everybody got rich off him, but he was one of the most profane golfers to ever play the game. Nobody ever criticized him; he skated through.”
For fans who watched Woods’ prime run, the criticism wasn’t about talent—it was about credibility and accountability, especially in a sport where the response to misconduct is supposed to be consistent.
Chamblee, a former PGA Tour winner, acknowledged he hasn’t always been a perfect example himself. He admitted he has said “some choice words” and thrown a club on the golf course “a time or two.” But he drew a line between what happened in earlier eras and the reality now.
“I wasn’t on TV much, and these guys are videotaped everywhere they go. TV is everywhere. So they have, I would say, a bigger burden than you and I would have had, no doubt about it,” he said.
He followed with a harsher message about what that scrutiny demands from players. “But with that burden comes unimaginable wealth. It goes with the scrutiny. And composure is a skill — it’s a skill. It’s lazy to throw clubs, and it’s lazy to drop F-bombs when you know the whole world is watching.”
The subject has been on edge at Shinnecock all week, not only because of the penalties and hot-mic moments, but because golf is the kind of sport where emotion can turn instantly—and linger.
That tension has been discussed again and again throughout the championship, including around Wyndham Clark, who was atop the leaderboard going into Sunday and had a noteworthy outburst inside the Oakmont clubhouse during the 2025 U.S. Open.
Chamblee’s point, delivered without soft edges, landed on one central contradiction: if cursing and club-throwing have become increasingly visible—and increasingly punishable—then the question hanging over Woods is why so much of his worst behavior ever seemed to receive less heat than it does now.
Brandel Chamblee Tiger Woods U.S. Open 2026 Shinnecock Hills Joaquín Niemann Jon Rahm Live From golf code of conduct profane behavior PGA Tour