Brandel Chamblee didn’t need a curse word to make his point that gentleman’s conduct in golf is spiraling out of control.
After Joaquin Niemann was penalized for throwing a club Friday at the U.S. Open on the heels of Sergio Garcia breaking his driver against a cooler at the Masters in April, Chamblee sounded off on the behavior of modern golfers who grew up watching Tiger Woods’ winning and profanity.
“It rains F-bombs on the PGA Tour,” Chamblee said on Golf Channel on Friday night.
“Clubs get thrown all the time. Tee markers get destroyed. Players have all the power in the world. Nobody reins them in. I always thought you would get fined for profanity on the PGA Tour, but I guess not because when you watch it’s just F-bomb after F-bomb after F-bomb.”
Chamblee singled out Jon Rahm for screaming the four-letter word after a missed putt Friday afternoon.
He compared that behavior to years of not hearing Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Phil Mickelson or even the often-cursed Greg Norman use foul language or throw clubs.
“I’m no prude,” Chamblee said. “I’ve played golf. I understand how crazy it gets. I’ve done it. Not that I was on TV a lot. These guys are videotaped everywhere now they go. TV is everywhere. They have, I would say, a bigger burden than you and I would have had. But with that burden comes unimaginable wealth. It goes with the scrutiny.”
Chamblee, 63, had one career win on the PGA Tour. He has been an analyst for the Golf Channel for more than two decades.
“Composure is a skill,” Chamblee said. “It’s lazy to throw clubs and it’s lazy to drop F-bombs when you know the whole world is watching. You take your kids out to watch a golf tournament and F-bombs are raining everywhere? It’s great that this code of conduct has been missed.”
Wyndham Clark was suspended from the Oakmont Country Club after bashing a locker out of frustration during the 2025 U.S. Open.
The latest offender, Niemann, received a two-stroke penalty.
He reportedly was upset that he was denied relief from fire ants near his ball, so he kicked a flag marker and “couldn’t resist” throwing his club at least 50 yards.
“I hit it two times out of bounds on the right, two bad swings,” Niemann said. “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 [on] my part. I felt like a little bit extra penalized with a 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.”