MIAMI — That’s exactly what he wanted. Be nervous. Push yourself into a corner and push yourself out. That’s why Joaquin Niemann is here, flying across the world to spend two weeks in Australia. The Chilean golfer has always been one of the most talented players on any course he has ever played. But he is still young. He is very relaxed. Then he went to LIV.
At the Australian Open, he kept pushing himself into that corner. He gave up a two-shot lead in the final holes to force a playoff. Then he missed a game-winning birdie on the first playoff hole. nerve. pressure. OK On the fairway of the next extended hole, Niemann hit his ball five feet from the flagstick. The putt worked. Win the Australian Open.
That shot could have put Niemann in the 2024 Masters.
Joaquin Niemann is the hottest player in men’s golf, not Scottie Scheffler. He is 25 years old. He had just won three games in six games. He finished in the top five in three other races. He has one win at Riviera and a total of five career wins. He shot 59 on the former PGA Tour course. So you might think he’s a star, right? Although he is ranked No. 9 in the world on DataGolf (which ranks all players on all tours), he is ranked No. 91 in the Official World Golf Rankings (which does not rank LIV pros).
Two years ago, Niemann chose to leave the PGA Tour and serve as captain of LIV Golf’s all-Latin America team called Torque GC. He was reportedly paid $100 million for the effort. He struggled. “I didn’t play my best,” he said. He finished 21st in the 2023 LIV standings and lost his exemption from future majors.
Therefore, Niemann made plans to go to Australia during the “offseason”. And Dubai. Then there is Oman. Although it was a long shot, the plan was to jump from No. 87 in the world to the top 50 and earn a spot at Augusta National. At some point during those five months, Niemann may have become the golfer he was supposed to be.
“I think you can see a change in him,” Torque teammate Mito Pereira said.
Niemann dug deep and found a part of himself that thrived under pressure. The question is whether he can do it on the biggest stage.
Microphones caught it during the celebration on the 18th green. Niemann, who had just won LIV’s season opener in a playoff in Mexico in February and shot 59 two days later, muttered before the interview began: “But I’m not in the majors yet.”
Some people think this is rude. Some people think this is awesome. But it started a conversation. Niemann’s offseason travel has drawn attention, but it remains an under-the-radar storyline. He finished fourth at the Australian PGA Championship. He won the Australian Open. Then in January, he tied for fourth at the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic. It was an incredible three weeks in a competitive field, but he still finished the year in 59th place. Niemann understands this. He believes he must win two Australian championships to break into the top 50.
More importantly, he was more focused. Pereira, a childhood friend from Chile, said Niemann had always been great but also always a relaxed person. The kind of person who never thinks two hours ahead. But last fall, Niemann began to realize he wouldn’t make it to the majors in 2024, and suddenly a player whose goal was to become No. 1 in the world had to make some changes. It doesn’t matter how good Niemann is if he can’t perform on the biggest stage. Pereira noticed that he worked harder, went to the gym more, pushed himself, and put himself in situations where he had to succeed.
“I guess I like the pressure,” Niemann told Competitor Last week, before the LIV Masters preliminaries. “I feel like it pushed me to be better, to be more focused in a way, to be better prepared and to be in better shape for my game.”
Two weeks after Mayakoba, Augusta National extended Niemann one of three special invitations to the Masters, but made no mention of his performance on the breakaway tour. The same week, he competed in the Asian Tour event in Oman and finished third. A week later, Niemann won again at the LIV event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This time, LIV Stadium reporters interviewed Niemann and hinted that he will be one of the favorites to win the major championship.
Niemann said sarcastically: “How is this possible if I’m the 100th person in the world?”
Joaquin Niemann remains atop the LIV standings all season long after winning two of the first three races. (Zhang Lintao/Getty Images)
If Jon Rahm is LIV’s best player, maybe Brooks Koepka is the most important, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson Mickelson really pushed the program forward and even Cameron Smith won the Open Championship before he came, so Niemann is LIV’s most interesting player coming into this Masters. Because Niemann represents something new.He is the first young player become Become a top player while playing in the little known LIV Golf League. Golf hasn’t figured out how to deal with this problem yet.
Whatever you think of LIV or the Official World Golf Ranking or Niemann’s candid comments about it, it’s clear Niemann cares about the majors. He cares about his place in golf. He has stated many times that he has no hostile intentions and is not someone who gets motivation by defeating other players or making enemies. His motivation is intrinsic and his frustration comes from his ambition and fear that he has no chance of achieving it. The reality is that the majors carry more weight than ever before on the tier-one circuit.
“I want to win a major,” Niemann said. “That’s the message I want to send to myself, that’s the way I want to go into these games.”
Niemann at least has some street cred for going out and earning it, while LIV golfers like Talor Gooch, who won the LIV individual title last year, have criticized the Masters for not providing access to top LIV players. That’s not lost on Niemann’s old PGA Tour peers.
“(Joaquin) has been chasing his tail around the world to get to this, get to Augusta or show enough form to get an invitation. I don’t know if Tallow can say the same,” Rory McIlroy said in February.
This is the challenge for Niemann and LIV going forward. Niemann, Gooch and the 50 others on the LIV made a choice they knew would have consequences. That’s why Niemann changed his mind almost daily before leaving the PGA Tour in August 2022. On the other hand, Torque teammate Carlos Ortiz said on Golf Magazine’s “Subpar” podcast that players have been guaranteed that they will receive OWGR points.
This puts a player like Niemann in a fascinating position in his career. Most other stars and captains had already won majors, gained fame and become household names before joining LIV. Their success and acclaim are exactly why LIV wanted them. Rahm may feel more comfortable making the move after winning the Masters and U.S. Open, which gave him several years of immunity. Niemann’s potential and international influence are the reasons why LIV wanted him. Yes, he was once the world’s No. 1 amateur, convincingly won the Genesis Invitational and finished 11th at the Tour Championship after four years on tour, but he was only just becoming a force in golf. Still a long way from being one of them.
While Niemann is able to make it to most majors this season (he has yet to play in the U.S. Open but could through his Masters and PGA Championship performances or through open qualifying), there’s no guarantee he’ll be back unless he’s in this year’s Perform well in the majors or go the route he did this winter or he won’t do it next year. For reference, Koepka finished second at the 2023 Masters and won the PGA Championship, but was ranked only 31st in OWGR. Cameron Smith ranks 62nd. Major success doesn’t keep rankings high forever.
Joaquin Niemann earned his first win at LIV when he defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff earlier this year. (Manuel Velazquez/Getty Images)
LIV chief executive Greg Norman withdrew his request for world ranking points in March, ending hopes of changing the discussion soon. LIV’s current expected path is to enter into talks with the four bodies that govern the Grand Slams to offer a certain number of spots to players at the top of the LIV standings, but there is no indication yet that this is realistic. While the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (which provides funding for LIV) are still in talks to improve the sport, there is still no realistic timeline. Little is known about what the deal would mean for reunification.
“It’s weird because we play to get better, not for people to say, ‘Hey, you’re really good, you’re going to get this,'” Pereira said. “But obviously, if you have that Good, good players and you get nothing, which is a little bit unfair.”
Niemann’s more interesting element is attention. eyeball. understand. If a golfer becomes one of the top 10 best players in the world and no one sees it, is he a top 10 player in the world? When LIV caught the golf world’s attention in February with the suspension of the PGA Tour’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am, CBS’ rerun of the PGA Tour’s third round still drew 11 times the audience of LIV on the CW network. Niemann is certainly good, but he has no OWGR points, he has no clear path to the majors, and his play is difficult to watch.
Golf fans already know who Rahm, Mixon, Koepka and Johnson are. How will casual fans learn about Niemann?
Which brings us to this week’s Masters.
Most of these discussions are broader issues that will take years to determine. Niemann will now compete in the Masters for the fifth time. He is ranked 9th on DataGolf and has the eighth-best winning odds on BetMGM. The respect for Niemann is there. For him, the best way to express himself is to spend a good week in Augusta.
But even before the eligibility woes, Niemann didn’t always perform well in the majors. He has finished in the top 25 just three times in 19 majors, and a tie for 16th at last year’s Masters remains his best major finish ever. Then again, he has advanced to the Masters three times in a row. This is a place where people improve over time.
Hopefully this is a different Niemann. Last fall, this guy went to his friend and said, “I need to make it to the major leagues.” The guy who spent more time in the gym, worked harder, understood that he needed to put pressure on himself, and when he got pressure, he Taken to the next level.
This version of Niemann understands that OWGR No. 1 is no longer the goal it once was.
“There is no world ranking,” Niemann said, thinking about how to express it. “If you want to be the best, you have to win more Grand Slams than anyone else.”
This week, as he approaches the first tee at Augusta National, his heart rate will get a little higher. His hands will become a little shaky. He will be nervous. We’ll find out if Niemann is ready.
(Illustration above: Eamonn Dalton / Competitor; Photo: Mark Metcalf/Getty Images)
