Regardless of what tour or continent he plays on, Joaquín Niemann shows no sign of slowing his momentum.
Niemann started with one birdie and finished with two more in a Sunday 66 in LIV Golf Jeddah, pulling away to a four-shot victory over South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel at Royal Greens Golf Club in Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Economic City. His lead was never challenged on Sunday as nobody got closer than two strokes en route to his 17-under 193 total.
“It’s always nice when you win,” Niemann said. “It was a tough day. It was windy. I knew there was going to be some low scores, so I’m super happy. I’m proud of the way I’m playing. I just want to … on to the next one.”
It was Niemann’s second victory in three LIV Golf starts this season and third worldwide since December, including the Australian Open and LIV Golf Mexico. Niemann has finished fifth or better in six of seven starts since November on tours including the DP World, Asian and PGA of Australasia. His globetrotting in an effort to attain Official Golf World Ranking points unavailable on LIV was rewarded with a special invitation to compete in the 2024 Masters and a qualifying spot in the Open Championship at Royal Troon.
“I feel like it’s probably my best moment, the best I’ve ever played before, I would say,” the 25-year-old Chilean said of his torrid form. “I just want it to keep going in the same direction. I think there is a lot more to improve, and I think I just need to be curious about that and see how much I can learn.”
“Joaco played really good today, and I didn’t have enough good chances,” said Schwartzel, who trailed by two to start the final round and was trying to earn his first win since LIV’s inaugural event in 2022 near London.
"I knew there was going to be some low scores, so I’m super happy. I’m proud of the way I’m playing. "
Joaquín Niemann
The runner-up efforts of Oosthuizen and Schwartzel weren’t even consolation enough for the all-South African Stingers team to win, as the Crushers rallied from 11 behind to win the team element by four thanks to a cumulative 20-under Sunday led by sizzling final rounds from Bryson DeChambeau (62), Charles Howell III (64) and Anirban Lahiri (65).
“To shoot 20-under like they did, there’s not much you can do against that,” Oosthuizen said. “They came from nowhere. “
The most anticipated story in King Abdullah Economic City was the re-emergence of Anthony Kim, and it didn’t take long for the 38-year-old American to show the rust of 12 years away from competitive golf isn’t easily shaken off.
Kim bogeyed his first hole from the middle of the fairway on the par-5 18th at Royal Greens when he topped his second shot, and he hit a shank on the fifth hole en route to a 6-over 76 to start at the bottom of the 54-player field. Kim was even par after his lone opening-round birdie at the sixth, but bogeys on six of his final 12 holes left him disappointed for a score he said didn’t reflect his form, which he insists “is not far away.”
“I would be lying to say that I didn’t have certain expectations. At least even if I played bad, I thought I would shoot around par,” said Kim, who won three times on the PGA Tour in 2008-10 before abruptly leaving the tour midyear in 2012 after a ruptured Achilles tendon. “It was unfortunate that I made so many unforced errors from the middle of the fairway. That’s generally my strength is my iron game. To make so many unforced errors is really disappointing.
“Right now, I’m just focused on trying to hit good shots as opposed to comparing my game to other people. I think that will come over the next few tournaments.”
Kim shot 76-76-74 to finish in last place at 16-over par, 11 shots behind his nearest competitor Hudson Swafford and 33 behind the winner.
Scott Michaux