PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA | Joaquin Niemann needed a moment to call his own on the PGA Tour.
He created it with his performance in going wire to wire to win the Genesis Invitational on Sunday at Riviera Country Club, by two strokes ahead of Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young.
It’s one thing to win a fall event at the Greenbrier, as Niemann did three years ago. It’s something else to win against a field that included the top 11 players in the world rankings in an event hosted by Tiger Woods.
“The first two days it was a different tournament for me. It was my best golf,” Niemann said.
“I knew the weekend was going to be hard, it was going to be a battle. I knew I had to be fighting myself a lot those two days …
“I was more surprised by how good I handled myself on the course during the weekend. I didn’t play my best golf but I was impressed by the way I handled it.”
Niemann flirted with the tournament scoring record at Riviera, reaching 21-under through 67 holes before falling one stroke short of the 20-under-par total set by Lanny Wadkins in 1985, an enduring testimony to the charm and challenge of the classic layout.
What Niemann did Thursday and Friday, playing in nearly ideal conditions, could last as long as Wadkins’ 72-hole record. Niemann’s 63-63 start was four strokes lower than any player had previously posted at Riviera.
Before winning, Niemann called the Genesis Invitational his favorite event of the year. He likes Riviera, he likes Los Angeles and he likes gathering in the house he shares with Sergio García, Sebastián Muñoz and Carlos Ortiz, where they eat dinner and hang out together in the evenings.
They were all there behind the 18th green when Niemann finished his second PGA Tour victory.
“We can have an interesting night, we can have nice dinners, we can talk a lot,” Niemann said. “We have a great time during the time off the golf course.”
The top-ranked amateur in the world for nearly a year in 2017-18, Niemann has a distinctive swing that features a significant head dip in his downswing. The move allows him to create inordinate power and it has helped land him at No. 20 in the latest world rankings.
Niemann is one of the players rumored to be interested in joining the proposed Saudi-backed golf league led by Greg Norman. Asked about interest in the new venture, which likely would cost players PGA Tour membership, Niemann deflected the question through the week, saying he did not want to comment on the subject.
It came up again Sunday evening when Niemann was asked about a volatile week in which many of the top players declared their allegiance to the PGA Tour.
“Everybody is here to compete with the best players in the world,” he said. “I’m here to do the same. I want to be No. 1 in the world one day.
“There is nothing better than what I’m feeling right now winning a PGA Tour event, getting the trophy, having Tiger there. There is nothing that can beat that.”
Ron Green Jr.