MIAMI — It was precisely what he wished. To be nervous. To again himself right into a nook and power himself out. It was why Joaquin Niemann was there within the first place, flying the world over for 2 weeks in Australia. The Chilean golfer has all the time been probably the most gifted gamers on any course he walks onto. However he was younger. He was relaxed. After which he went to LIV.
He stored backing himself into that nook on the Australian Open. He gave up a two-shot lead within the ultimate holes to permit a playoff. Then he missed a makeable birdie on the primary playoff gap that may have received it. Nerves. Stress. Good. From the green on the subsequent playoff gap, Niemann caught it, the ball 5 ft from the pin. Made the putt. Received the Australian Open.
That shot most likely performed Niemann into the 2024 Masters.
Joaquin Niemann is the most popular participant in males’s golf not named Scottie Scheffler. He’s 25. He simply received three tournaments in six begins. He was top-five in three extra. He’s obtained a win at Riviera and 5 skilled wins in complete. He shot a 59 at a former PGA Tour course. So that you would possibly assume he’s a star, proper? However regardless of being No. 9 on the earth on DataGolf (which ranks all gamers from all excursions), he’s No. 91 within the Official World Golf Rating (which doesn’t rank LIV execs).
Niemann selected two years in the past to depart the PGA Tour and captain an all-Latin American workforce with LIV Golf referred to as Torque GC. He reportedly obtained paid $100 million to do it. And he struggled. “I didn’t play one of the best,” he stated. He completed simply twenty first within the 2023 LIV standings and was out of exemptions for future majors.
So Niemann made plans throughout his “offseason” to go to Australia. And Dubai. After which Oman. It was an extended shot, however the plan was to leap from 87th on the earth to the highest 50 and earn a spot in Augusta. And someplace in these 5 months, Niemann may need turn into the golfer he was purported to be.
“I really feel like you could possibly see a change in him,” Torque teammate Mito Pereira stated.
Niemann has dug deep and located a model of himself who thrives beneath strain. The query is that if he can do it on the most important stage.
Amid the celebration on the 18th inexperienced, the mics picked it up. Niemann had simply received LIV’s season-opening occasion in February in Mexico through a playoff, two days after capturing a 59, and earlier than the interview may even begin, Niemann muttered: “However I’m not within the majors.”
Some noticed it as crass. Some thought it was superior. Nevertheless it began the dialog. Niemann’s offseason journeys have been seen, but it surely was nonetheless an under-the-radar storyline. He completed fourth on the Australian PGA Championship. He received the Australian Open. Then in January, he completed T4 on the Dubai Desert Traditional on the DP World Tour. It was an unimaginable three weeks in aggressive fields, however he was nonetheless solely 59th to finish the yr. Niemann understood that. He figured he needed to win each Australian tournaments to maneuver into the highest 50.
The better level was that he was extra centered. Pereira, a childhood pal from Chile, stated Niemann has all the time been nice however has additionally all the time been a relaxed particular person. The kind to by no means suppose two hours forward. However final fall Niemann began to understand he wouldn’t be within the majors in 2024, and immediately a participant who had objectives of being world No. 1 needed to change one thing. It wouldn’t matter how good Niemann was if he couldn’t play on the most important phases. Pereira seen him working tougher, going to the gymnasium extra, pushing himself and placing himself in conditions the place he needed to succeed.
“I feel I favored that sort of strain,” Niemann advised The Athletic final week earlier than LIV’s pre-Masters event. “I really feel prefer it pushed me to be higher, in a sure approach to be extra centered, to arrange higher, to have my sport in higher form.”
Two weeks after Mayakoba, Augusta Nationwide gave Niemann one among three particular invites to the Masters with out mentioning his play on the breakaway tour. That very same week, he performed at an Asian Tour occasion in Oman and positioned third. Niemann received once more one week after that at LIV’s occasion in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This time, an LIV course reporter interviewed Niemann and advised he could be one of many favorites to win a significant championship.
A sarcastic Niemann dryly stated: “How is that attainable if I’m like 100 on the earth?”
Joaquin Niemann leads the season-long LIV standings after successful two of the primary three occasions. (Lintao Zhang / Getty Pictures)
If Jon Rahm is one of the best participant at LIV, and perhaps Brooks Koepka is an important, and Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson actually obtained the venture rolling, and even Cameron Smith received an Open Championship simply earlier than coming, then Niemann is essentially the most attention-grabbing LIV participant coming into this Masters. As a result of Niemann represents one thing new. He’s the primary younger participant to turn into a high participant whereas enjoying within the little-watched LIV Golf league. And golf hasn’t discovered what to do with that.
Regardless of how you’re feeling about LIV or Official World Golf Rating or Niemann’s candid feedback on all of it, it’s clear that Niemann cares in regards to the majors. He cares about his place in golf. He stated a number of instances that he doesn’t imply to be antagonistic, and he’s not someone who beneficial properties motivation from beating different gamers or making enemies. His motivation is inner, and his frustration is together with his ambition and concern he received’t have alternatives to succeed in it. The fact is the majors carry extra weight than ever in a divided tour.
“I need to win the majors,” Niemann stated. “That’s the message that I need to give to myself, and that’s the strategy I need to have going into these tournaments.”
And Niemann a minimum of beneficial properties avenue cred for going out and incomes it, whereas fellow LIV golfers like Talor Gooch — who received the LIV particular person title final yr — have criticized the Masters for not giving spots to high LIV gamers. That has not gone unnoticed amongst Niemann’s previous PGA Tour friends.
“(Joaquin) has been chasing his tail all over the world to get this, play his means into Augusta or present sufficient type to warrant an invitation. I don’t know if the identical could be stated for Talor,” Rory McIlroy stated in February.
That is the problem for Niemann and LIV going ahead. Niemann, Gooch and the 50 others on LIV made decisions, they usually knew there could be penalties. It’s why Niemann modified his thoughts practically every single day in August 2022 earlier than leaving the PGA Tour. However, Torque teammate Carlos Ortiz advised Golf Journal’s “Subpar” podcast that gamers got assurances they might obtain OWGR factors.
It leaves the profession of gamers like Niemann in an interesting spot. Many of the different stars and workforce captains already received their majors, earned their fame and have become family names earlier than becoming a member of LIV. Their success and acclaim have been why LIV wished them. Rahm may really feel extra snug making his transfer after successful a Masters and a U.S. Open, giving him exemptions for a number of years. Niemann’s potential and worldwide attain are why LIV wished him. Sure, he was as soon as the No. 1 beginner on the earth, convincingly received the Genesis Invitational and completed eleventh within the Tour Championship after 4 years on tour, however he was simply on the best way to changing into a power in golf. Nonetheless very removed from being one.
Whereas Niemann was in a position to earn his means into most majors this season (he’s not within the U.S. Open but however can play his means in, both through his Masters and PGA Championship efficiency or by way of open qualifying), there’s no assure he’ll be again subsequent yr except he thrives on this yr’s majors or takes the identical route he did this winter. For reference, Koepka completed second on the 2023 Masters and received the PGA Championship however solely ranks No. 31 in OWGR. Cameron Smith is No. 62. Main success doesn’t hold one ranked excessive perpetually.
Joaquin Niemann’s first LIV win got here earlier this yr beating Sergio Garcia in a playoff. (Manuel Velasquez / Getty Pictures)
LIV CEO Greg Norman withdrew the applying for world rating factors in March, ending the hope to alter that dialogue anytime quickly. The anticipated path for LIV to pursue now could be in conversations with the 4 our bodies that govern the majors to offer a certain quantity of spots to the top-ranked gamers within the LIV standings, however there aren’t any indications but that’s sensible. And whereas the PGA Tour and the Public Funding Fund of Saudi Arabia (which funds LIV) stay in negotiations to fix the game, there’s nonetheless no precise timeline to take action. And there’s little data of what a deal would imply for unification.
“It’s bizarre as a result of we’re enjoying to get higher and never for individuals to say, ‘Hey, you’re actually good, you’re gonna get this,’” Pereira stated, “however clearly for those who’re that good of a participant and also you’re not getting something, it’s a bit of bit unfair.”
The extra attention-grabbing ingredient with Niemann is solely consideration. Eyeballs. Understanding. If a golfer turns into one of many 10 finest gamers on the earth and no person sees it, is he a top-10 participant on the earth? When LIV had the golf world’s consideration to itself in February because of a rainout of the PGA Tour’s Pebble Seashore Professional-Am, the rerun of the PGA Tour’s third spherical on CBS nonetheless garnered 11 instances extra viewers than LIV on the CW Community. Niemann is legitimately good, however he’s not incomes OWGR factors, he doesn’t have a transparent path to majors, and his play is hardly being seen.
Golf followers already knew who Rahm, Mickelson, Koepka and Johnson have been. How will the informal followers find out about Niemann?
Which brings us to this week’s Masters.
Most of those discussions are broader points that might be decided over years and years. Proper now, Niemann will play the Masters for the fifth time. He ranks No. 9 on DataGolf and has the eighth-highest odds to win at BetMGM. The respect for Niemann is there. And one of the simplest ways for him to announce himself is with a fantastic week at Augusta.
However even earlier than the qualification dilemma, Niemann hasn’t all the time thrived on the majors. He has simply three top-25 finishes in 19 majors, and his T16 ultimately yr’s Masters stays his best-ever main end. Then once more, he’s made three straight Masters cuts. It is a place the place guys enhance over time.
The hope is that it is a totally different Niemann. That is the man who went to his buddies final fall and stated, “I must get into the majors.” The one who spent extra time within the gymnasium, who practiced with extra focus, who understood he wanted strain on himself, and as soon as he had it he rose to a brand new stage.
This model of Niemann understands that OWGR No. 1 is now not the objective it was once.
“There’s no world rankings,” Niemann stated, enthusiastic about find out how to put it. “If you wish to be one of the best, you need to win extra majors than anyone else.”
This week, he’ll strategy the primary tee at Augusta, and his coronary heart price will get a bit of increased. His palms will get a bit of shakier. He’ll be nervous. And we’ll discover out if Niemann is prepared.
(High photograph illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; photograph: Mark Metcalfe / Getty Pictures)
