MIAMI — It was precisely what he needed. To be nervous. To again himself right into a nook and drive himself out. It was why Joaquin Niemann was there within the first place, flying internationally for 2 weeks in Australia. The Chilean golfer has at all times been one of the gifted gamers on any course he walks onto. However he was younger. He was relaxed. After which he went to LIV.
He saved 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 might have gained it. Nerves. Stress. Good. From the golf green on the following playoff gap, Niemann caught it, the ball 5 toes from the pin. Made the putt. Gained 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 gained three tournaments in six begins. He was top-five in three extra. He’s received 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 this planet 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 staff with LIV Golf referred to as Torque GC. He reportedly received paid $100 million to do it. And he struggled. “I didn’t play the very 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 a protracted shot, however the plan was to leap from 87th on this planet to the highest 50 and earn a spot in Augusta. And someplace in these 5 months, Niemann may need turn out to be 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 largest stage.
Amid the celebration on the 18th inexperienced, the mics picked it up. Niemann had simply gained LIV’s season-opening occasion in February in Mexico through a playoff, two days after taking pictures 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, however it was nonetheless an under-the-radar storyline. He completed fourth on the Australian PGA Championship. He gained the Australian Open. Then in January, he completed T4 on the Dubai Desert Basic on the DP World Tour. It was an unbelievable three weeks in aggressive fields, however he was nonetheless solely 59th to finish the 12 months. Niemann understood that. He figured he needed to win each Australian tournaments to maneuver into the highest 50.
The higher level was that he was extra centered. Pereira, a childhood pal from Chile, stated Niemann has at all times been nice however has additionally at all times been a relaxed individual. The sort to by no means suppose two hours forward. However final fall Niemann began to appreciate 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 largest phases. Pereira seen him working more durable, going to the fitness center extra, pushing himself and placing himself in conditions the place he needed to succeed.
“I believe I preferred 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 method to be extra centered, to arrange higher, to have my sport in higher form.”
Two weeks after Mayakoba, Augusta Nationwide gave Niemann certainly one of 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 gained once more one week after that at LIV’s occasion in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This time, an LIV course reporter interviewed Niemann and recommended he can be one of many favorites to win a serious championship.
A sarcastic Niemann dryly stated: “How is that attainable if I’m like 100 on this planet?”
Joaquin Niemann leads the season-long LIV standings after successful two of the primary three occasions. (Lintao Zhang / Getty Photographs)
If Jon Rahm is the very best participant at LIV, and possibly Brooks Koepka is a very powerful, and Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson actually received the undertaking rolling, and even Cameron Smith gained an Open Championship simply earlier than coming, then Niemann is probably the most attention-grabbing LIV participant getting into this Masters. As a result of Niemann represents one thing new. He’s the primary younger participant to turn out to be a high participant whereas taking part in within the little-watched LIV Golf league. And golf hasn’t discovered what to do with that.
Irrespective of how you are 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 any person who positive factors motivation from beating different gamers or making enemies. His motivation is inner, and his frustration is together with his ambition and concern he gained’t have alternatives to succeed in it. The truth 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 method I need to have going into these tournaments.”
And Niemann a minimum of positive factors road cred for going out and incomes it, whereas fellow LIV golfers like Talor Gooch — who gained the LIV particular person title final 12 months — 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 method 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 selections, they usually knew there can be penalties. It’s why Niemann modified his thoughts almost day by day in August 2022 earlier than leaving the PGA Tour. Then again, Torque teammate Carlos Ortiz advised Golf Journal’s “Subpar” podcast that gamers got assurances they’d obtain OWGR factors.
It leaves the profession of gamers like Niemann in an interesting spot. A lot of the different stars and staff captains already gained 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 needed them. Rahm may really feel extra comfy 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 needed him. Sure, he was as soon as the No. 1 beginner on this planet, convincingly gained the Genesis Invitational and completed eleventh within the Tour Championship after 4 years on tour, however he was simply on the way in which to turning into a drive in golf. Nonetheless very removed from being one.
Whereas Niemann was capable of earn his method into most majors this season (he’s not within the U.S. Open but however can play his method in, both through his Masters and PGA Championship efficiency or by means of open qualifying), there’s no assure he’ll be again subsequent 12 months except he thrives on this 12 months’s majors or takes the identical route he did this winter. For reference, Koepka completed second on the 2023 Masters and gained the PGA Championship however solely ranks No. 31 in OWGR. Cameron Smith is No. 62. Main success doesn’t maintain one ranked excessive ceaselessly.
Joaquin Niemann’s first LIV win got here earlier this 12 months beating Sergio Garcia in a playoff. (Manuel Velasquez / Getty Photographs)
LIV CEO Greg Norman withdrew the applying for world rating factors in March, ending the hope to vary that dialogue anytime quickly. The anticipated path for LIV to pursue now’s 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 are not any indications but that’s reasonable. 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 information of what a deal would imply for unification.
“It’s bizarre as a result of we’re taking part in to get higher and never for individuals to say, ‘Hey, you’re actually good, you’re gonna get this,’” Pereira stated, “however clearly in case you’re that good of a participant and also you’re not getting something, it’s a little bit bit unfair.”
The extra attention-grabbing component with Niemann is just consideration. Eyeballs. Understanding. If a golfer turns into one of many 10 greatest gamers on this planet and no one sees it, is he a top-10 participant on this planet? 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 study Niemann?
Which brings us to this week’s Masters.
Most of those discussions are broader points that shall 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 an ideal week at Augusta.
However even earlier than the qualification dilemma, Niemann hasn’t at all times thrived on the majors. He has simply three top-25 finishes in 19 majors, and his T16 ultimately 12 months’s Masters stays his best-ever main end. Then once more, he’s made three straight Masters cuts. This can be a place the place guys enhance over time.
The hope is that it is a completely 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 fitness center, 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 purpose it was once.
“There’s no world rankings,” Niemann stated, fascinated with tips on how to put it. “If you wish to be the very best, you need to win extra majors than anyone else.”
This week, he’ll method the primary tee at Augusta, and his coronary heart charge will get a little bit larger. His palms will get a little bit 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 Photographs)