Joaquin Niman (25-Chile), who received a special invitation from the organizers of the Masters Tournament in April, proved his worth.
Niman carded five birdies and one bogey in a 4-under 66 in the final three rounds of the third edition of the $25 million LIVGolf event at the Royal Greens and Country Club (Par 70) in King Abdul Economic City, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday.
With a final total of 17-under par 193, Niemann finished four strokes clear of the second-place group (Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel-Ing Sang of South Africa).
It’s been a month since the start of the LIV Golf season and Neiman already has two wins. This makes him the first LIVGolf player to record multiple wins this season. Last year, Taylor Gooch (USA) led LIV Golf with three wins, while Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka (USA) and Cameron Smith (AUS) each recorded two wins.
Neiman, who unexpectedly turned pro in 2018 after his GPA fell short of university admission standards, earned special provisional status with three top-10 finishes in his first five PGA Tour events and one more top-10 finish on the PGA Tour that year to earn more FedExCup points than the 125th-place finisher in the FedExCup. He went on to win twice on the PGA Tour and climbed to No. 15 in the world, but after joining LIVGolf in 2022, Neiman went winless and slipped to No. 87 in the world rankings, putting his chances of qualifying for a major in jeopardy.
In addition to the LIVGolf Series, Niemann has been competing on the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) and Asian Tour, where he earns world ranking points, and he won the DP World Tour ISPS Handa Australian Open in December, earning him a special invitation to the Masters from Augusta National, which hosts the Masters. He has been on fire of late, tying for fourth at the DP World Tour Hero Dubai Desert Classic and finishing third at the Asian Tour International Series event in Oman.
With this win, Neiman has now earned over $1 million in just three LIVGolf events this year. After securing $8 million in individual prize money at two events, Neiman added $125,000 for his third-place team finish at Mayakoba, his first LIVGolf victory, and $145,000 for his 33rd-place individual finish at the second event of the season, bringing his LIVGolf earnings to $8.28 million this season.
“This is the best moment of my life,” Niemann told LIVGolf after the match, “and I’m going to continue in this direction. “I want to keep going in this direction,” he said, adding, “I always want to feel like I’m the 메이저토토사이트 best and I want to think that way, because that’s the only way you get confidence in your golf game,” and looking beyond the LIVGolf stage to the Masters in April.
Oosthuizen and Schwartzel (South Africa) finished second individually behind Niemann, while Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm (Spain) tied for fourth at 12-under 198 and fifth at 11-under 199, respectively. DeChambeau shared first place in the team competition with Paul Casey (England), Charles Howell III (USA) and Anirban Lahiri (India) at 38-under par.
Meanwhile, Anthony Kim (USA), who made a sensational return to the professional ranks after a 12-year absence, had to contend with a three-day score of 16-over-par 226. He is tied for last place among the 54 players competing in the individual competition, excluding Mashu Wolfe (England), who withdrew. Anthony Kim walked away with $50,000 (approx. $66,000) thanks to LIVGolf’s policy of awarding every player a prize unless they withdraw.