Joaquin Niemann opened his 2024 season with the round of every golfer’s dreams.
The Chilean captain of Torque GC fired a 12-under-par 59 Friday on the first day of LIV Golf Mayakoba, LIV’s season opener in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
The sparkling performance put Niemann five shots clear of the field. Patrick Reed of 4Aces is second after a bogey-free, 7-under 64, and Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia of Spain opened with a 6-under 65 to take third place.
Niemann began his round on the second hole at El Camaleon Golf Course and quickly went on a birdie spree, making five straight at Nos. 3-7. At the par-4 11th, his second shot took one hop on the green and dunked into the hole for an eagle that brought him to 9 under par.
He added the final three of his 10 birdies at Nos. 13, 15 and 17 to get to 12 under par with two holes to spare. His par-par finish secured the course record and the second sub-60 round in LIV’s three-year history; Bryson DeChambeau shot a final-round 58 to win at Greenbrier last season.
“It was obviously an amazing round,” Niemann said. “... It was good to hit good tee shots on the last couple holes where they’re kind of tricky, especially 16, 18, and No. 1. I gave myself a few chances also the last couple holes to go even lower, but yeah, still really, really happy.”
Niemann said he didn’t want to “do the math” of how close he was to a 59 during his round.
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“I knew if I kept myself calm and if I kept myself the same way I was on the first couple holes, I knew it was going to be a really low day, and I felt that I was able to do that during the whole day,” he said. “I felt like I was calm the whole day. I never went ahead of myself. I stuck to my routine. I visualized my shots, and I just went ahead and compromised with all those shots, and I was really confident on all of them.”
World No. 3 Jon Rahm of Spain made his LIV debut after switching allegiances from the PGA Tour in December. The captain of the all-new Legion XIII opened with five birdies in seven holes and was 7 under through 15, but a bogey-bogey finish set him back to a tie for fourth at 5-under 66 with Englishmen Laurie Canter and Richard Bland.
Rahm, a two-time major winner and the reigning Masters champ, said he felt pressure on the first tee of his debut round.
“I think it’s almost impossible to be 100 percent sure of how you’re going to play, but I’m always confident that I can perform,” Rahm said. “I think the tale for me was how I stroked the tee shots on 1 and 2. Those two were picture-perfect drives. To start like that was something that obviously gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the day.”
Torque leads the group competition by five shots, as well, thanks to Niemann’s 12-under round plus the scores of Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz (3-under 68) and Chile’s Mito Pereira (2-over 73).
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