Tag: Torque GC

Joaquin Niemann wins 2024 LIV Golf season opener at Mayakoba after four-hole playoff against Sergio Garcia

Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII won the team title in their first event.

Despite a two-stroke penalty and a marathon playoff, Joaquin Niemann is a LIV Golf champion.

The 25-year-old from Chile went wire-to-wire to claim his first win on the Saudi-backed circuit at the league’s 2024 opener at Mayakoba’s El Camaleon Golf Course in Mexico following a four-hole playoff in the dark against Sergio Garcia on Sunday. Niemann, who shot a blistering 12-under 59 in the first round, made one final clutch to seal the deal for his first win since joining the league.

“Yeah, it was a lot of different days,” Niemann said. “I think it gave me more energy to go out and fight and prove myself that it’s not going to bother me. I’m pretty happy that the day ended up this way, especially how the morning started. I think dinner is going to taste a little bit better than breakfast.”

Few players have played more than Niemann in recent months as the Torque GC captain has attempted to raise his Official World Golf Ranking (No. 66) in order to gain access to the major championships in 2024. Niemann finished fifth at the Australian PGA Championship and then won the Australian Open at the tail end of 2023 before a T-4 finish at last month’s Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour.

“It’s hard to tell, especially in this game which is hard,” Niemann, who earned $4 million for the win, said of his expectations entering the week. “But yeah, I was playing great. I was being really confident on the golf course and hitting my shots. I was more excited than anything to start the season, to start playing on LIV and start playing for my teammates. I was just excited to get started.”

The newly formed expansion team Legion XIII, captained by Jon Rahm, won the team title by four shots at 24 under, followed by 2023 team champions Crushers GC (20 under) and Niemann’s Torque GC (17 under). Rahm also finished T-3 on the individual leaderboard at 10 under alongside Stinger GC’s Dean Burmester.

“It’s very nice in a day in which in any normal tournament I probably would have been upset at my finish to actually have something to celebrate,” said Rahm, “and that is one of the big reasons why I decided to transition, to share the stage with those three guys, to share the golf course with all the other teams and compete for something else is what it’s all about. It means a lot.”

“We all come out here pretty much as rookies,” Rahm added. “I know (Kieran Vincent) played one or two rounds for Team Smash last year, and he knew a little bit about what to expect, but three of us didn’t. For us to do what we did and perform and get the win, I’m glad that we proved it to ourselves and everybody that we’re a team to reckon with.”

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LIV Golf captain claims ’10 to 20 people’ are interested in buying his team

One word keeps popping up this week at the LIV Golf Team Championship: Interest.

DORAL, Fla. — One word keeps popping up this week at the LIV Golf Team Championship: Interest.

Ahead of the $50 million finale at Trump National Doral, players like Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson have hinted at what may be a busy offseason full of player movement, though it should be noted the same things were said last year and just a few players changed teams. On top of that, the highest-profile player that was signed was Thomas Pieters. Not exactly a needle mover.

The teasing of what may come continued Thursday, as a trio of captains dished on the current state of investment in LIV Golf, which owns 75 percent of each of the 12 franchise teams. The other 25 percent is owned by principal players, which would include captains such as Watson, Dustin Johnson and Joaquin Niemann.

“The evaluation, it’s not a small number,” said Watson, who most likely meant to say valuation. “But I think every team is going to be different. Some people want to know more. Some just people want to play golf. Just depends on which team you’re talking about and who it is. I want to know everything. I want to be part of it and move it forward and make the RangeGoats well-known.”

LIV Golf: Photos of 2023 Team Championship

Watson added that he has “had a few people” show interest in purchasing RangeGoats GC, who sit fourth and have a first-round bye for the Team Championship, and then clarified that “anywhere from 10 to 20 people have asked to buy the RangeGoats” and that he has “met with people this week.”

“There’s quite a bit of interest. Obviously like (Watson) said each team is going to differ. We have some interest,” added Johnson, whose defending champion 4Aces GC would undoubtedly be the most valuable franchise. “We’ll get more into that in the offseason once we are done after this week.”

“It is true there’s a lot of interest from individuals who want to buy into (the RangeGoats),” said Norman. It is the success of the product and the RangeGoats aren’t the only ones. There are other people interested in other teams as well too.”

“And remember,” he added, “our responsibility is to create as much value we can within each one of those franchises.”

Both Watson and Johnson discussed the challenge of taking on a new role and how they’re learning on the fly. For the two major winners, their careers have always been just about golf. Now they’re managing their teams and sponsors (though all 12 teams have general managers in some capacity).

“Right now, pretty focused on doing well on golf course,” said Torque GC’s Niemann, the league’s youngest captain by six years at 24 years old. “I think the better we do on the golf course, everything gets a little bit easier. But yeah, lucky to have a great team to support me in every aspect of how to run a business like Torque.”

While the team format still hasn’t fully caught on with golf fans, the players and LIV officials are all in (Brooks Koepka and Matthew Wolff aside). None of the 12 teams have been sold, but a few have inked partnership and sponsor deals over the last year. The timeframe for when franchises may be sold is up in the air, and the lagging framework agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV’s financial supporter, can’t be helping. Why would a company want to pony up money to own a team with an uncertain future?

The spin to the delay is teams have more time to find a proper fit for an owner, which the three captains agreed was more important than simply siding with the highest bidder.

“Yeah, like to have something that fits our team and something that fits our four players, what are our goals, and yeah, I mean, there’s all brands that we like to work with, something that is with our personality,” Niemann said before admitting, “there’s also a number, right.”

“All that’s out the window for the right number,” said a laughing Watson.

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Talor Gooch finishes birdie-birdie to claim LIV Golf Andalucia for third win of season

Gooch previously won in Australia and Singapore in consecutive weeks back in April.

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Talor Gooch finished birdie-birdie on Sunday to outlast Bryson DeChambeau and claim his third win of the LIV Golf League season.

The 31-year-old previously won in Australia and Singapore in consecutive weeks back in April and added to his total on the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit at LIV Golf Andalucia at Valderrama in Spain.

Gooch shot a 4-under 67 to finish at 12 under and beat DeChambeau (68) by one shot and Brooks Koepka (68) by three. Sebastian Munoz finished solo fourth at 6 under, while Patrick Reed, Jason Kokrak and David Puig finished T-5 at 4 under.

On the team side, Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC earned a five-shot win at 16 under over Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats GC, who finished at 11 under. DeChambeau’s Crushers came in third at 7 under.

The league will tee it up in England at LIV Golf London, July 7-9, at Centurion Club in Hertfordshire.

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