"Focus more on winning medals"- Joaquin Niemann prioritises Olympics victory over getting exemption into majors
Joaquin Niemann is one of 12 players in the top 10 of the ongoing golf event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Chilean is tied for 10th place, five shots off the lead and four shots off third place.
A victory at Le Golf National would earn Joaquin Niemann an invitation to the four major championships in 2025, something the rest of the top 10 probably don't need. However, this is not something that Niemann is particularly concerned about at the moment.
The Chilean spoke about this after his hit out in the third round (via Golf Monthly):
"If you didn't have those four Majors for a win, I would have the same intensity. I will have the same motivation to win. I mean, I feel like this is Olympics and got to focus more on winning medals than winning my way into the Majors."
Joaquin Niemann played in three of the four majors of the 2024 season, including two with special invitations (the Masters and the PGA Championship). This is because he does not accumulate enough world ranking points to qualify, with LIV Golf events not contributing to points.
Niemann is one of seven LIV Golf players competing in Paris 2024. The group is led by Jon Rahm, who is tied for first place.
Here's where the LIV players stand after 54 holes:
- T1 Jon Rahm (-14)
- T10 Joaquin Niemann (-9)
- T23 David Puig (-5)
- T23 Carlos Ortiz (-5)
- T38 Abraham Ancer (-1)
- T50 Adrian Meronk (+3)
- T55 Mito Pereira (+6)
Joaquin Niemann's Olympic Golf Performance at a Glance
Joaquin Niemann has been in contention for Olympic medals from day one in Paris. He had shot a 5-under 66 in the first round to tie for third place.
The 25-year-old fell back to T10 on day two when he carded his worst round of the event (1-under 70). On the so-called "Moving Day" he dropped to 68, but it only served to keep him in contention due to the exceptional performances of other players such as Nicolai Hojgaard and Rory McIlroy.
Niemann's main problem during the Olympics has been his performance off the tee. The Chilean has one of the worst accuracy records in the field, hitting just 23 of 42 fairways (54.76%).
Niemann has made up for this with his exceptional skills around the green. Thanks to this area of the game, he has gained 4,134 strokes (9th in the tournament) and has managed to reach the greens in regulation 42 times out of 54 attempts (77.78%, T9).
Paris 2024 is Niemann's second Olympic experience. At Tokyo 2021, he carded rounds of 70, 69, 66 and 65 to finish T10.