“There's a little bit of a crisis” - LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann gets bluntly honest on PGA-PIF merger
Joaquin Niemann finished the first round of the Paris 2'24 Olympic Games golf event in a tie for third place. Niemann is the best-placed of the seven LIV Golf players in attendance at Le Golf National.
During his post-round press conference, Joaquin Niemann answered questions about the current situation in which an agreement is being negotiated between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.
Here is part of what Joaquin Niemann had to say (via Sports Illustrated):
"I feel like it's what I do and I feel like right now, there's a little bit of a crisis and things that have to be fixed. I just play another week of golf and try to earn my way into the majors, and that's what I did last year."
Niemann also talked about his strategy to try to earn points that will allow him to enter the Majors. The Chilean plans to repeat what he did in 2024:
"I would love to play some DP World Tour events. I don't know if I'm going to be allowed or not, but yeah, I would love to play some events. If I can get some World Ranking and see if I can get any spots into the majors, yeah."
Joaquin Niemann led the group of seven LIV Golf players in the first round of the Olympic event. Jon Rahm tied for 6th, Carlos Ortiz tied for 14th, David Puig and Mito Pereira tied for 21st, Abraham Ancer tied for 29th and Adrian Meronk tied for 49th.
How was the first round of the Olympic event for Joaquin Niemann?
Joaquin Niemann started the first round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Golf Event with par on the first two holes. He then made a spectacular eagle on the par-5, 564-yard 3rd hole.
Niemann finished the front nine with no bogeys and two more birdies. On the back nine, he parred the first four holes in a row, then birdied the 14th and 15th.
The Chilean parred the 16th and 17th, but bogeyed the 18th, his only bogey of the round. His final score was 5 under 66.
Niemann is tied for third with Emiliano Grillo and Tom Kim. He is three shots behind 18-hole leader Hideki Matsuyama.
The Chilean arrived at Le Golf National on the back of his best season on the LIV Golf circuit. The Chilean has won twice and finished in the top 10 eight times in 11 events.
Niemann also played in three of the four Major championships of the 2024 season (Masters, PGA Championship, Open). He made the cut in all three, finishing T22 at Augusta National, T39 at Valhalla and T58 at Royal Troon.