Wyndham Clark jumps 4 places while Joaquin Niemann falls 8 spots despite winning the LIV Mayakoba event in the latest OWGR
Wyndham Clark and Joaquin Niemann both performed fabulously, with victories in their respective tournaments. However, what kept them apart was the OWGR ranking system.
While the 2023 U.S. Open Champion jumped four spots up from the 10th position to the 6th spot in the OWGR rankings for his AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am win on February 5th, Joaquin Niemann saw a downfall in his rankings.
Previously, the Chilean professional golfer was in the 66th position in the OWGR rankings. Despite winning the LIV Invitational Mayakoba event, he slid down to 74th place.
NUCLR Golf took to its X (formerly Twitter) handle to share the recent update and wrote:
"#OWGR update after Wyndham Clark and Joaquin Niemann won on their respective tours:
Wyndham Clark — 10th to 6th
Joaquin Niemann — 66th to 74th
Thoughts?"
It is worth mentioning that Wyndham Clark earned 75 points for his amazing win in addition to a $3.6 million cash prize. Due to this, he was also able to grab his career-best Official World Golf Ranking.
On the contrary, since LIV leagues are restricted from availing OWGR points, no matter how many wins Joaquin Niemann or any LIV golfers add to their bucket, they would face this unsatisfactory outcome. Nonetheless, Niemann earned a whopping $4 million cash prize for his win.
A look at Wyndham Clark and Joaquin Niemann’s performances in their respective tournaments
Wyndham Clark started his initial round with a decent performance that made him finish at even par. However, he performed the best in his second round which made him settle for 5-under par.
The American professional golfer then achieved a record-breaking third round as he secured a 12-under 60 score. This made him take a solo lead in the competition.
The fourth round didn’t take place due to the unpleasant weather conditions at Pebble Beach. So, the competition ended on 54 holes with Clark winning his third PGA Tour victory.
Clark received tremendous love from his fans for his record-breaking performance. He expressed the same and said (via USA Today):
“I felt like the entire golf course of fans was starting to follow my group because I had a chance to do something super special.”
He added:
“As I come to the green I got a standing ovation and everyone was giving me the respect for having such a great round.”
Meanwhile, Joaquin Niemann stunned his fans with a record-breaking opening round of 59 at Mayakoba. Then, in the second round, he faced a two-stroke penalty, which made him settle for 2 strokes ahead of Jon Rahm and Dean Burmester.
On the third day, Niemann concluded the round at 12-under par alongside Sergio Garcia. They then participated in a playoff round where Garcia fell short with his 10-foot birdie. This led Niemann to win the season’s opening event in style.
After the event concluded, Joaquin Niemann expressed his desire to win a Major tournament. He said (via Golf Monthly):
"It is awesome. I have been working and I saw myself having that last putt to win. I want to win Majors but I have to get in first. I am just ready.”