Joaquin

NiemannC

It would be fair to say Chile is not exactly a hotbed of professional golf. This is a country with fewer than 100 courses, and very few players who have made an impression on the sport at the top level.

At the same time, it is not a surprise that Joaquin Niemann has reached the top in his chosen field, given that sporting excellence runs in his family.

His mother, Pamela, represented Chile in field hockey, while his father, Jorge, was a college basketball player. It was Jorge who gave Joaquin a set of plastic golf clubs when he was just two.

By the age of four, young Joaquin was playing with real equipment and learning the game at the Club de Polo y Equitacion San Cristobal, to the north-east of the Chilean capital Santiago.

He recalls hitting a 40-yard shot during a family barbecue that hit his grandmother on the leg. “It was a pretty good shot,” says Niemann, doubtless also relieved that grandma was unhurt.

Niemann’s parents have always been supportive of his career choices. When Joaquin was criticized for leaving the PGA Tour to move to LIV Golf, Jorge said: “As a father, I will always continue to support him in everything he does and I hope he will be very happy in this new stage.”

He added: “No one ‘goes to’ LIV, LIV Series picks the best. They knew how many golfers wanted to cross the line.”

By his mid-teens, Joaquin Niemann was winning regularly on the amateur circuit – including at the IMG Academy Junior World Championships in San Diego in 2015 and at the Junior Golf World Cup in Japan the following year.

He was the top-ranked amateur in the world for 44 weeks between May 2017 and April 2018, during which he played in his first Major, the 2017 US Open.

His No.1 status earned him an entry into the 2018 US Open and Open Championship, while his victory in the 2018 Latin America Amateur Championship gave him a place at the Masters. Niemann, however, decided to turn pro – which meant he forfeited his spot in both Opens.

He was recruited to play college golf for the University of South Florida, but he failed his English test. Niemann later recalled: “I knew I was going to be there for only one year. The school asked me to take the English test. I really didn’t study. I did it fast and finished before anyone else.

“I was playing the US Open when I got the results. I was with Claudio Correa. He’s from Chile, too. We were looking at the scores, and we couldn’t stop laughing. My score was low, so I couldn’t go to school. Honestly, I was happy. I just wanted to play golf."

Joaquin Niemann settled into the pro ranks with impressive speed. He finished sixth in the 2018 Valero Texas Open, his first tournament as a professional, and followed up with three more top-10 finishes in the next seven events.

That earned him a PGA Tour card for the following year, and meant he achieved the rare feat of gaining that honor after starting the season without any status.

Niemann became the first Chilean PGA Tour winner when he took A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in 2019, which also made him the youngest international winner on the Tour since 1923.

By 2021, Niemann was a regular in the Majors, and began a run of making the cut in four successive Masters tournaments. The best of those Masters finishes came in 2023, when he tied for 16th behind champion Jon Rahm.

Niemann recorded his second PGA Tour win in early 2022, when a total of 19 under par gave him a two-shot victory in the Genesis Invitational.

He also enjoyed a maiden triumph on the European Tour at the Australian Open in late 2023 when, buoyed by his strong finish to the LIV Golf season, he beat Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino with an eagle on the second extra hole.

The quality of his play was so high that he received invitations to three Majors in 2024, and duly made the cut in the Masters, the PGA Championship, and The Open Championship.

Joaquin Niemann’s career at the highest level in golf has been characterized by his quick acclimatization to every new level, and it was the same story after he signed a LIV Golf contract in August 2022.

At his first event, the LIV Golf Invitational Boston, he was close to a winning start before having to settle for a tie for second behind Dustin Johnson, who won with an eagle on the first hole of a playoff.

Niemann finished seventh in the overall standings in that inaugural year. In 2023 the team he proudly skippers, Torque GC, scored the most team titles and collected the most prize money during the season before finishing third in the team championship.

It was in 2024, though, that Niemann scaled new heights in the LIV Golf ranks after starting the season in sensational style.

Joaquin Niemann became only the second man to shoot a sub-60 round in LIV Golf when he carded a 59 in the first round of the opening event on the 2024 schedule at Mayakoba, in Mexico.

Niemann was six under par for both the front and back nine and he said: “It was obviously an amazing round. I played solid since the beginning, and I never stopped playing good.”

He went on to record his maiden LIV Golf individual title at the event, but only after overcoming the strong challenge of Sergio Garcia to defeat the Spaniard in a playoff.

Two events later, in Jeddah, Niemann won again, this time by four strokes. Consistent rounds of 63-64-66 handed him a convincing victory that won admiring words from many of his competitors.

“He’s in a great place,” said Bryson DeChambeau, who played with Niemann on the Saturday in Jeddah. “I’m very happy for him and all the accolades that have come with that have been great.

“I hope that more continues to come because he deserves every bit of it. He’s one of the best players in the world.”

Niemann continued to produce solid performance and finished 2024 second in the individual standings, between fellow Spanish speakers Jon Rahm and Garcia.

He was the only man who went into the final event able to catch Rahm and he said: “One of my goals was to win the season, and it's come down to the last week. There’s a little extra pressure, which is nice. It fuels me to work harder to be ready for that position.”

Joaquin Niemann has always enjoyed representing his country. He played for Chile in the Eisenhower Trophy in 2016, and went on to be part of the International team in the Presidents Cup in 2019.

But he was particularly proud to take part in the men’s golf tournament at both the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 following the Covid pandemic) and the 2024 Games in Paris.

"I am excited to play, you don't get to play in the Olympics too often,” said Niemann. "It is an honour to be there representing my country.”

As he pointed out, all sports fans in Chile are aware of the Olympics, while golf has a relatively low profile. He represented his nation well both times, finishing in a tie for 10th place in Tokyo and tied for ninth in Paris.  

One of Joaquin Niemann’s main sponsors is Ping, so it naturally follows that he uses this famous brand’s clubs on the golf course. Off the tee, he uses the G430 LST driver, while his three-wood is the G430 Max and his seven-wood is the G425 Max.

His irons are from the Ping Blueprint S range, and he uses Glide s159 wedges. On the greens, he uses a Ping PLD Anser Prototype putter, while like many pros he favors the Titleist Pro V1x ball.

Niemann’s bag is carried by an English caddie, Gary Matthews. The pair have been together for much of his career, and have an excellent on-course rapport. “He’s pretty good at talking me through the shots; he knows how to read me pretty well,” says Niemann.

Niemann signed a deal with adidas golf when he turned pro in 2018, which means he wears the brand’s clothing and footwear. He has other sponsorship deals with Kaufmann, Rolex, Scotiabank, and Chile Avocados.

Over the years, Niemann has amassed more than $15million in career earnings on the PGA Tour. However, his LIV Golf exploits have been worth more than $36million, including an $8million prize for finishing second in the 2024 points list.

Joaquin Niemann first met Christina Hellema Puga, an architect and fellow Chilean, in 2017. She has been seen with him on course at various events, including the par-three tournament at the Masters.

The couple were married in September 2023 in their homeland, and now live in Jupiter, Florida, a popular location for pro golfers.

Niemann comes from a close family, and in 2020 he gave generously to help his new-born cousin Rafita, who had been diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy.

“When they told me Rafita was going to have a really bad disease, I didn’t realize what it was,” said Niemann. “I didn’t put much attention on it, and then a couple of days go on, they tell us the bad news, that this medicine was this much amount of money… I was in my mind going crazy, ‘What can I do to help out?’”

Medical fees to treat spinal muscular atrophy typically cost over $2m, so Niemann started to donate money he raised during golf tournaments, which resulted in Rafita being able to receive the life-saving treatment.

Joaquin Niemann’s swing is simultaneously idiosyncratic, simple, easy on the eye – and extremely effective. His excellent hand-eye coordination is matched by an unusual bob of the head as his club makes contact with the ball.

He is coached by fellow Chilean Eduardo Miquel, who has helped him to hone a technique that has made him successful at the highest level.

Further success surely lies ahead for Niemann, whose words after he won for a second time in 2024, in Jeddah, epitomized both his quiet confidence and his recognition of the work that still needs to be done.

Niemann said:  “It’s probably my best moment, the best I’ve ever played. I just want to keep going in the same direction. There’s a lot more to improve and I just need to be curious about that and I’ll see how much I can learn.”