Niemann says goodbye to the LIV Golf Team Championship: his team is eliminated in the quarter-finals

The LIV Golf experience began its most revolutionary date this Friday. It wasn’t just fewer rounds and days where everyone started at the same time. The weekend in Miami promises to be a total paradigm shift in golf as it is known. 100% team competitions, individual and mixed games, loud music and a $16 million prize for the winning team . Amid all that paraphernalia was Joaquín Niemann, who won his personal showdown but ended up staying eliminated in the quarter-finals after his teammates lost the other key duels.

A loss that hurts Niemann as he was unquestionably one of the star faces of the season. With only four dates played in the year, he arrived in Miami among the players with the best results in LIV, guiding his team in seventh place overall . And even that sense of accomplishment accompanied the Torque GC (the team of which he is the captain) for a good part of the day.

And it is that the defeat occurred in the home stretch, when even many have already given them as semi-finalists. In fact, Niemann as captain was the first to end their daily confrontation. The quarter-final format consisted of three games, two singles and an alternate ball forcing the teams to win two of the three points in dispute.

The Chilean took on Shergo Al Kurdi in the captains duel and made it clear why he is one of the best golfers in the world. Despite some problems at the start, he was able to turn the tide and take a very large lead over his rival, to the point that he didn’t even need 18 holes to secure victory.

They started on the fifth hole and he immediately birdied that put him ahead. But the irregularity took over this section and they changed the balance in each hole, until flag 11 the monologue of the talagantino began. Five handovers from ten flags were enough for the Englishman to fail to reach him and the first point of the confrontation was for Torque .

Niemann even had the chance to speak to the media at the time and explain the trick, admitting that despite taking the point he wasn’t entirely happy. “I wasn’t very happy with my swing and didn’t feel great with the irons either, but at some point I managed to get into a rhythm and figure out what was going on. I think the sensations got better as I progressed through the tour “, did he declare.

In any case, he analyzed what was the key to victory. “It was a bit of a rough start, he played really well at the start of the game, but I think the difference was that he couldn’t really put it on the line in the par five and that’s where I took the lead. I played very well, despite the fact that the starts at the start were not the best “, he added. This last sentence is in evidence when the map is analyzed. The Chilean birdied in the four par fives they played, while the British only managed to stay level with the field in these flags.

Unfortunately, after completing the tour, the sensations changed. By the time the National Olympian closed his pass, teammate Jediah Morgan had two shots over his rival and in the alternating ball duel all was even, but it didn’t last long.

Morgan lost three of the final five holes and lost one behind Laurie Canter, leaving the series tied and with total drama heading into the alternate ball duel, the one that also ended against Torque GC. It was the most equal touch in the series, always leaving the feeling that in the end it could change everything.

Indeed, it was on the penultimate hole of the day that victory went to the team which defended the colors of Cleeks GC. The 2-1 final cut off Niemann’s dream of continuing to compete for LIV’s final date.

A defeat that put an end to Talagantino’s adventure in Miami and moreover left him out due to the fight for a monetary bag that brings 16 million dollars to the winning team, or four million for each golfer. An amount that by the way is positioned as the biggest prize ever awarded in the world of golf.

Now the tournament is played only between the top eight teams of the season with great figures such as Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Sergio García and Dustin Johnson. The event ends with a main round in which the format changes to be played with a more traditional system in which all players will take their rounds individually, but adding up their scores at the end of the day to determine the champion.

Niemann for his part says goodbye to his first year at LIV Golf. A season of changes and renovations, in which he had his best season on the PGA and also became a main face of the new league. Now is the time to rest, at least for a few months because the Chilean may appear on a certain date in the Asian Tour.