When the sliding door of the van opens, the kids waiting at the Hogar Betania in La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz) exude a smile from ear to ear, somewhere between nervous and happy. They don’t know who the members of the Torque del LIV team are – captain Joaquín Niemann and his cronies Mito Pereira, Sebastián Muñoz and Carlos Ortiz – but they understand that it will be a different afternoon, where they will practice putts They will also plant a tree and do a round of questions to end up asking for autographs, even on their shoes when the paper runs out. It is a joy for these children who have already gone through hard times despite their young age, at risk of exclusion and, in many cases, with a trip in a boat behind them. Niemann (Santiago, Chile; 25 years old), contrary to his beginnings, when he was very shy and found it difficult to open up to people, is the leading voice of the group as he is also on the golf course, now leader of the LIV ahead of Rahm, although another of those who suffered their share (+3) on the opening day of the LIV Andalucía. He stops to answer, shows how to hold the club, cares and even jokes with the kids. He is a friendly person, nothing like when he appeared on the PGA Tour.
World number 1 amateur in 2017, at 20 he turned professional to win his first PGA tournament the following year. At that time, he was shy, timid in front of microphones and his teammates. Until he met Sergio García. “He helped me from the first day, we played rounds together, betting, laughing. He went from being someone I saw on TV, my idol, to my friend. And so, when I got together with other players, I thought I had already been with Sergio. He helped me in the transition,” Niemann reflects for Morning Express in a room at Hogar Betania. “And I can say that I am no longer shy, because I focus more on my goals, which include being the best golfer in the world. I will do whatever it takes to be that, so the shyness is behind me.” His problem is that he left the PGA Tour to play in the LIV and is no longer in the world ranking, so he does not have passes to play in the LIV. majors. “Competing fewer weeks, being able to focus on my game, spending more time with my family and earning more… I think anyone would have signed for the LIV,” he reflects. But he misses the guarantee of competing in the big tournaments, the preserve of the PGA Tour and its ranking. He made that clear this year after winning the first tournament in Mayakoba (Mexico): “I want to win majorsbut for that I have to be able to play them first! A cry for help.
Although he has been invited to the PGA Championship and the Masters this year – he should have travelled to Australia and won the Open, which will also mathematically take him to the British – he was terribly disappointed a few weeks ago when he participated and did not make it through the US Open qualifiers. “There should be a unified ranking or, at least, give us a quota of places in the LIV majors. Although I can understand it, I think it is a little unfair, because in the majors “The best golfers should be there and several of us aren’t,” he explains; “but not being at the US Open created an extra fire in me. I don’t want to miss them, I want to compete in them and I hope the situation changes soon. Although I’ve been like this for a year…” This is Niemann’s ambition, who says he doesn’t set limits, he longs to be the best. “I want to start winning. majors“I know I can do it,” he insists.
It turns out that Niemann is delighted with his decision to play in the LIV —as other greats like Rahm, Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith… do—, even more so after what happened to him when he changed sides, which conditioned his golf at the time. “I was a little affected by the rivalry with the PGA, the amount of shit they threw at the LIV. In some way, it made me feel a little bad, strange, to notice that hatred… It bothered me and it hurt me on the course. But it was a learning moment and I understood that what matters is what I do and what I think,” he says, adding: “With the players it was also noticeable at the beginning, because the Americans looked at you as if you had committed a crime. Luckily, that has relaxed and there are no more such bad feelings. vibes “The LIV has done a good job and it seems to work.” As an example, he says, the Nashville tournament a few weeks ago, where the course was packed and there was a permanent party, always with music on the course and an electric atmosphere. “The fact that DeChambeau won the US Open certainly helped and gives more popularity to the LIV. But that was the model week of what golf should be in the United States,” he argues.
However, it remains to reach the peace treaty that both entities announced and that has not yet been signed, a resolution sine die“I don’t know how it could be done, but I do understand that joint actions can be carried out and both circuits can be strengthened,” he says. And, of course, that they give places to those from LIV for the big ones.
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