Joaquin Niemann’s bigger question looms after latest LIV Golf win

Joaquin Niemann did it again Sunday.

For the fourth time this season, the 26-year-old Chilean put together a sizzling final round to claim a victory on the breakaway golf tour. Niemann entered the day four shots back of 36-hole leader Anirban Lahiri, but blistered Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Sunday, shooting a final round eight-under 63 to beat Lahiri and Graeme McDowell by one stroke. Earlier this season, Niemann fired a final-round 65 (seven under) to grab the title at LIV Adelaide. He shot a final-round 65 (six under) to win LIV Singapore and barnstormed LIV Mexico City with a final-round 65 (six under) to beat Bryson DeChambeau.

Niemann now has six wins in his LIV Golf career, but a much bigger question looms with the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont on deck.

Niemann is a supremely talented golfer who has yet to enter his prime. Data Golf has Niemann ranked as the No. 8 player in the world after his win at LIV Virginia. The only names ahead of him: Scheffler, McIlroy, DeChambeau, Rahm, Thomas, Fleetwood and Morikawa.

There is no denying Niemann’s talent. He’s one of the best ball strikers in the world.

But major championship success has eluded Niemann. Before his T8 finish at the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, Niemann’s best finish on golf’s biggest stages was a T16 at the 2023 Masters. In fact, that was the only time Niemann cracked the top 20 in his first 23 major starts.

He carded a top-10 finish in major start No. 24, but he knows he still has a lot to prove at major championships, starting with what promises to be an exacting test at Oakmont.

“Well, it’s always difficult to be patient everywhere. But I think it’s hard to tell. I feel like I’m still pretty far away from winning one,” Niemann said of majors after winning LIV Virginia. ” I’m just happy to be playing at the U.S. Open. It’s going to be a great course, pretty tough conditions. I’m just looking forward to that challenge and have a fun week.”

Niemann gained entry to the U.S. Open via the USGA’s new LIV Golf exemption that goes to the top player in LIV Golf’s individual standings who is not otherwise exempt through May 19. Niemann had three wins at that point and easily punched his ticket to Oakmont.

Niemann’s T8 finish at Quail Hollow took some of the major championship weight off his back. It’s a nice yellow Wikipedia box that was previously missing, but Niemann wasn’t a factor in the weekend proceedings in Charlotte. He played solid golf well before eventual winner Scottie Scheffler and the other contenders teed off, but he wasn’t in the fight.

The next step for Niemann, who has the high-caliber game to back up his claim that he’s one of the best in the world, is to start to become a weekend factor at major championships.

Niemann understands the questions surrounding his thin major championship record and why his game hasn’t translated in those events. He’s working to change that narrative and believes that as he accumulates major experience, his game will eventually shine there.

“It’s something that is always in my mind,” Niemann said. “I know there’s some pressure behind me performing here and not having good results in majors. I feel like that’s just a learning process. At the end of the day, it’s still a golf tournament. Probably I feel sometimes a little bit more uncomfortable in certain situations, but I feel like I’m learning to be better in those situations.

“It’s just another golf tournament. More than that, I can’t say anything else.”