Joaquin Niemann’s LIV Adelaide win was important for 1 major reason
Joaquin Niemann's win in Australia gives him a boost toward a key major exemption.
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Joaquin Niemann already has a ticket to three of the four majors in 2025.
The 26-year-old received special exemptions into the Masters and the PGA Championship due to his play on the DP World Tour and Asian Tour. Niemann played his way into this year’s Open Championship with a 25th-place finish on last year’s DP World Tour Race To Dubai list.
That leaves the U.S. Open as the only major that Niemann is not ticketed to compete in during the 2025 season.
Luckily for NIemann, the USGA recently announced that it will be handing out an exemption into the U.S. Open at Oakmont to one LIV Player who is not already exempt and is in the top three of the standings on May 19.
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With Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and defending U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau exempt, Niemann is almost universally viewed as the best LIV player who does not already have a guaranteed spot in the majors.
But after Niemann’s win on Sunday at LIV Adelaide, the Chilean finds himself in the hunt for that coveted U.S. Open exemption.
Niemann started Sunday’s final round at The Grange Golf Club three shots back of co-leaders Abraham Ancer, Sam Horsfield and Carlos Ortiz but shot 7-under to zoom up the leaderboard and beat Ancer and Ortiz by three.
The win moved Niemann to third in the individual standings behind Adrian Meronk, who won LIV Riyadh, and Rahm.
Meronk isn’t exempt into any of the majors, so he has the inside track on the recently created U.S. Open and Open exemptions but Niemann has plenty of time to make up the 4.6 point difference after his third-career LIV win.
Finding a way to nab that ticket to Oakmont is priority no. 1 for Niemann as LIV heads toward its third event of the season in Hong Kong.
“Hopefully, I can grab it before that. But yeah, that’s great. They’re making their point, and all the majors are doing what they have to do, so it’s good.”
Niemann has slipped to 74 in the Official World Golf Rankings but sits at no. 18 on DataGolf’s after a good run of form on LIV, the DP World Tour and Asian Tour.
However, that form hasn’t translated to golf’s biggest stages.
In his career, Niemann has just one top-20 finish in the majors and has yet to crack the top-10.
He hopes that days like Sunday, where he tracked down the leaders, will help him finally find success at golf’s most prestigious events.
“Obviously, that’s something that we all work for,” Niemann said. “It’s something that I know I can do it. It’s just a matter of that week being my week. I just need to be patient. It’s something over the back of my mind, having a good finish in the majors. Yeah, I’m ready for it.”
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