Once upon a time, Joaquin Niemann worried about his number of major starts in 2024.
But by Friday afternoon at the Open Championship, a new worry had firmly supplanted that: His number of major championship shots.
“Actually, no. I was going to start counting what I did, but I just stopped and I didn’t count,” Niemann said Friday afternoon with a low laugh. “I just saw the scoreboard on the next hole.”
Joaquin was talking, of course, about his quintuple-bogey 8 on the famed 8th hole at Royal Troon, named “Postage Stamp.” He was one of many golfers who made a mess of the iconic short par-3 during Open weekend, and one of only a few who managed to right the ship in his round after the carnage had ended.
Niemann, still only 25, is one of golf’s best youngsters for his resilience. Resilience is what landed him a spot in the pro golf ranks despite hailing from a country (Chile) with 60 total golf courses. It is what brought him to PGA Tour success before he was old enough to drink. And it is what has allowed him now, as one of LIV Golf’s highest-profile signees, to continue qualifying for golf’s major championships despite maintaining none of his more senior counterparts’ exemption status.
It hasn’t been easy. Niemann has been forced to play starts all over the world to prove to golf’s governing bodies that he deserves a place in the majors, pegging it at tournaments in Oman, Dubai and Australia in addition to a full schedule on LIV. Fortunately, golf’s governing bodies have listened, granting Niemann special exemptions into the Masters (a rarity) and PGA Championship in addition to the opportunity to qualify for the U.S. and Open championships.
Niemann made the most of those opportunities in ’24, qualifying into all but the U.S. Open and making the cut at each. But now, as he winds down from the end of major season at LIV’s UK event, he says he’s anticipating his major championship qualifying life getting easier as LIV and the PGA Tour head into the future.
“I believe that it’s going to happen,” he said. “I feel like they’ve got to pull for the best of the game, and I think that’s the right way to do it, hopefully give us some spots out here on LIV and have the best players in there.”
Of course, the issue of LIV players earning exemptions into the major championships is a hornet’s nest of its own. A (brief) summary: LIVers don’t get into the majors because they’re not part of the Official World Golf Ranking; LIV is not in the OWGR because they failed to meet the governing body’s competitive criteria; after a protracted legal battle, LIV withdrew its own application to the OWGR in something of a you-can’t-fire-me-I-quit move.
That means LIV’s non-exempt players are ineligible from the majors, which, as many have pointed out, is something players like Niemann knew was a possibility when they signed a massive contract with LIV. Perhaps that makes it fair that Niemann, clearly one of golf’s best players, could play an incomplete major schedule in 2025. But he sure doesn’t think so.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating, but in the end, I feel like I’m pulling hard for LIV Golf to improve, and I think [expanded major championship eligibility] would be one of the ways that the game and LIV would improve,” Niemann said. “From my side personally, I feel like I’m going to find a way to be in the majors, so it doesn’t frustrate me or put me out.”
And how would change look? Well, it’s complicated. Many LIV players have coalesced around the idea that the majors could create an automatic exemption category for LIV similar to the top-50 exemptions for the OWGR. The LIVers have suggested the number could be 10 guys, but that raises its own subsequent set of debates. Why 10? Why not 12? Or eight? Or six? Or 25?
“I would say top 10 guys. There’s definitely 10 guys here that could win majors,” Niemann said. “Yeah, they can definitely give those 10 spots for us and have more competitive majors.”
True as that may be philosophically, it’s harder to speak about how these things will look in reality. But perhaps not for much longer. At least, not in Niemann’s estimation.
“I’m pretty optimistic. I think it will happen,” he said. “I was the same way last year. I felt like we were going to do something for this year. It didn’t happen, but I found a way to get into it. I got some invitations, which was nice.
“I hope so,” he said. “I feel more optimistic for next season.”
If he’s right, then Joaquin Niemann might have to start worrying about a whole new number.
Ten.
