Joaquin Niemann’s third victory of the season Sunday at LIV Golf Mexico City was not your average win. He rallied past two major champions. He won with his mother in attendance for the first time outside of his native Chile. He claimed the hearts of the local fans appreciating his Latin American roots.
Oh, and he earned an invite to the US Open, thanks to the LIV Golf exemption he clinched with one tournament to go.
All in all, it was a pretty good day for the 26-year-old Niemann, LIV Golf’s youngest captain.
“Pretty hard to make it more special than this moment right now,” he said while drenched in celebratory champagne on the 18th green at Club de Golf Chapultepec.
It was also a pretty good day for another Spanish-speaking captain, as Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII won a tight battle with the all-Australian Ripper GC to win their second trophy of the season and move to No 1 in the season-long team standings.
Legion XIII earned the hard-fought victory with all four players shooting under par. No other team on Sunday had more than two players under par.
“Proud of everybody here,” Rahm said. “To hear that all four of us shot under par is not easy. It’s a hard golf course.”
Niemann seemed to make it look easy this weekend, shooting 64-65 after an opening 68 on Friday. He started the final round three shots behind round-two leader Bryson DeChambeau, the Crushers GC captain, and two shots behind Ripper captain Cameron Smith in the final group but outperformed both Major winners, each of whom failed to break par on the par-71 layout.
Niemann took the lead for good after DeChambeau’s double-bogey at the par-four 13th when he lost his tee shot out of bounds. Niemann then finished with a flourish with birdies in two of his last three holes to finish at 16 under.
DeChambeau’s 71 left him three strokes behind and tied for second with Ripper’s Lucas Herbert, who matched Rahm’s course record with a 10-under 61. Rahm finished in solo fourth at 12 under.
South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel of Stinger GC shared seventh on nine under after a final-round 68.
With the victory, Niemann extended his season-long points lead and guaranteed his exemption into the US Open, no matter what happens next week at LIV Golf Korea, the final tournament before the exemption deadline. The Torque captain is now slated to play in the remaining three Majors this season after already competing at last month’s Masters.
“My team was asking me to sign up for the qualifier and the sectional, and I wasn’t really into that,” Niemann said of the US Open. “More than anything, I’m grateful that I’m not playing 36 holes on a Monday after the tournament.”
Smith drifted out of contention after failing to make a birdie through his first 14 holes, but his Rippers amazingly stayed in the hunt for their second consecutive tournament win thanks to Herbert, who played a 10-hole stretch in eight under and had an outside chance at breaking 60 going into his final three holes.
“Just one of those rounds where it all just clicks for you,” said Herbert, who tied Rahm’s course record that was set five years ago at a World Golf Championships tournament. “It was a pretty cool feeling to do it at an event like this.”
But the one-man Aussie show could not compete with Legion XII’s steady contributors.
Rahm and teammate Tyrrell Hatton – paired in the same threesome with the Rippers’ Matt Jones – each shot 68 while Tom McKibbin birdied his last hole for a 70. Caleb Surratt, who was four under on his round before suffering four consecutive bogeys, provided decisive birdies for Legion XIII on his final two holes to shoot 69.
“I was proud of the way that I handled myself all week,” said the 21-year-old Surratt, LIV Golf’s youngest player. “Unlike maybe the other three guys here, I still feel like I have something to prove. I knew going into today that a good round could do just that.”
Legion XIII have now won six times since 2024 after becoming LIV Golf’s first expansion team; that ties for the second-most of any team. Niemann has five individual victories; that ties Brooks Koepka for the most of any player in league history.
“It’s special to be up there with Brooks for most wins,” Niemann said. “It’s just been three years since I joined here on LIV, and I feel like it’s a special place now for me to be here.”
Meanwhile, the next two players on the leaderboard have enjoyed plenty of success lately on LIV Golf. Niemann has won twice this season and twice last year, while Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm, who is in solo fourth at nine under, snatched the Individual Championship from Niemann last season with two late victories.
A win for Niemann on Sunday would put him in great shape to claim the US Open exemption spot awarded next month to the leading LIV Golf player. But he’ll have to overtake DeChambeau and Smith.
“The way Bryson and Cam are playing, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Niemann said. “It’s going to be special.”
Photo: LIV Golf
