Chile’s Joaquin Niemann improved his chances of being selected for the Presidents Cup following his maiden PGA TOUR title at the season-opening A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier.
The 20-year-old became the first player from Chile to win on the PGA TOUR and will become the first Chilean to compete on the International Team if selected by captain Ernie Els.
The Presidents Cup returns to Melbourne, Australia, and The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time, 9-15 December, when the International Team, led by Els, takes on the US team led by Tiger Woods.
‘What a fantastic win for Joaquin at The Greenbrier,’ Els said. ‘I’m really proud of him and it’s a wonderful start to his season. I’m looking forward to more of his great play.’
Niemann finished 28th in the final Presidents Cup standings with four top 10s in 28 starts during the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season and advanced to the BMW Championship where he finished 67th in the final FedExCup standings.
‘Yeah, being on the Presidents Cup is just a dream. It’s a really good team this year,’ Niemann said. ‘I know it’s going to be tough, and this win definitely helps. But I don’t know yet. Just got to be patient and get a couple more tournaments to have good golf and hopefully get in that team.’
Niemann is a former No 1-ranked amateur in the world and spent 44 weeks at the top from May 2017 to April 2018 before turning professional. He won 23 events as an amateur, including two IMG Academy Junior World Championships and the 2018 Latin America Amateur Championship.
Niemann is scheduled to return to competition this week at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Other players vying for an International Presidents Cup captain’s pick in the field this week who finished inside the top 30 in the Presidents Cup standings include Byeong Hun An, Dylan Frittelli, Emiliano Grillo, Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim.
Niemann, Frittelli and Kim will be paired together for the opening two rounds of this week’s event.
