LIV Golf Singapore individual winner and Torque GC captain Joaquin Neimann with his trophy atop the Sentosa Golf Club podium. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
From a Correspondent
Singapore: The winning streak continues for Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC. And the wins keep piling up for Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann.
Fuelled by another Sunday charge, the Fireballs won LIV Golf Singapore presented by Aramco by three shots for their third consecutive team title this season.
It’s the longest win streak for either a team or individual player since 4Aces GC won four straight team titles during the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series in 2022.
The Fireballs will try to match that at next month’s LIV Golf Miami from 4 to 6 April. “We’re the only ones that can keep the streak alive,” Garcia said. “Hopefully we’ll keep it going.”
Niemann won for the second time in the last three tournaments, shooting the day’s only bogey-free round, a 6 under par 65 to win by five strokes.
The 26-year-old Chilean moves atop the individual points standings and will seek to maintain that status for at least the next two months in hopes of earning the LIV Golf exemption into this year’s US Open.
“Today was one of those days,” said Niemann, who won by three shots in Adelaide. “Everything went my way.”
Dominant displays
Both winning efforts capped off impressive performances at Sentosa Golf Club’s challenging 7,420-yard Serapong course.
The Fireballs won despite an ailing Garcia, last week’s individual winner in Hong Kong who came down with bronchitis and had a fever of 102.4 on the eve of the tournament.
He battled to shoot even par for the week but his three teammates, led by David Puig’s solo fourth at 10 under, stepped up to rally from an eight-shot deficit to start the final round.
“This week was a tough week because I’ve been sick all week and haven’t been able to help the team as much as I would have liked to,” Garcia said.
“To see the performance that my teammates put in to be able to get this win was pretty impressive.”
Puig’s 5 under 66 was supported by Luis Masaveu’s 68 and Abraham Ancer’s 69 as the team shot 10 under on Sunday, tying for the lowest team score of the day.
Slippery slope
“Counting four scores, eight strokes seem like a lot, but it can change in two holes,” Ancer said. “We just told ourselves that, and we just needed to take care of business and play our game.”
For the 23-year-old Puig, it was an eighth overall LIV Golf team victory, more than any other player. He won four times with Niemann’s Torque GC in 2023 and now has won four times with Fireballs GC.
“I love team golf,” Puig said. “II’m a good team player. I like to be surrounded by a good group of guys, and I have them here at the Fireballs. I just have a lot of fun, and I never give up, and I just love it.”
Niemann entered the final round tied with Dustin Johnson, the 4Aces GC captain. The duel between the major hopeful and the two-time major winner never materialised.
Niemann birdied his opening hole, then added four more birdies during a five-hole stretch between hole No. 4-8, eventually finishing at 17 under.
Meanwhile, Johnson suffered two bogeys on his first nine, then two more after the turn, shooting a 2-over 73 to drop into a tie for fifth at 9 under.
As it turned out, Niemann’s biggest challenger was defending Singapore champion Brooks Koepka, who birdied his first three holes and matched Niemann’s 65 to finish solo second at 12 under.
“Kind of found some things the last couple holes, which was good momentum to build on for the next month,” Koepka said, who has a win, a second and a third at Sentosa.
“The start line was off. If I don’t feel comfortable with my start line, I’ll never hit it good. So it started to feel a little better.”
“Not really hitting it great,” Koepka added, “but kind of tried to figure out how to finish second because first was obviously out of reach.”
Pace setter
Out of reach because Niemann has become a dominant force in LIV Golf. He won two of the first three tournaments in 2024 and led the points standings for most of the season until being caught late by Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm.
Now he’s atop the standings again with two wins in the first four events. He quickly turned his attention to LIV Golf Miami.
“There’s a few things that I can improve, then go down to Miami and have a chance to win,” he said. “I feel like that for me is really exciting to become a better player and try to get better every day.”
For Rahm, it was record-breaking 21st consecutive LIV Golf round under par. Rahm had entered Sunday sharing the record with Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau.
In finishing tied for fifth, Rahm also maintained his record of top-10 tournament finishes. He has now finished inside the top 10 in every LIV Golf event completed and his only non-top 10 finish was last year in Houston when he was forced to withdraw in the second round due to injury. (courtesy LIV Golf)
Final scores
1, Fireballs GC -22 (Puig 66, Masaveu 68, Ancer 69, Garcia 71; Rd. 3: -10)
2. Legion XIII -19 (Hatton 66, Rahm 67, McKibbin 70, Surratt 71; Rd. 3: -10)
3. 4Aces GC -18 (Reed 70, Varner III 70, Johnson 73, Pieters 73; Rd. 3: +2)
4. Torque GC -16 (Niemann 65, Muñoz 70, Pereira 72, Ortiz 73; Rd. 3: -4)
5. Crushers GC -13 (DeChambeau 67, Lahiri 69, Casey 70, Howell III 70; Rd. 3: -8)
6. Stinger GC -12 (Oosthuizen 67, Burmester 69, Grace 70, Schwartzel 70; Rd. 3: -8)
7. HyFlyers GC -11 (Ogletree 70, Tringale 70, Mickelson 72, Steele 76; Rd. 3: +4)
8. Smash GC -10 (Koepka 65, Gooch 68, Kokrak 72, McDowell 74; Rd. 3: -5)
9. RangeGoats GC -6 (Campbell 67, Uihlein 68, Watson 71, Wolff 74; Rd. 3: -4)
10. Ripper GC Even par (Jones 71, Leishman 72, Smith 72, Herbert 74; Rd. 3: +5)
11. Iron Heads GC +2 (Na 69, Catlin 74, Jang 75, Lee 76; Rd. 3: +10)
12. Cleeks GC +17 (Bland 67, Meronk 68, Kaymer 69, Kjettrup 77; Rd. 3: -3)
13. Majesticks GC +19 (Westwood 71, Horsfield 72, Poulter 73, Stenson 73; Rd. 3: +4)
Wild Cards: Lee 70, Kim 72
Round 1 stats
Driving accuracy: Ben Campbell, 100% (14 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: Dean Burmester, 344.0 yards avg.
Longest drive: Bryson DeChambeau, 345.9 yards, 18th hole
Greens in regulation: Tyrrell Hatton, Harold Varner III, Martin Kaymer, 88.89% (16 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Joaquin Niemann, 100% (4 of 4)
Putting: Richard Bland, 1.22 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Joaquin Niemann (65)
Also read: Neimann, Johnson share LIV Singapore lead, 4Aces up by five
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