In-form Neimann grabs Jeddah lead as Stingers top team table

From a Correspondent

King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia: Torque captain Joaquin Niemann remains red-hot. Louis Oosthuizen and his South African Stinger GC team are just glad it’s hot.

As a result, Niemann and the Stingers enter Sunday’s final round of LIV Golf Jeddah atop their respective leaderboards.

Niemann shot a 6-under 64 on Saturday to move to 13 under through the first two days at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.

It gave the 25-year-old Chilean a two-stroke lead over Stinger veteran Charl Schwartzel. Oosthuizen was tied for third with Smash GC’s Jason Kokrak, who had the low score on Saturday with a 62.

Niemann is seeking his third win in his last six worldwide starts. He won the 2024 LIV Golf League season-opener in a playoff against Sergio Garcia and also won the Australian Open last December.

During that stretch, he also shot a 59 and secured spots in two majors (the Masters and the Open).

Niemann hopes to continue riding the momentum.

“I know there’s a lot of golf to play tomorrow,” Niemann said. “There’s a lot of shots that I’ve got to hit tomorrow, and I’ve got to be confident doing those.”

Next step

The Stingers, meanwhile, suffered a rare misstep in the previous LIV Golf tournament at chilly Las Vegas, finishing in 12th place at 5 over, 38 shots behind the winning Smash GC. Oosthuizen said his team quickly put the result behind them.

“I don’t think we four guys perform well when it’s that cold,” he said of the Vegas temperatures, which hovered in the low 50s F during the week.

“We were talking about it. It’s quite a different feeling making a golf swing with everything on in my golf bag. I think we sort of forgot about Vegas pretty quickly.”

Perhaps the coldest member of the lineup was Schwartzel, who shot a final-round 80, his highest score in any LIV tournament.

He’s bounced back with rounds of 63-66 this week and like the rest of the team, he appreciates Saudi Arabia’s warmer climate along the Red Sea.

“I’ve got a memory like a goldfish. What happened in Vegas?” laughed Schwartzel, who’s leading the field in putting average through the first two rounds.

Back on track

“Vegas is one to forget for me. … The weather was too cold for us. We’re in much better spirits now.”

Kokrak was in the best spirits Sunday after a sizzling 62 moved him into contention. A nine-hole stretch that included seven birdies left him with an outside chance of 59 going into the final two holes.

The first two LIV Golf Jeddah tournaments were won by his captain, Brooks Koepka. Kokrak would love to follow with his first individual win and see Smash reel in the Stingers for their second consecutive victory.

“Obviously to get my first victory with LIV would be amazing,” Kokrak said. “But another team victory to move forward would be awesome. …

“Brooks brought this team together to win a lot of team events, and I think you’ll see the four of us at the top of the leaderboard quite a bit.” (courtesy livgolf.com)

Team counting scores

1. Stinger GC -29 (Grace 65, Oosthuizen 66, Schwartzel 66; Rd. 2 score: -13)

T2. Smash GC -22 (Kokrak 62, Koepka 66, Gooch 68; Rd. 2 score: -14)

T2. Legion XIII -22 (Vincent 67, Hatton 69, Rahm 69; Rd. 2 score: -5)

4. Torque GC -20 (Niemann 64, Muñoz 68, Pereira 69; Rd. 2 score: -9)

5. HyFlyers GC -19 (Tringale 66, Mickelson 68, Ogletree 69; Rd. 2 score: -7)

T6. Ripper GC -18 (Herbert 66, Jones 66, Leishman. 66; Rd. 2 score: -12)

T6. Crushers GC -18 (Lahiri 67, Casey 68, Howell III 69; Rd. 2 score: -6)

T8. Fireballs GC -17 (Ancer 63, Puig 68, Chacarra 69; Rd. 2 score: -10)

T8. Iron Heads GC -17 (Na 66, Lee 69, Kozuma 70; Rd. 2 score: -5)

10. Cleeks GC -14 (Bland 69, Meronk 69, Samooja 69; Rd. 2 score: -3)

11. 4Aces GC -13 (Varner III 69, Perez 69, Reed 70; Rd. 2 score: -2)

12. RangeGoats GC -9 (Watson 66, Pieters 67, Uihlein 71; Rd. 2 score: -6)

13. Majesticks GC -6 (Stenson 69, Westwood 70, Horsfield 70; Rd. 2 score: -1)

Also read: Rahm, Meronk share lead at Jeddah as Legion show the way