Neimann sets record pace as LIV Golf’s 2024 season tees off

From a Correspondent

Playa Del Carmen, Mexico: On a day in which reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm made his debut as captain for the expansion Legion XIII team, history was made by LIV Golf’s youngest team captain.

Torque GC’s Joaquin Niemann got the 2024 LIV Golf League season off to a flying start with a 12-under 59 in Friday’s opening round at Mayakoba.

In setting the El Camaleon course record, Niemann also became the second player in LIV Golf’s first 23 events to card a sub-60 round. Last year, Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau shot a 12-under 58 at Greenbrier.

“It was obviously an amazing round,” said the 25-year-old from Chile. “I played solid since the beginning, and I never stopped playing good.”

Thanks to his career-low round, Niemann has a five-shot lead over Patrick Reed (64) going into the weekend. Sergio Garcia is another shot back.

Those three will be in the lead group off the no. 1 tee on Saturday; the shotgun start for the second round has been moved up by 45 minutes from the first day’s tee time.

Quiet start

Anirban Lahiri, so far the only Indian on the LIV Golf roster made a quiet start to his 2024 season with a level par 71 at El Cameleon with a round that contained three birdies against as many dropped shots.

His team, last year’s champions the Crushers were down in sixth place on 5 under, eight strokes behind Neimann’s Torque after briefly being in the top three when play got under way at Mayakoba.

Rahm is tied for fourth with Laurie Canter and Richard Bland after shooting a 66 that started fast with five birdies in his first seven holes but ended with his only two bogeys of the day.

“I feel like one of those bogeys, 17, was avoidable,” Rahm said. “18 was just unfortunate. But it doesn’t take away from how good I played those 16 holes.”

Thanks to Niemann’s fireworks, Torque have the team lead at 13 under, with the revamped Cleeks GC tied for second at 8 under with Reed’s 4Aces GC. Torque won a league-leading four times in the regular season last year.

After opening his round with a par on the second hole, Niemann birdied the next five holes, made one par and followed with two more birdies before holing out from the fairway for an eagle-2 at the par-4 11th. At that point, he was 9 under through 10 holes.

In the dark

He said for most of the day, he was unaware exactly where he stood in relation to breaking 60. When he reached the 12th hole, he said he wasn’t sure if the course was a par 71 or 72 and “I didn’t want to do the math.”

But already at 12 under when he got to the 18th hole, his next to last, he heard shouts from the crowd to go for 58. That’s when he realized it was a par 71. “Wow, I’m right there,” he recalled.

Rahm, who was playing in the group behind Niemann, received a quick display of how talented his fellow competitors are in his new surroundings.

“What is it now, 23 LIV Golf events, there’s a 58 and a 59? It’s pretty impressive,” Rahm said. “… I would confidently say that I would have a bet a lot of money against a 59 here this week, just because of how narrow the fairways are.”

Told about Rahm’s comment, Niemann smiled as he offered the perfect retort: “He owes me money, then.” (courtesy livgolf.com)

Team counting scores

1.Torque GC: -13 (Niemann 59, Muñoz 68, Pereira 73)

T2. Cleeks GC: -8 (Bland 66, Samooja 69, Kaymer 70)

T2. 4Aces GC: -8 (Reed 64, Johnson 67, Varner III 74)

T4. Stinger GC: -6 (Burmester 67, Oosthuizen 70, Schwartzel 70)

T4. Ripper GC: -6 (Leishman 68, Smith 69, Herbert 70)

6. Crushers GC: -5 (Howell III 68, Casey 70, DeChambeau 70)

T7. Legion XIII: -4 (Rahm 66, Surratt 71, Hatton 72)

T7. Fireballs GC: -4 (Garcia 65, Ancer 72, Puig 72)

9. Iron Heads GC: -3 (Vincent 69, Na 70, Lee 71)

10. Smash GC: -1 (Koepka 69, McDowell 71, Gooch 72)

11. RangeGoats GC: E (Watson 69, Pieters 72, Wolff 72)

12. HyFlyers GC: +1 (Tringale 69, Ogletree 72, Mickelson 73)

13. Majesticks GC: +4 (Stenson 71, Horsfield 72, Poulter 74)

Also read: Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII completes LIV Golf roster for new season