Joaquin Neimann of Torque GC and Chile celebrates with his LIV Golf Mexico City trophy at Club de Golf Chapultepec on Sunday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
From a Correspondent
Mexico City: Joaquin Niemann’s third victory of the season on 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 his native Chile. And he claimed the hearts of the local fans appreciating his Latin American roots.
Oh, and he also 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 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 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.
On a high
“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 overnight leader Bryson DeChambeau and two 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 Crushers captain DeChambeau’s double bogey at the par-4 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.
With the victory, Niemann extended his season-long points lead and guaranteed his exemption into the US Open at Oakmont, 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.”
Falling away
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 8 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 4 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.
“Guess somebody else made a bogey or two, and the next thing you know we were tied. I was like, Oh my gosh, it’s my fault. Like it was all my fault.”
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, which 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.” (courtesy LIV Golf)
Final scores
1. Legion XIII -28 (Hatton 68, Rahm 68, Surratt 69, McKibbin 70; Rd. 3 score: -9)
2. Ripper GC -26 (Herbert 61, Smith 72, Leishman 74, Jones 75; Rd. 3 score: -2)
3. Torque GC -21 (Niemann 65, Muñoz 67, Ortiz 73, Pereira 77; Rd. 3 score: -2)
4. 4Aces GC -20 (Johnson 67, Pieters 68, Reed 72, Varner III 75; Rd. 3 score: -2)
5. Crushers GC -15 (DeChambeau 71, Howell III 73, Lahiri 73, Casey 74; Rd. 3 score: +7)
6. Smash GC -6 (Gooch 70, McDowell 71, Koepka 74, Kokrak 75; Rd. 3 score: +6)
7. Stinger GC -5 (Schwartzel 68, Oosthuizen 70, Grace 72, Burmester 74; Rd. 3 score: E)
8. Fireballs GC +4 (Puig 67, Masaveu 71, Ancer 72, Garcia 74; Rd. 3 score: E)
9. RangeGoats GC +5 (Watson 67, Uihlein 70, Catlin 71, Wolff 74; Rd. 3 score: -2)
10. HyFlyers GC +9 (Steele 69, Ogletree 71, Mickelson 72, Tringale 73; Rd. 3 score: +1)
11. Cleeks GC +14 (Bland 69, Kjettrup 71, Meronk 76, Kaymer 79; Rd. 3 score: +11)
12. Majesticks GC +15 (Horsfield 71, Stenson 74, Poulter 75, Westwood 78; Rd. 3 score: +14)
13. Iron Heads GC +25 (Kozuma 65, Jang 72, Na 72, Lee 73; Rd. 3 score: -2)
Wild Cards: C. Lee 74, Kim 77
Final round stats
Driving accuracy: Sebastián Muñoz, 92.86% (13 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance (for measured holes 7 & 12): Bryson DeChambeau, 377.1 yards avg.
Longest drive (for measured holes 7 & 12): Joaquin Niemann, 404.5 yards, 12th hole
Greens in regulation: Joaquin Niemann, Bubba Watson, Brendan Steel, 88.89% (16 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Sebastián Muñoz (5 of 5), Lucas Herbert (4 of 4), Thomas Pieters (3 of 3), Jinichiro Kozuma (3 of 3), Joaquin Niemann (2 of 2), Bubba Watson (2 of 2), 100%
Putting: Lucas Herbert, 1.33 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Lucas Herbert (61), Bubba Watson (67), Sebastián Muñoz (67), Thomas Pieters (68)
Also read: DeChambeau leads Cam Smith by a shot at LIV Golf Mexico
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