LIV players like Niemann in major no man’s land
DORAL, Fla. – Two days after tying for 11th at last year’s Tour Championship, Joaquin Niemann was among a wave of PGA Tour players to join LIV Golf. He ranked 19th in the world at that time and like nearly all the players who joined the new league, he has since plummeted in the OWGR.
But unlike many of the players who joined LIV Golf, Niemann and, for that matter, Talor Gooch were in their 20s and at the beginning of their careers, which made both players important additions to the league. It also left the two in a world-ranking spiral and a major championship no man’s land.
Both Niemann and Gooch are now outside the top 50 in the world ranking, and following news last week that the ranking had turned down LIV Golf’s request for points, scrambling for entry into next year’s majors.
“It’s been a little bit frustrating the last couple months knowing that I’m going to be outside the top 50 and not going to be able to get into the majors,” Niemann said Thursday at the LIV Golf finale at Doral. “I’m going to have to try to go play different tours to try to win world ranking [points] but I still think it won’t be enough to make it because all the world ranking [points] now are on the PGA Tour.”
Niemann, who played the four majors this year with his best finish a tie for 16th at the Masters, said it’s not likely he could improve his world ranking enough to qualify for next year’s majors and that he plans to attempt qualifying for the U.S. Open and Open Championship.
“I don’t have the world ranking right now, but I know I have the game to be competing at the majors and be winning majors,” he said.