After his thrilling victory at LIV Mayakoba, PGA Tour player Michael Kim found humor in Joaquin Niemann’s grievances with the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).
After an exciting four-hole playoff that ended in near darkness on Sunday, Niemann defeated Sergio Garcia to become the first individual winner on the LIV circuit. The Chilean took home a staggering £3.2 million ($4 million) in prize money for winning.
Not everything went well for the 25-year-old, though, as he lost out on world ranking points after winning in Mexico while LIV Golf awaited OWGR recognition.
In recent years, Niemann has established himself as one of the best players in the world, but his choice to move to Saudi Arabia has caused him to fall in the rankings. His chances of competing in this year’s majors have been severely harmed by this; after securing a spot in the Open after winning in Australia in December, the Chilean is only eligible to compete in one of the four main events.
Niemann expressed his dissatisfaction with his lack of major eligibility after his victory last weekend. “But I am not in the majors,” the Torque GC captain was heard saying prior to his post-tournament interview.
The topic was then discussed live on air, with Niemann stating he ‘hoped’ that his triumph had attracted the interest of the relevant organizations overseeing major championships in an effort to secure an invitation. “I mean, I want to win majors but I’ve got to get in first,” the young player said when asked what his objectives were for the remainder of the season.
PGA Tour player Kim, who obviously saw the irony in Niemann’s statement, replied with a simple “Lol” on X. Niemann has previously expressed his opinions about the ongoing LIV-world ranking drama; in an effort to pick up some points, he focused on the DP World Tour for last month’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
The Torque skipper explained ahead of his trip to the Middle East that the main goal of returning to the DP World Tour was to secure a spot at the Masters this year. “What the world rankings show right now is pretty unfair,” he said to Mirror Sport.
“Although it lists the current top 100 players worldwide, I don’t think this is the appropriate ranking…
I am only traveling to Dubai for the DP World [Tour] in order to try to get into the Masters and earn [ranking] points. I believe playing in Dubai is the simplest way for me to achieve my goal of attending the majors.”
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