Despite his six-word verdict, Joaquin Niemann must prepare for brutal ‘big’ misery amid an uncertain future

Joaquin Niemann is in the midst of a career-best period of golf. The Chilean kicked it off with the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship last November. Since then, the 25-year-old has won three times on LIV Golf and the DP World Tour, with eight top-10s to his name. Niemann’s globetrotting has been generously rewarded by Augusta National, the PGA of America and now the R&A.

So, Niemann has reasons to be hopeful after a T11 through 36 holes at Royal Troon. Asked if this is the best run of form of his career, the Torque GC captain said: “Yeah, I would say that. I think every aspect of my game is improving tremendously. I think my short game — as we saw today, I think my short game needs a lot of improvement, and I know that if my short game can be as good as my putter was today, these couple of days, I know I will participate in many tournamentsS.”

But none of that guarantees his future in the majors. Niemann tied for 39th at the PGA Championship and finished T22 at the Masters. This year, the LIV golfer narrowly missed his mark in US Open qualifying at The Bear’s Club. At the Open, Niemann must maintain his grip on the leaderboard to secure a spot at Royal Portrush.

It is striking that Greg Norman has withdrawn the request of LIV from the table of OWGR. In fact, there is no way Niemann & Co. will get paid in world ranking points in their daily work. With the merger still far away, Niemann must either play his way in or rely on the favors of the big organizers.

So far, no one has responded to LIV’s request for an immediate waiver. The outgoing R&A CEO dismissed any possibility of a direct path for LIV Golfers. While the USGA CEO is more sympathetic to the cause, but is awaiting further clarity.

Current stance of major organizers offers little hope for Joaquin Niemann

Masters extending an invitation to Joaquin Niemann led to speculation that major organizers are in talks to create a direct path for LIV golfers. Augusta National CEO Fred Ridley, however, dismissed all suggestions. While USGA CEO Mike Whan was somewhat more lenient.

Whan understands that the need for a direct path may arise in the future. But he does not want to make a hasty decision now.If LIV remains a separate entity and maintains the quality of players that it has, can I see a path to the US Open through LIV? Yes, but I’d like to see what the end product is, and we don’t know that for sure yet.“

Outgoing PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh has yet to reveal what’s going on in his mind. But then this year’s PGA Championship offered seven invitations to LIV golfers. Martin Slumbers, who is in his final year as R&A CEO, insisted that the Open qualifying series was enough for everyone. So for Joaquin Niemann, there are no guaranteed spots in a major at the moment. The Chilean’s best bet is to keep doing what he did at the start of the year.