By Daniel Blackham
Joaquin Niemann won his second LIV Golf title of the new season on Sunday, storming away with the individual title in Jeddah, and wasted no time in cracking a joke about the majors.
Niemann has been on fire this year on the Saudi Arabia-funded breakaway league, picking up individual wins in two of the three events so far this season. He was unstoppable in Jeddah this week, and finished up four strokes ahead of second-placed Luis Oosthuizen.
Despite the elation of winning the £3.1million ($4m) prize money, Niemann's thoughts were elsewhere as he provided a deadpan response to a question about his chances at the Masters. LIV players have been outspoken about their eligibility for the four major tournaments on the golfing calendar, as some will miss out due to the fact they don't receive Official World Golf Ranking points.
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Asked whether he views himself as a favourite for Augusta, Niemann replied: "How's that possible? I'm 100th in the world?" Before dashing a wry smile at the camera. Niemann is, in fact, rated 72nd in the world.
He continued: "I mean, I'm more than happy about the way I'm playing, I just want to keep doing the same. I want to keep on the same path, doing the same practice I've been doing, and keep hitting it the same way. I'm pretty proud of the way I've played all week."
This isn't the first time Niemann has spoken out about the lack of Masters eligibility, despite receiving a special invite from Augusta National to compete.
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Speaking after he won the first tournament of the LVI season at Mayakoba, Niemann's first words were: "But I'm not in the majors." Even speaking this past week, Niemann took aim at the OWGR and admitted it would hurt if he couldn't play in all four majors.
"It's great to earn world ranking points, but it's a bummer that I'm too far down the list to get into all the majors," Niemann said. "It's frustrating. Getting an invite from the Masters was a bit of a treat because one of my goals was to make it into the first major. You can qualify for the US Open, but that's still not ideal. However, I do have a chance to get in."
Talor Gooch, who fell out of the top 100 players in the world due to his affinity with the LIV league, recently hit out at Augusta officials and claimed a win this year would have an Asterix due to the lack of big-name players.
That claim didn't go down well with the golfing world, considering it was a direct shot at PGA Tour stalwart Rory McIlroy. Gooch is not in the top 100 players in the world, and will not be playing at any of the major championships this year.
