Joaquin Niemann earns yet another major invite

Joaquin Niemann’s streak of major invites has just extended.

The 26-year-old was awarded a special invite to the Masters last month and already holds exemptions for the PGA Championship and The Open.

Now, though, after a fifth LIV Golf win – and a third this season – he’ll line up in June’s US Open at Oakmont Country Club.

Niemann topped Lucas Herbert and Bryson DeChambeau on Sunday to win the inaugural LIV Golf Mexico City and claimed more than just a seven-figure payout.

Of course, the Chilean banked another $4 million, taking his individual LIV season earnings to over $12 million.

But he also accrued an insurmountable lead in the individual standings before May 19, the cut off for the Saudi-backed league’s new exemption pathway into the third major championship of the year.

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In February, the USGA announced that the leading player on the individual standings not already exempt would take advantage of an exclusive route.

Nieman insisted the best thing about getting the job done was avoiding a gruelling qualifier.

“My team was asking me to sign up for the qualifier and the sectional, and I wasn’t really into that,” he said after winning at Club de Golf Chapultepec.

“So, more than anything I’m grateful that I’m not playing 36 holes on a Monday after a tournament. Yeah, I’m pretty happy.”

Niemann added: “I feel like I wanted to be there, so yeah, it’s great to keep doing what I’m doing, hitting the ball great, making putts, and yeah, hopefully keep it rolling.”

Meanwhile, he wasn’t the only player to receive a major invite over the weekend. In fact, there were several.

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Keita Nakajima topped the DP World Tour’s Asian Swing, which awarded the top three players with a place in the PGA Championship.

Former LIV golfer Eugenio Chacarra and Hainan Classic winner Marco Penge secured the other berths.

The top three players in the International Federation Rankings also qualified for the tournament, set to be played at Quail Hollow from May 15-18.

Those went the way of John Catlin, who replaced the injured Ben Campbell at LIV Golf Mexico City last week, Daniel van Tonder, and Takumi Kanaya.

After this week, the top 100 players in the official world golf rankings will receive an invite to the PGA Championship.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.