Joaquin Niemann victory crushes dreams of LIV hopefuls

Joaquin Niemann edged out LIV rivals Cam Smith and Caleb Surratt in a dramatic playoff in the desert to end his season in style.

The Chilean birdied both playoff holes here in Riyadh to claim the $1million top prize at the Asian Tour’s PIF Saudi International. It is Niemann’s third victory of 2024 after LIV triumphs in Mayakoba and Jeddah.

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Playing alongside 20-year-old Surratt, Niemann fired a final round 67 to seal his place in the three-way playoff. But how Surratt will lament finding the water from the tee on his 72nd hole as he missed out on the first pro win of his career.

Smith, meanwhile, ends a season winless for the first time since 2019, with both players missing makeable birdie tries before Niemann stepped in to claim the title.

In truth, however, the Australian looked surprised to have made it as far as sudden death after watching Niemann and Surratt falter from the clubhouse following his sublime 62.

The subplot to this enthralling finish in the Saudi capital, however, was agony for the Asian Tour regulars who were chasing a spot on the LIV breakaway league in 2025. Only the winner of the circuit’s lucrative ten-event International Series could win a guaranteed spot, with globetrotters John Catlin and Ben Campbell fiercely battling it out for that distinction.

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But with the points were so heavily skewed towards this showpiece finale, their season-long graft proved somewhat futile as Niemann also stole the International Series rankings crown. The next available player in the rankings not contracted to LIV already won’t be offered a deal, a move that has been met with inevitable frustration.

“Disappointing that maybe they don’t drop it to the first available player who doesn’t have a contract but that was calculated at the start of the season,” the Asian Tour’s CEO Cho Minn Thant admitted this week in an interview with bunkered.co.uk.

Not all is lost for the likes of Campbell and Catlin, however.

“Hopefully in the future we look at that and perhaps get even more than one spot,” the Australian-born commissioner added. “It’s always evolving. There’s no reason why the LIV captains who have spots on their team can’t pick guys off the IS rankings.”

It all means that the sole meritocratic pathway into LIV will be via the Promotions Event here at Riyadh Golf Club next week, where only the champion will earn their place.

Not that these logistics will bother Niemann, of course.

At a time when golfers are being accused of being too insular with their schedules, Niemann is the antidote as he continues to travel the world in pursuit of world ranking points and silverware. The runner-up to Jon Rahm on LIV’s order of merit in 2024, the 26-year-old has long been one of the game’s elite performers.

And to Niemann’s credit, he is doing everything he can to build a trophy cabinet to match.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.