How LIV star Joaquin Niemann could earn $22m this week

Joaquin Niemann started this season in a class of his own on the LIV Golf League and he has not relented since. 

The Chilean won two of the first three LIV events of the season in Mayakoba and Jeddah and has comfortably been the most consistent player in 2024 with four other top-five finishes.

It is a shame for Niemann that he has not translated that form into success in the majors.

His T22 at the Masters was his best finish in his three major starts and he will return to the DP World Tour after the LIV season ends next month in a bid to earn Official World Golf Ranking points to play in next year’s ‘Big Four.’

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And while he still bemoans LIV’s lack of direct into the majors, he has certainly been making the most of the money-spinning events on the Saudi-backed breakaway league in the meantime.

He leads LIV’s Individual Standings by 25 points heading into this week’s event at Greenbrier, with only Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Sergio Garcia, Cam Smith and Louis Oosthuizen able to mathematically stop him from lifting that particular title.

But the individual prize is well and truly in Niemann’s hands and he can even get the job done with a victory in the LIV’s penultimate regular season event on Sunday.

Niemann, who has led the standings since the very first week, will be crowned the 2024 champion if he wins and Rahm finishes third or worse.

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All this means that Niemann is essentially 54 holes away from a potential $22million payday.

That’s because, if he wins at Greenbrier, he’ll not only bank the $4million winner’s cheque, but also scoop $18million for being LIV’s 2024 Individual Champion. The previous winners of that hefty prize are Dustin Johnson and Talor Gooch.

As weekends go, this could be a pretty lucrative one for a 25-year-old Chilean in West Virginia.

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.