LIV star says Presidents Cup snub ‘sucks’

Once again, the Presidents Cup won’t feature any LIV Golf stars.

And that’s bothering Joaquin Niemann, in particular.

The Chilean trails only Jon Rahm in LIV’s season-long standings and could trump the Spaniard for the $14m top prize this weekend.

But Niemann, 25, is blocked from competing in the team showdown at Royal Montreal this month as a LIV golfer.

“It sucks,” he said on a call with reporters in Chicago. “I would love to be on that team. It’s supposed to be the best golfers around the world and they’re not doing that right now.

“I do believe we (the Internationals) have a strong team, but it could be an even stronger team. I’d love to see the Americans lose.”

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Niemann isn’t the only player from the Saudi-backed league who would’ve been in contention for a place in Mike Weir’s side.

Cameron Smith, Louis Oosthuizen and Dean Burmester all fill spots in the top ten of LIV’s individual standings.

Instead, a team headlined by Hideki Matsuyama will bid to win the international team a first Presidents Cup since 1998.

Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Jason Day, Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee are among the other notable names set to face the US outfit – captained by Jim Furyk.

Meanwhile, Niemann will soon turn his attention to the DP World Tour, as the two-time PGA Tour winner has committed to the Australian Open.

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He won the event last year and would be the first player since Peter Lonard in 2004 to go back-to-back.

“I feel like a good golf tournament has to have a great golf course and Australia is always the leader in that and a great crowd,” he said.

“Obviously you can’t say it’s a major, but if you look around, I mean you got the US Open, then you’ve got the British Open, I don’t think there is any other Open in any other country that comes close to it.

“And I think it’s because of how powerful golf is in Australia, you have this amazing program. I remember being a junior golfer and always seeing Australia as being the hardest team to beat.”

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 Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.