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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Jon Rahm and his Legion XIII’s debut was set to be the speak of the primary spherical of LIV Golf’s 2024 season opener, however the huge man from the Basque area of Spain took a backseat to Joaquin Niemann on Friday.
Niemann fired the second LIV Golf spherical of sub-60 within the final seven months on Friday, a blistering and bogey-free 12-under 59 that featured 10 birdies and a hole-out for eagle. It’s the second lowest spherical in LIV’s younger historical past following Bryson DeChambeau’s 12-under 58 within the last spherical to win LIV Golf Greenbrier final August.
“I may see 8-, 9-under, however I’d confidently say that I’d have guess some huge cash towards a 59 right here this week simply due to how slender the fairways are,” mentioned Rahm of Niemann’s spherical.
“He owes me cash then. How a lot was it?” Niemann joked in response. “Yeah, I wouldn’t suppose the identical, both. I feel the fairways are enjoying so much tighter than they was. The tough is so much trickier, too. It’s a bit longer, and also you’ve bought a number of totally different lies, which is hard.”
“However man, I performed superb golf,” he continued. “Each time I used to be hitting the ball, generally I used to be getting good lies, good bounces into the fairways, good numbers, so every little thing got here out fairly good throughout the entire day.”
With the shotgun begin, Niemann started his spherical on No. 2 at Mayakoba’s El Camaleon Golf Course and made par earlier than he rattled off seven birdies over his subsequent eight holes. From the green on the par-4 eleventh, the Torque GC captain one-hopped his ball on the inexperienced and into the cup for eagle to maneuver to 9 below by 10 holes and put his spherical on 59 watch.
“I feel I hit an excellent shot on No. 10. It’s all the time a tough gap, No. 10, particularly with that pin on the left. You don’t wish to miss it left,” Niemann defined. “However then on the fitting, you’ve bought the water, and I used to be capable of have a great quantity. Hit an excellent 7-iron to love three, 4 ft, and I feel that was the very best shot of the day for me.”
Birdies at Nos. 13 and 15 moved Niemann to 11 below with 4 holes to play on the par-71 monitor. His birdie putt on No. 16 got here up lower than a foot in need of falling, resulting in a disappointing par. From the primary lower tough on the seventeenth, Niemann stuffed his strategy inside 5 ft to arrange a clutch birdie to maneuver to 12-under with two holes to play. On No. 18, his second-to-last gap, Niemann pulled his birdie putt left so he needed to take par.
“Yeah, I knew I used to be shut. I knew that the course may have been 71, may have been 72. However I didn’t wish to do the maths and begin counting what number of par-5s and par-3s there may be on the golf course,” mentioned Niemann, noting he didn’t take into consideration the 59 till his penultimate gap. “However then I bought to 18, and some guys had been shouting, ‘Come on, Joaco, go for the 58,’ and I used to be like, ‘Wow, I’m proper there.’”
On the par-4 1st gap, Niemann discovered the green off the tee and simply missed the inexperienced from 110 yards out. Placing from off the inexperienced for this third shot he rolled his ball inside just a few ft of the cup after which tapped in for a historic spherical 59 that set the course report.
Sergio Garcia had one phrase for Niemann’s spherical: superb.
“Not dangerous for those who can’t play golf anymore. We’ve got one 58 and a 59. It’s unbelievable,” he quipped. “Like I used to be on the market right now, and I clearly began very well. I used to be 6-under by 8, I feel, and I seemed and I used to be like two or three photographs again. I used to be like, ‘What’s happening?’”
“If Joaco goes on the market and shoots 3- or 4-under and 3- or 4-under on the weekend, there’s nothing actually to do,” he admitted. “It’s not that straightforward to shoot 8-, 9- or 10-under par on this course.”
It actually isn’t straightforward, however no one instructed Niemann.
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