LIV Golf New York: Joaquin Niemann Captures Historic Ninth Title In Final-Round Finish

The conclusion of Sunday’s final round at LIV Golf New York turned into a showcase for the league’s biggest winners.

Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann extended his record to nine tournament wins with a clutch back-nine performance to shoot a 2-under 69 and win by three shots. 

"A great feeling to have, especially coming down the stretch on how tough this golf course is," said the 27-year-old Chilean, the league’s youngest captain.

Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC emerged as the team champions in a tight battle against Torque and Legion XIII to become the winningest team in league history with 11 regular-season tournament titles. "It’s just the truth – when golf courses get tougher, it seems like we shine more for some reason," DeChambeau said.

And Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm clinched his third consecutive season-long Individual Championship, a reflection of his dominance despite a rare off-form performance at the challenging Trump National Bedminster course. Rahm won twice this season and added four second-place finishes.

"It’s been a great year," said Rahm after shooting a closing 5-over 76 that left him tied for 41st, his lowest finish in any of the 36 LIV Golf starts that he’s completed. "A little sour taste in my mouth because of how badly I played this week. But it’s been something to be proud of."

Niemann was certainly the most impressive individual player at Bedminster, shooting 16 under to become the fifth wire-to-wire winner this season and winning for the second time in his last four starts.

Entering the day with a two-stroke lead, he was tied with Harold Varner III through 11 holes. But after Varner suffered his first bogey at the day at the 12th, Niemann followed with a 58-foot birdie putt at the 13th to re-establish his two-stroke advantage. Two holes later at the par-5 15th, Niemann’s second shot landed 26 feet from the pin, and he drilled the eagle putt to essentially seal the tournament.

"I was going to be pretty happy with two putts there, and it was quite a surprise to make that one," said Niemann about his long putt on the 13th. "It’s one of those that I just go to be grateful about it and just go pick it up and run. It was a big moment."

The Crushers won with a cumulative score of 6 over, the highest ever by a winning team in LIV Golf history. On Thursday, they opened with a score of 11 over and were tied for 11th but steadily worked their way up the leaderboard the rest of the week, relying on their veteran depth rather than the heroics of two-time U.S. Open winner DeChambeau, who ultimately tied for 38th.

Paul Casey was the team’s top performer, shooting 6 under for the week to tie for 6th and producing a clutch 3-under 68 on Sunday. Anirban Lahiri tied for 17th at 1 over and Charles Howell IIII tied for 28th at 4 over.

The Crushers entered the final round eight strokes back of Torque but shot a cumulative 1 under to Torque’s 9 over. Lahiri birdied his last hole to provide separation from Legion XIII, who tied for second with Torque.

"I think when you get to a Sunday afternoon and we get in with a sniff, I think all our tails go up," said Lahiri, who joined the team four years ago in Boston to complete its current lineup. "Like, we really want to win pretty badly."

As for Rahm, his threepeat as LIV Golf Individual Champion is a standard no other player in league history can match. He has 944.54 points this season, which is 218.34 points more than his nearest competitor, DeChambeau. With one regular-season tournament left at LIV Golf Indianapolis in two weeks, Rahm cannot be caught, since individual wins are worth 200 points.

In his first two seasons, Rahm had to win his season-long titles in the final regular-season tournament. Not this year.

"Most season-long races, you have to wait until the last event because the last even counts so much," he said. "But it feels different this year. … This year to play as good as I did early on and have such a big lead that I can even enjoy not playing good this week and next week, it feels really good."

TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS

Individual Top 10

1 (-16) – Joaquin Niemann, Torque (64-65-70-69)

2 (-13) – Harold Varner, OKGC (69-67-65-70)

T3 (-9) – Lee Westwood, Majesticks (69-65-69-72); Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (69-68-72-66)

5 (-7) – Byeong Hun An, Korean (72-68-68-69)

T6 (-6) – Thomas Pieters, 4Aces (68-70-70-70); Tom McKibbin, Legion XIII (70-66-70-72); Paul Casey, Crushers (70-67-73-68)

T9 (-4) – Younghan Song, Korean (72-70-68-70); Branden Grace, Southern Guards (73-69-72-66)

Team Top 3

1 (+6) – Crushers GC (DeChambeau 76-74-70-71, Casey 70-67-73-68, Howell III 75-69-71-73, Lahiri 74-67-73-71; Rd. 4 score: -1)

T2 (+8) – Legion XIII (Rahm 72-71-73-76, Hatton 73-76-69-72, McKibbin 70-66-70-72, Surratt 76-69-68-71; Rd. 4 score: +7)

T2 (+8) – Torque GC (Niemann 64-65-70-69, Ancer 71-72-70-76, Ortiz 71-71-76-73, Munoz 74-71-76-75; Rd. 4 score: +9)

ROUND 4 NOTES

NIEMANN’S NINE WINS: Joaquin Niemann won twice in 2024, five times last season and now twice again this season. He now has as many wins as Bryson DeChambeau (five) and Jon Rahm (four) combined.

"It's an honor to play with Bryson," Niemann said. "Obviously he's a major champion, two times. I was able to play with him on Thursday. Obviously didn't play his best, but it's always nice to be around him and try to learn from everyone. …

"I played with Jon almost every weekend for the last two years. How competitive he is, he definitely doesn't like losing, and I'm the same way as well.

"It's fun. For me it's good motivation to win. I love winning. I love to come here and work my ass and try to have the best chance possible to win."

PODIUM SPOTS STILL UP FOR GRABS: Even though Jon Rahm has clinched the season-long Individual Championship, the other two spots on the podium will be determined at LIV Golf Indianapolis in two weeks.

Bryson DeChambeau currently is in second place in the standings with 726.20 points, with Joaquin Niemann in third at 553.66 points. Lucas Herbert is fourth at 541.41 points and Tyrrell Hatton is fifth at 453.23 points.

Those four players will battle it out for the second and third place finishers behind Rahm.

DECHAMBEAU ON HIS WEEK: Bryson DeChambeau shot 76-74 in his first two rounds at Bedminster, taking him out of the running in his bid to remain close to Jon Rahm in the Individual Championship race. The Crushers captain shot 70-71 on the weekend but was still able to celebrate a team trophy.

"I might have been 6-, 7-, 8-over par going into the third round, but I'm like, I need to get this thing back to even par, not just for myself but for my team," DeChambeau said.

"It's a bit disappointing and honestly embarrassing to be that far over considering the skill set and the playability that I know I have. But you've got to fight for every shot. It's a little different out here. From a team aspect, yeah, this is what sets LIV Golf apart for sure."

LIV GOLF BESTS: HyFlyers GC’s Scott Vincent tied for third at 9 under, shooting a 5-under 66 that tied for the low round of the day. It’s the best career LIV Golf finish for Vincent, who is replacing Phil Mickelson in the HyFlyers lineup.

Majesticks GC Co-Captain Lee Westwood shared third place with Vincent, also equaling his best-ever LIV Golf finish. Westwood shot a final-round 72.

Korean Golf Club Captain Byeong Hun An was solo fifth at 7 under, shooting three rounds in the 60s after his opening 72. It’s the best finish for An in his first year on LIV Golf, and also the Korean team’s best individual result this season.

An’s teammate Younghan Song tied for ninth at 4 under, his best individual finish in his first full season.

HIGH TEAM SCORE: Crushers GC’s winning score of 6 over is the highest winning team score in LIV Golf history. The previous high was the 4 over shot by Ripper GC in winning in Miami in 2025.

STATS LEADERS

Round 4

Driving Distance: Matthew Wolff, 315.6-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Dean Burmester, 325.9 yards (15th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 15 and 18.

Driving Accuracy: Sergio Garcia, 100% (14 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Richard T. Lee, 88.89% (16 of 18)

Scrambling: Scott Vincent (5 of 5), Laurie Canter (5 of 5), Brendan Steele (4 of 4), Paul Casey (3 of 3), Richard T. Lee (2 of 2), 100%

Fewest Putts: Peter Uihlein, 23

Bogey-free rounds: Scott Vincent (66), Richard T. Lee (67), Paul Casey (68)

CUMULATIVE

Driving Distance: Dean Burmester, 311.9-yard avg.

Driving Accuracy: Paul Casey, Yosuke Asaji, 82.14% (46 of 56)

Greens in Regulation: Joaquin Niemann, 77.78% (56 of 72)

Scrambling: Harold Varner III, 79.17% (19 of 24)

Fewest Putts: Harold Varner III, 105

Lowest Rounds: Rd. 1 - Joaquin Niemann (64). Rd. 2 – Richard Bland (64); Rd. 3 – Harold Varner III (65); Rd. 4 – Scott Vincent (66), Laurie Canter (66), Branden Grace (66)

This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.