LIV Golf

Joaquin Niemann Takes Round 1 LIV Golf New York Lead: 'The Putts Are Going In'

Published Aug. 7, 2026 9:37 a.m. ET

The last time Joaquin Niemann held the solo lead after the first round of a LIV Golf tournament, he finished the week with a victory. That was 2-1/2 years ago when he opened with an historic 59 in the 2024 season opener at Mayakoba.

Based on Niemann’s impressive performance Thursday at LIV Golf New York, don’t be surprised if he duplicates that feat this week at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.

The Torque GC captain opened with a bogey-free 7-under 64 to grab a two-shot lead over Ripper GC’s Lucas Herbert and Majesticks GC Co-Captain Ian Poulter. Niemann also was the primary contributor as Torque grabbed a three-shot advantage on the team leaderboard.

Niemann made approximately 140 feet of putts while leading the field in Greens in Regulation as he tied for his lowest round, relative to par, in his 41 LIV Golf rounds in 2026. He led the field on Thursday in Strokes Gained Off the Tee and Strokes Gained Approach. Asked if it was his best round this season, Niemann replied: "I have a pretty bad memory, so I'll say yes."

He did remember his 59 at Mayakoba, one of just three rounds under 60 in league history. That set up the first of his league-record eight individual tournament wins, the most recent coming earlier this year in Korea. Last season when he won five times, he shared the first-round lead twice, converting one of those into a win.

"I'm just excited right now for the chance to be leading in the first round," said Niemann after a round that started with a 20-foot birdie putt and included a 40-foot putt from off the green, a 52-foot birdie putt and an 18-foot putt late in his round to save par and keep his scorecard clean. "The putts are going in, which is nice. It's nice to see that. I'm just excited for what's coming next."

To stay atop the leaderboard, however, he’ll likely have to fend off the league’s hottest player in Herbert, who won his second tournament of the season two weeks ago at LIV Golf United Kingdom presented by JCB with a record 30-under total.

Herbert opened with a bogey-free 61 in England and finished with another bogey-free round, a 62, to win by six shots. On Thursday, he was bogey-free again, escaping out of trouble by successfully scrambling all eight times. Herbert has suffered just one bogey in his last 63 holes and will appear in the final group on Friday for the fifth consecutive round.

"Been in very good form lately," said the 30-year-old Australian. "It’s been fun to ride that wave. I didn’t feel quite as comfortable today as I did at JCB but that’s understood because that was some of the best golf I’ve ever played there, so high expectations."

While Poulter can’t match Herbert’s result, the 50-year-old Englishman’s form has improved significantly in his recent appearances. He has three top 20s in his last four LIV Golf starts, including a season-best T15 in the UK, and he also finished solo fourth in his senior major debut at the U.S. Senior Open.

Like Niemann and Herbert, Poulter was also bogey-free on Thursday. He’s hoping to duplicate the feat of his former Majesticks teammate Henrik Stenson, who won the individual title at Bedminster in 2022 when the course hosted its first LIV Golf event.

"I hope there's a lovely little bit of mojo going on at this place," Poulter said. "It would be great for us to have one of the boys and obviously me have a win. That would be amazing. It's great to play a golf course like this laid out in as perfect a condition as it is. It's going to be a great test, and obviously I'm hoping Majesticks can be on the board come Sunday."

The Majesticks as a team finished second that week, their best-ever team result. The all-English team will start Friday in solo fourth behind Torque, with Ripper GC and HyFlyers GC tied for second.

Torque has been one of the league’s most consistent teams this season, with three podium results and eight finishes of fifth or better. But the all-Latin American team has not won since the regular-season finale last year in Indianapolis. Niemann hopes a return atop the podium could be in store this week.

"We did it at the last tournament last year, so right now it's kind of like our momentum. The whole team is playing great," Niemann said. "It's just a matter of time. Obviously, it's hard to win, especially with the teams right now how they are. They're pretty strong. We're definitely trying our best, the four of us, to get the win and celebrate hopefully with the champagne."

TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS

Individual Top 10

1 (-7) – Joaquin Niemann, Torque (64)

T2 (-5) – Ian Poulter, Majesticks (66); Lucas Herbert, Ripper (66)

T4 (-3) – Brendan Steele, HyFlyers (68); Thomas Pieters, 4Aces (68)

T6 (-2) – Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (69); Harold Varner III, OKGC (69); Bubba Watson, RangeGoats (69); Lee Westwood, Majesticks (69)

T10 (-1) – Yosuke Asaji, Wild Card (70); Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (70); Tom McKibbin, Legion XIII (70); Paul Casey, Crushers (70)

Team Top 3

1 (-4) – Torque GC (Niemann 64, Ancer 71, Ortiz 71, Munoz 74)

T2 (-1) – Ripper GC (Herbert 66, Leishman 71, Smyth 71, Smith 75)

T2 (-1) – HyFlyers GC (Steele 68, Vincent 69, La Sasso 72, Tringale 74)

ROUND 1 NOTES

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: The top two players in the season-long points standings, Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm and Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau, failed to break par on Thursday. Rahm shot a 1-over 72, leaving him tied for 24th, while DeChambeau suffered his highest-ever round over par in his LIV Golf career with a 5-over 76 that left him tied for 49th.

DeChambeau, who started the week nearly 220 points behind Rahm, needs a big week to have any chance of preventing Rahm from clinching the title this week. He must climb within 200 points of Rahm going into the final regular-season tournament at Indianapolis.

After round 1, Rahm is now projected to finish with 948.04 points to DeChambeau’s 722.35, and Rahm now has a 99% probability chance of winning his third consecutive season-long crown. DeChambeau is the only player still with a chance to catch Rahm.

POULTER UPDATE: When LIV Golf made its previous appearance in the U.S. this season, Ian Poulter suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee while hopping up a step in Virginia. It was expected to require surgery, but thus far, Poulter not only has managed the pain, he’s found his form. He met with his surgeon five weeks ago and for now, no surgery date has been scheduled.

"He’s read the scans and said he could operate," Poulter explained. "There's no guarantee I'm going to be pain-free within five months. He said he could put half a new knee in because I'm wearing on both sides of the insides on the medial side.

"He said, look, I don't want to touch it. You're playing good golf. You just can't be silly. Just don't do some of the things that you might want to do, which is go and play paddle tennis with my friends and family and go skiing and stuff like that. So, I'm going to need to get my family kicks in another way, but I've got to save these legs as long as possible before the inevitable happens."

This week, Poulter has his family cheering for him onsite. That includes his son Luke, ranked 5th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

"He's on an amazing trajectory: Top 10 in the world, playing great golf, plays golf courses that are exceptional," Poulter said. "So, he doesn't come and watch me that often. I kind of had to put a round in today and just show him that dad's not done yet. It's great. I love having the family come out and watch, and it inspires me to keep playing well."

ALL PARS: Southern Guards GC’s Dean Burmester became the third player in LIV Golf history to record 18 pars in a single round. The other two times both happened in Chicago – Matthew Wolff in 2022 and Paul Casey in 2024.

FLYING HIGH: HyFlyers GC have seen the results improve since Scott Vincent was added to the playing roster as the replacement for captain Phil Mickelson. That’s also left 43-year-old Brendan Steele as the club’s elder statesman on the active roster.

The HyFlyers also have the league’s youngest player in 22-year-old Michael La Sasso. Steele said he and teammates Vincent and Cameron Tringale want to provide as much guidance as La Sasso wants while he works through his first year as a professional golfer.

"We've all tried to help each other throughout the year," Steele said. "Obviously being Michael's first year, there's a lot of new things for him. We're always there to help each other with whatever we need. We're a very collaborative team, and that's something I've really enjoyed about whatever the lineup looks like as we always like to work together and help each other.

"Beyond that, the league is very open to helping each other as well. I know Michael has obviously picked my brain and Cameron and Scott, but he's obviously talked to other guys in the league, which is really special about what we have out here."

RD. 2 SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENT: The shotgun start time for Friday’s second round at Trump National Bedminster has been moved up to 10:05 a.m. ET. Gates, Hospitality and the Fan Village will open at 8:30 a.m. ET. All parking lots open at 7 a.m. ET.