Rumors surrounding who will be moving to LIV Golf have been rife of late. However, aside from the Champion Golfer of the Year, Cameron Smith, who is reportedly set to join, could their biggest steal be 23-year-old, Joaquin Niemann, with the Chilean reportedly one of the six players reportedly set to sign with the Saudi-backed series.
There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Niemann, who stated on Friday, following his second round at the Tour Championship: “I haven’t made my decision yet. Obviously there’s some things I’ve got to see first. But I’m not thinking about that right now. I want to finish the playoffs and then see what my decision will be.”
Niemann secured the Genesis Open, an event hosted by Tiger Woods
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As of writing, the Chilean is the highest-ranked player in the world aged under 25. What’s more, he was in attendance at the PGA Tour’s Players Meeting at the BMW Championship where, just a week later, PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan, announced a number of unprecedented changes.
According to The Telegraph (opens in new tab)it is understood that Niemann will be another to receive a nine-figure signing-on fee from LIV, with insiders reporting a check topping $100m.
Earlier on Sunday, Cameron Tringale stated that he is the next player to sign with LIV Golf, as it was also revealed by No Laying Up that a number of current PGA Tour players’ names could be used as a discount code for the fourth LIV Golf event in Boston at the beginning of September, before they were deactivated.
Tringale revealed that he has given up his PGA Tour membership to sign with LIV Golf
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Niemann was one of those seven and, if he were to sign with LIV Golf, it would be yet another headache for Presidents Cup International Team captain, Trevor Immelman, who has already called LIV Golf “a giant pain in my a**.”
Reportedly, Smith, Niemann and Mito Pereira have been linked with LIV Golf, and are automatic qualifiers for the Presidents Cup in September. What’s more, the likes of Marc Leishman and Anirban Lahiri could also feature in the team event, but have also been reportedly linked with LIV, with the pair among the names included within the discount codes.
The fourth LIV Golf event gets underway on the 2nd September, with the full field yet to be announced. It may be worth noting that Niemann is managed by the same GSE Worldwide agency that also represents LIV golfers: Bryson DeChambeau, Abraham Ancer, Louis Oosthuizen, Carlos Ortiz, Paul Casey, Branden Grace, Jason Kokrak and Eugenio Chacarra.