Dallas recap: A sour finish in Maridoe for Torque after a season of remarkable consistency
CARROLLTON, Texas – A remarkably consistent year for Torque GC ended on a bitter note at the season-ending Dallas Team Championship where the Spanish-speaking combination were surprisingly upset in the opening quarterfinal matches.
Winners of a LIV Golf League-best four team titles in 2023, Torque had to settle for a disappointing 10th place in the 2024 finale at Maridoe Golf Club after they collectively posted a 4-under total of 284 on Sunday.
Torque were seeded fifth for the tournament but, after losing 2-1 to the 12th-seeded HyFlyers on Friday, they were one of five teams who competed on the final day in Tier 3 for positions 9th through 13th on the final leaderboard.
While Sebastián Muñoz signed off in style with a dazzling 8-under 64, Carlos Ortiz carded a 71, Mito Pereira a 75 and captain Joaquin Niemann a 74 that included a triple-bogey seven at the par-4 fourth.
"It is disappointing," said Niemann. "Obviously my team wanted to win the Championship title this week but, at the end of the day, in match play, anything can happen.
"On Friday, we didn't have our best. The HyFlyers beat us. They've got a strong team, too. It sucks, but I feel like at the same time these kinds of moments can fill you up and bring the best from you. So I think it will be a good learning point for us."
Torque had high hopes of success when they arrived at Maridoe Golf Club earlier in the week. Two of their players - Ortiz and Muñoz - live in Dallas, so they were banking on a measure of home advantage and an impressive run of consistency in pursuit of their first team victory of the season.
Although Niemann once again led by example in Friday's quarterfinal with a 4 & 3 win against HyFlyers GC's Andy Ogletree, Muñoz lost 3 & 2 to Cameron Tringale while Ortiz and Pereira were beaten 2 & 1 by Phil Mickelson and Brendan Steele in a foursomes match where they had been 3-up after seven holes.
"Yeah, for me, myself, I played great," said Niemann, who finished second behind Jon Rahm in LIV Golf's season-long 2024 Individual Championship. "I played great golf and I made great putts. It was a nice, easy round for me."
Niemann had only sympathy for Mexican Ortiz and Colombian Muñoz after the Latin duo's fast start resulted in defeat after the HyFlyers won five of the last 10 holes for the comeback victory and a team win.
"Foursomes is tough," said Niemann. "You've got to be there, especially on a course like this, one where you can be out of position pretty quick. Carlos and Seb played good, but Phil and Brendan, they brought their best at the end of the round, which was key to closing the match. They played better."
Overall, though, Niemann can look back on a 2024 season of "amazing golf" for himself and one of great promise and execution for his team.
"For me, it was a great year," said the Chilean professional, who led the Individual Championship race for most of 2024 after clinching the season-opening LIV Golf Mayakoba in a playoff before winning in Jeddah by four strokes just two tournaments later.
"I obviously wanted to win the Individual Championship, and that's what I will be aiming for next year, trying to win the season and to be the best player out here. This year, Jon beat me. I tried, and I did my 100 percent during the year, during the season. He just beat me playing better."
As for Torque, they failed to taste collective success despite a string of close calls. Heading into Dallas, they were the fifth seeds after finishing in the top six or better 12 times in 13 LIV Golf starts.
"For me and for the team, you look back to last year, I didn't play good," said Niemann. "I was just outside the top 20 of the year, which is not great, but my team played great. Mito was inside the top 10, same as Sebastian."
While Niemann ended the 2023 season ranked 21st in the individual points standings, fellow Chilean Pereira finished eighth and Muñoz 11th.
"It's just hard for everything to come together," said Niemann. "Now this year I have played amazing golf, and they played good golf, but I'm pretty sure they've got a lot more to do, a lot more work to do, to prove how good the rest of the team is. We will be working hard this off-season, trying to get a lot better and trying to improve the results.
"Our goal for next year is obviously winning. We want to win the end of the season. And we've got to start winning regular-season events again to get used to it. So the same goal as always - try to be our best and then try to win."