Greenbrier Recap: Torque finish fifth; Niemann eyes season-long individual crown
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. – Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann produced his best golf of the week in Sunday's final round of LIV Golf Greenbrier to set up a battle royal next month with Legion XIII's Jon Rahm for the season-long individual title.
Niemann reeled off six birdies in receptive, rain-softened conditions to card a 5-under 65 on the Old White course, enabling him to climb the leaderboard from 20th place overnight into a share of 15th at 11-under. After teeing off at the par-4 sixth, he birdied the seventh, 10th, 12th, 16th, 18th and first before collecting his only bogey of the day at the par-3 third.
Although his place atop the season-long individual standings was taken by Rahm, who lost out to Smash GC's Brooks Koepka in a playoff for LIV Golf Greenbrier, Niemann and Rahm are the only two players in contention for the Individual Championship, which will be decided at the September 13-15 LIV Golf Chicago in the regular season finale.
"It'll be great," said Niemann, who now occupies second place in the season-long standings - just 2.97 points behind Rahm. "It'll be a great exhibition for the next round. I think it brings more interest and everything to play for in the last tournament of the (regular) season. I'll be looking forward to it."
Colombian Sebastián Muñoz finished up as the most successful Torque player at the Greenbrier, closing with a four-birdie 66 that earned him a tie for sixth place at 15-under. Chile's Mito Pereira wound up joint 28th after returning a 71 while Mexican Carlos Ortiz shared 40th after posting a 70.
Torque GC ended up in a tie for fifth on the team leaderboard, their 11th finish of top six or better in 12 starts this season. However, they drop one spot to fifth in the season-long standings with just LIV Golf Chicago to be played before the concluding Team Championship takes place at Maridoe Golf Club in Texas from September 20-22.
Prior to LIV Golf Greenbrier, Niemann had led the Individual Championship race throughout the year after clinching the season-opening LIV Golf Mayakoba in a playoff before winning in Jeddah by four strokes just two tournaments later.
Although Spaniard Rahm finally won his first LIV Golf individual crown in England last month to make up some ground on Niemann, he arrived in West Virginia still trailing the Chilean professional by 24 points in the standings.
Rahm's superior play over the three days on the Old White course made the difference, though, as he and Niemann traded places at the top of the season-long individual standings.
"I've been playing good all year, and Joaquin has been playing fantastic golf all year," said Rahm. "We have a nice little tight race going into Chicago."
Niemann is looking forward to going head-to-head with Rahm in Chicago.
"He has been playing great lately, so obviously he's probably going to keep doing the same," said the 25-year-old from Santiago. "I've got to try to bring my 'A' game and try to show some good golf, and hopefully it'll be enough."
While Niemann has the season-long individual crown firmly in his sights, his team mate Muñoz will leave the Greenbrier greatly heartened after improving his chances of ending the year inside the Lock Zone.
Muñoz entered this week ranked 25th in season-long points but, boosted by an opening 63 at the Old White and followed by successive rounds of 66, he is now in 23rd spot and therefore among the top 24 players who will be guaranteed spots for the 2025 LIV Golf League season.
"This has been a big week for me, and now I kind of own my own destiny, which is always nice," said Muñoz, who is yet to win his first individual LIV Golf title. "That's a big motivator for me."