MIAMI – Joaquin Niemann doesn’t have to be reminded about what happened here last season.
The captain of Torque Golf Club had some good feelings about his team entering the Team Championship in Miami in 2022. But before he knew it, the team lost 2-1 to Cleeks Golf Club in the quarterfinals.
Flash forward to the present, and it’s clear a lot has changed. For the better.
Torque GC is a popular pick to win the season-long team championship, which will be awarded Sunday at Trump National Doral. Consider this: Torque GC won a staggering four team trophies this season to lead the League and enters this week first in driving distance, fourth in fairways hit, second in greens in regulation, ninth in putting and third in total birdies.
Mix all of that up, and it’s no wonder the team will have plenty of eyes on it in Miami.
But that will have to wait until Saturday. By finishing third in the season-long standings following last week at LIV Golf Jeddah, Torque GC earned one of the four first-round byes and won’t have to compete in Friday’s quarterfinals, which might have brought back some tough memories.
“Last year was different, and this year we have got a really strong team,” Niemann said. “I was watching on Sunday on the TV last year, and it was cool to see what was going on between the guys and the 4Aces. You had to make your putts in the last couple holes to win the tournament. And you can feel the atmosphere, the pressure that they have.
“It would be nice to be in that position. We have to play a good match on Saturday and hopefully be up there fighting for Sunday, so it will be fun.”
Niemann finished the individual season standings in 21st place while teammates Mito Pereira (8th) and Sebastián Muñoz (11th) were among the players contending to win seemingly each week. David Puig was no slouch and finished 31st. His best finish was fourth place at LIV Golf Greenbrier.
They know they’ll need a true team effort this week to wash away what happened last season, and they also know exactly what they need to do.
“I think obviously the 4Aces are the ones to beat,” Niemann said. “They won it last year. We've got to try hard to take the trophy out of their hands. Anything can happen these next three days. We are excited to see what's going to happen on Sunday and hopefully it goes our way.”