UK Preview: Consistent Torque sets sight on England and first team win of 2024

Written by
Mark Lamport-Stokes, LIV Golf Correspondent
Jul 24 2024
- 3 min
Torque UK preview STORY image

ROCESTER, England – Torque GC has been the most consistent performer in LIV Golf this year but the all-Spanish speaking combination has yet to taste team victory as it prepares for this week's LIV Golf UK.

With just three events remaining in the 2024 regular season, Torque will look to improve on an already impressive record that features 10 successive finishes of top six or better.

"The team is obviously feeling pretty good and we have been playing well," said Torque captain Joaquin Niemann, who has been the league's standout player this year with two individual titles.

"Last year, we had four wins, and the team played amazing. I didn't play my best but we still managed to get four wins. But now we are moving close. And I really like this new Sunday format with the four scorecards because, for our team, it gives us a better chance."

Niemann, who clinched the season-opening LIV Golf Mayakoba in a playoff before winning in Jeddah by four strokes just two tournaments later, will also be bidding to bounce back from his tie for 58th at last week's Open Championship.

"I felt like I did pretty good other than three or four holes," Niemann said on Wednesday about his performance at wind-swept Royal Troon in the year's final major, where he closed with a 5-over 76. "I enjoy links golf. I feel like it's a different type of golf.

"Obviously you've got to be more creative. You've got to trust your trajectories. It's a lot more work on the pre-shot and a lot more visualization and, having the wind coming, there's a lot of different lies. It's fun. I enjoyed myself a lot there. I did a lot of stuff that I don't normally do out here."

Moving forward, Niemann would like to make a much bigger impact in the majors, where he has yet to record a top-10 finish after making 22 starts.

"Obviously I would like to contend in majors and it's something I'm working pretty hard on," the Chilean professional said while preparing for Friday's opening round at JCB Golf & Country Club north of Birmingham.

"I know sooner or later it's going to come and I'm going to have my chance. I'm just getting ready for that moment."

This week, however, Torque's focus will be on the par-71 JCB Golf & Country Club layout which favors a variety of landscapes, including open farmland, stately parkland, woodlands and spectacular lake lands.

"As a team, we just need to play a little better," said Mexican Carlos Ortiz, who won his first individual LIV Golf title in Houston last month. "Joaquin has been playing really good golf this year and the rest of us are starting to get to that same place. It's just a matter of time before we get that team win - and hopefully it will come this week."

Torque are positioned third in the season-long team standings - behind second-placed Legion XIII GC and the pacesetting Crushers GC. Their record of consistency this year is unmatched, with finishes of 3rd, 6th, 4th, 2nd, T-4, 4th, T-6, T-4, 3rd and T-4 in their 10 outings.

"It's just a question of putting the pieces together," said Colombian Sebastián Muñoz. "We haven't had the wins, but we have had a lot of good finishes. It's just waiting for that week when we can all kind of put it together and start rolling. We're getting closer for that first team win of the year, which is something that we definitely have in our objectives for this year."