With the major championships done for another year, those on LIV Golf can almost solely focus on the conclusion to the league season with just three events left this year.
Of course, those with Ryder Cup aspirations will have one eye on Bethpage. But the large majority of the players on LIV Golf will have their sights set on playing well in Chicago, Indianapolis and Michigan.
The race for the individual title appears to be all but over after Joaquin Niemann won his fifth event of the season at LIV Golf UK this past week.
The result leaves him well clear of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. The pair are the only players who can catch Niemann, who has had an amazing year on LIV.
Why Joaquin Niemann winning LIV Golf UK was one of the worst case scenarios for the league
Unfortunately for Niemann, his year has still been a mixed one. His wait for that breakout moment in a major continues, with his best result coming at the PGA Championship when he finished tied for eighth.
Niemann reacted to his missed cut at The Open Championship by splitting with his coach and caddie. It hardly seemed like the ideal preparation for JCB.
And with that, Joseph LaMagna has told Fried Egg Golf that LIV probably did not need the player dealing with so much uncertainty emerging victorious in what was a largely comfortable win.
“I don’t know if Joaquin is the worst case winner for LIV each week. But I was thinking about it today, Joaquin is one of the worst case scenarios to win on LIV. No one seems to really care. He’s won five times on LIV now this year and hasn’t made any noise in a major championship,” he said.
“He changed swing coaches and his caddie this past week. What does it say that he’s not satisfied with the state of things when he has five wins on LIV this year? I think that’s pretty indicative of him realising the lack of strength to the field. And even Jon Rahm making similar comments at the US Open and being annoyed about the top 10 streak on LIV, saying explicitly if these fields were bigger and deeper, I wouldn’t have a top 10 streak going. I think these guys know, and Joaquin probably had a bit of a wake-up call this year at the major championships, realising his game isn’t probably where he thinks that it is.”
What Joaquin Niemann said about splitting with his caddie and coach
Some players seem to find something special when they are dealing with adversity. Obviously, the circumstances are completely different, but Scottie Scheffler shot arguably the best round of his career in the hours after being arrested last year.
But Niemann’s win was not an anomaly. He has won the next LIV event after three of the four majors this year. And speaking after he moved six shots clear of the field in Saturday’s round, the 26-year-old shed light on the decision to change his backroom team.
“I’d say it’s been a little weird the last two, three weeks. There’s been obviously a few movements on my team. At the same time, it is what it is,” he said.
“I’m really grateful for them, for the two people that they are not working with me anymore on the team, but it’s part of it, and I feel like I was pretty frustrated at the beginning of this week after a bad result, obviously, at The Open as well and all the rest kind of going on.
“I feel like — not low, but I wasn’t — like going on the golf course going into this week, I wasn’t feeling that confident at all, and I think it was just keep doing the same work that I’m used to and keep working with my team and why we work every time, stay positive with myself. I’ve been staying in the house with Carlos, Sebastian and Mito. That’s always good fun. You have a laugh here now and then, it’s always good for yourself, and I’m just grateful to have around the people I am right now, and I’m just grateful with the position I am with the people I am and to be able to do this for a living, it’s a gift.”
Niemann being so dominant while struggling in the majors does not dent LIV’s credibility on its own. He is unquestionably a world-class talent, with Jon Rahm putting Niemann among the top 10 in the world.
However, when you consider what an underwhelming year Rahm had in the majors, or how rarely DeChambeau was in contention down the stretch on Sunday, you have to say that there is an argument to be made that LIV events are not helping their best players.
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