Joaquin Niemann has a five-shot lead after two rounds at LIV Golf New York. He appears in total command of all facets of his game and is the only player in the field yet to make a bogey. It’s very reminiscent of 2025 when he won a record five LIV Golf tournaments.
But the Torque GC captain, seeking his second win in his last four league starts, isn’t interested in comparing his current form to last year. He doesn’t want to get stuck trying to simply duplicate the past.
“I feel like I’m never going to be the same as I was in 2025,” he said. “I feel like you’re always changing. You’re always evolving and you’re always a different person. 2025, I played amazing golf. I had five wins on LIV. Probably not the best results in major. But I feel I’m a better player now. I feel like I have matured a lot more and whenever time goes on, there’s always something to learn.”
The 27-year-old Niemann, the league’s youngest captain, followed his opening 7-under 64 with a bogey-free 65 on Friday, leaving him at 13 under entering the weekend at Trump National Bedminster. Fueled by Niemann, Torque also has a five-shot lead on the team leaderboard.
Niemann’s closest pursuer is the oldest captain in the field, 53-year-old Lee Westwood of England. The Majesticks co-captain is at 8 under after matching Niemann’s 65. Another stroke back is 47-year-old Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia of Spain, who also shot 65.
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Both of those European legends realize that catching Niemann will be a difficult task – especially if the Chilean star keeps starting his rounds so strongly. In each of the first two days at Bedminster, he’s shot 5-under 30 on the front nine.
“Joaco is obviously a world-class player. For me, he’s top 20 in the world,” Westwood said. “When he’s on his game, he can run away with a tournament. But everybody is human, and everybody makes mistakes, and everybody feels pressure. So, we’ll just see what happens, really. I’ll just try and control what I can control.”
Added Garcia: “If Joaco keeps shooting 5- or 6-under every day, it’s going to be very difficult to catch him; it’s as simple as that. When Joaco gets going the right way … it feels like he can birdie pretty much every hole.”
Garcia faces the same 36-hole deficit as he did in the 2024 season opener at Mayakoba when he was six shots behind after Niemann opened with a 59 at the 54-hole tournament. Garcia managed to force a playoff that Niemann eventually won in the fading light in Mexico.
“It would be nice hopefully on Sunday to have a playoff with him again,” Garcia said.
That win was the first of Niemann’s LIV Golf record eight individual titles. Two of those victories came when Niemann led after the first round in 54-hole tournaments. When Niemann won his first 72-hole LIV Golf title in May in Korea, he was three strokes off the lead with 36 to play before reeling in Talor Gooch and beating the OKGC captain in a playoff.
“Obviously I’ve been in this situation before, but like I say, I feel like every situation is different to the other ones,” Niemann said. “There’s just experience that you can learn from. I’m just excited to go out there for the weekend and see what I can learn. I feel like there’s so much golf to play. There are so many shots to hit. I’m just excited to have the opportunity to go and see my shots, try to deliver the best I can, and go from there.”
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Main Image: Charles Laberge/LIV Golf
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