Joaquin Niemann on Rory McIlroy's comment? "Pretty good to hear"
Joaquin Niemann has told GolfMagic it was cool to see Rory McIlroy heap praise on him for his efforts to get into the major championships.
Joaquin Niemann says it was 'pretty good' to be singled out for praise by Rory McIlroy over his efforts to get into the major championships.
The 26-year-old Chilean has found himself hitting the headlines in the golf world in 2024.
Primarily, that is down to Niemann's sizzling form that has seen him win on three occasions.
He's picked up two wins on LIV - at their curtain raiser in Mayakoba - and most recently Jeddah.
They were off the back of his victory at the Australian Open at the turn of the year, which saw him added to the field for the 152nd Open in July.
He is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world and is worthy of being in the field at each major this year.
But whether he deserves to is a point of contention for some.
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- Explained: Niemann's Masters invite
Niemann certainly thinks so and has made a couple of comments after LIV Golf victories that illustrate his apparent saltiness.
After defeating Sergio Garcia over extra holes in Mexico, Niemann was told by LIV's on-course reporter he was one of 'the best players in the world'.
"But I'm not at the majors," Niemann replied, dripping head-to-toe in champagne.
After victory in Saudi Arabia, Boulet asked Niemann if he feels like a favourite to win a major this summer.
Niemann replied: "How is that possible? I'm like 100 in the world."
Things have changed for Niemann. Since making those comments, he has been invited to play in the Masters and the PGA Championship.
He's hoping to play well enough in those to get a spot into the U.S. Open. He'll try to qualify if things don't go to plan at Augusta National.
Still, it's not as though Niemann can be accused of sitting on his backside and doing diddly squat about his situation.
He's flown here, there and everywhere to make starts on the DP World Tour and the Asian Tour to try and get ranking points.
The aforementioned McIlroy singled out Niemann for praise when the Northern Irishman was asked about Talor Gooch's infamous asterisk comment.
"He has been chasing his tail around the world," McIlroy said of Niemann before the PGA Tour's Cognizant Classic.
"I don't know if the same can be said for Talor."
GolfMagic caught up with Niemann before LIV Golf Hong Kong.
"It's pretty crazy what's happening right now in the world of golf," he said.
Asked about McIlroy's comment, Niemann said: "I had a chance to play with him in Dubai, on the DP World, and it was a nice day.
"We both played amazing. Obviously, I was leaving a message. I went to Australia [and won there] and my goal was to get into the majors.
"And I think it was [a big help] to play amazing golf too."
He added: "I tried to put the word out there that I was obviously playing good golf, so yeah, it was pretty good what Rory said about me.
"But at the end of day I'm super happy that I got an invite to the Masters and the PGA.
"There's probably a few more players that deserve to be there. But for me, I'm more than thankful to be in those majors right now."
Niemann didn't want to name names when we asked which LIV players he was referring to that he feels deserve major starts.
But he said: "I think one day it's going to change.
"Something's going to probably happen and we are going to create a system where everybody can co-exist."
Niemann was speaking to us before Greg Norman pulled the plug on LIV's official application for world ranking points.
Norman accused the governing body of having 'little willingness' to work with LIV.
So what happens next?
Well, OWGR chairman Peter Dawson has a theory.
Dawson told The Times of London there was never any conspiracy against LIV to deny them points.
In that report, Dawson hoped the PGA Tour and LIV could settle their differences.
So what happens if they don't?
"If it comes down to a no-change situation then the world of golf will have to decide whether they would prefer to have a totally inclusive ranking system that is perhaps not mathematically as good as it could be, or a mathematically sound system which excludes some players," he said.
"That's a decision to come in the future because we are in a bad place."
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