Joaquín Niemann has conquered this Sunday the ISPS Handa Australian Open, a tournament shared by the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour of Australia that has been held at the The Australian Golf Club in Sydney. The Chilean golfer has defeated Japanese Rikuya Hoshino in the second extra hole. With this victory, he secures his place in the next Open Championship and gets closer to the Masters of Augusta and the PGA Championship, although he will still need a bit more to ensure his presence in them. The Australian plan has worked out well for him.
More than winning, we could say that Niemann has ended up burying the samurai Hoshino in the playoff. The victory of the LIV Golf golfer could not have been fairer. He delivered a scorecard of 66 strokes in the final round of the tournament to place a powerful -14 in the clubhouse. He played by the book on the day with the toughest conditions of the week, with a hard and punishing wind. He made six birdies and a solitary bogey and, above all, he played a champion’s playoff.
The tournament was very tight and the truth is that anything could have happened. Niemann had it in his pocket, then came the opportunity for Hoshino and finally the Chilean grabbed it with both hands, put it in a drawer and swallowed the key. Mine or mine, he said.
It seemed that the -14 could be enough to win the tournament. Neither Hoshino nor Min Woo Lee, leaders after the Saturday round, were firing on all cylinders. The Australian was over par, tangled with the wind in his weakest round of the last month and a half. Meanwhile, Hoshino, without a spectacular game, managed to stay in the fight thanks to excellent performance on the greens. Thus, Niemann’s -14 seemed definitive until the Japanese sank an impossible birdie putt on hole 17. With that, he tied with Niemann with hole 18 left, a par 5, the second easiest of the day. He had it in his hand.
Perhaps here he was too conservative. He went out with the 3 wood and, in addition, he missed it to the right, to the pinaza. He had to play short, while Niemann was hitting balls on the practice range waiting for the resolution. Hoshino’s third shot was not bad, but not definitive either. He left himself a putt of about five meters for birdie and, surely, he threw the worst of the week. Short and without conviction. Par and playoff.
Niemann’s playoff was devastating. He had a great opportunity to win on the first hole. He hit a great drive and an iron from the right edge of the fairway that was legendary. He left himself a two-meter eagle putt. In front, Hoshino, now hitting the driver, sent it to the bunker, closing the ball too much. From sand to sand. His second shot ended up in the green bunker, shot out to about three and a half meters and… in. Birdie. The samurai. Niemann, on the other hand, missed his eagle putt.
The second playoff hole was a carbon copy. Niemann hit an even better drive and left himself another clear eagle option, now from two and a half meters. Meanwhile, Hoshino went from sand to sand and sank a birdie putt of about three meters. The difference now is that Niemann did sink the eagle putt to win the tournament.
An eagle on the second play-off hole sealed the win for @joaconiemann 🏆 #AusOpenGolf pic.twitter.com/VFnCcr620L
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 3, 2023
Niemann’s Australian plan has come out almost immaculate. He came to play two consecutive weeks in Brisbane and Sydney to return to the Majors, as he was not qualified for any of the four, and he leaves with at least one in his pocket. He has made it into the Open, as this week three places were distributed to the first three in the ranking who were not already exempt.
In addition, he is getting closer to the Masters and the PGA Championship. With this victory, he moves up to 59th in the world ranking. As you know, the top 50 at the end of the year will receive an invitation to Augusta. Niemann has next week’s Chile Open left. We will see if he distributes enough points to have a chance to enter that top 50 with a win. If he doesn’t achieve it, he could still play some other tournament at the end of the year or, otherwise, he could try in the first three months of 2024, although for that he would have to decide what to do, whether to play Asian tournaments, whether to become an affiliate member of the DP World Tour to play some weeks at the expense of what happens in the negotiation between the PIF and the PGA Tour… Much to decide still, but at least he has generated the opportunity. For the PGA, the top 100 in the world ranking in April-May get in. With this victory, he has also given a good push, although it cannot be taken for granted. Be that as it may, good for Joaco who went to Australia to play the Majors and has added a fifth place last week and a victory this Sunday.
