Joaquín Niemann (-15) has achieved victory in the LIV Golf tournament held at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. The Chilean golfer, who started Sunday four strokes behind the lead, delivered a true exhibition, confirming his total and absolute dominance this season in the Saudi tour. Today marks his sixth victory on the tour, the first player to achieve this, and the fourth victory in the eight events of 2025 with an interesting pattern: he won the second, fourth, and sixth tournaments of the calendar and today he won the eighth, all even-numbered.
This final round was marked by the weather. Heavy rains forced a halt when the final matches had about nine holes left to finish. Shortly after, a real downpour accompanied by lightning interrupted play again with five or six holes left to play in most matches. Until that moment, Anirban Lahiri (-14) had lost the lead to Martin Kaymer (-10), later regained it, and finally ceded it in favour of Graeme McDowell (-14).
🤝 @joaconiemann closes out on -15@anirbangolf needs a birdie on 18 to force a playoff…
📺 Watch on @FS1 and stream on the LIV Golf App#LIVGolfVirginia pic.twitter.com/dszJzwDPyp
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) June 8, 2025
It seemed that the Northern Irishman had everything under control and was heading for his first victory in five years. But after the ‘break’, he saw how Bubba Watson (-13) nearly made an eagle on the 14th to leave with a birdie that made him co-leader, Thomas Pieters (-13) holed a long putt on the 1st to catch up with both in the standings, Bryson DeChambeau (-13) worked his magic with a chip from off the green on the 16th to also claim a shared first place, and Lahiri didn’t miss the par five on the 14th, making the ‘overbooking’ at the top complete.
But Joaco was still to come, who after closing with four flawless birdies in the first half of his round, returned from the last interruption with a sharp edge to show why he rules with an iron fist on the circuit since the year began (a dominance that has earned him a ticket to Oakmont). The Chilean signed a stunning series of four consecutive birdies, from the 14th to the 17th, to break the tie at six and launch himself towards victory.
McDowell tried with a birdie on the 17th, but he needed another on the last flag to force a playoff. The same for Lahiri, who reached 14 under par with a birdie on the penultimate hole but couldn’t add another after a poor final approach. The 64 from Niemann this rain-soaked Sunday was enough to complete the comeback and head into next week’s US Open with high morale in search of his first major triumph.
In addition to Joaquín‘s victory, this Sunday left incredible moments with protagonists from other times. For example, Phil Mickelson (-13). The San Diego native fought for victory almost to the end but didn’t achieve the feat of winning again just over a week before turning 55. He took a risk with a wood on the par five of the 14th aiming for the green in two and ended up with his ball in the water. And although he saved par, he ended up making a bogey on the 16th after a poor recovery from the rough on the 16th.
Are we doing this right @SandraLeeMD? 😂#LIVGolfVirginia pic.twitter.com/zdLZK9mvxv
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) June 8, 2025
He kept trying with a shot that will surely become the best of the year, almost holing it from the high grass with his back to the hole and feet in the bunker with an unbelievable lob. He closed his round with another birdie to tie for fourth place. A very dignified performance for a player who, despite his age, continues to show great self-respect. Just like Kaymer, who sank with a bogey on the 8th and a double bogey on the 10th, but also fought to the end to secure a notable top 10.
A top 10 position that Jon Rahm (-9) also didn’t miss, despite starting the day on the wrong foot. He began with three consecutive bogeys. He responded with a birdie on the 5th and three in a row between the 8th and 10th. Only bad luck with the putter on the 11th and 12th, where he narrowly missed what could have been two more birdies, kept him out of the fight. In any case, he managed to recover from a difficult moment and continue his streak of top 10 finishes in LIV Golf.
Luis Masaveu (-3), with a par round this Sunday, bid farewell to the tour (this week he played as a reserve due to David Puig’s injury) with a tied 38th place, the same as Sergio García (-3), who shook off the bad taste of the first two rounds with a great 65 and seven under on the day. Josele Ballester (+7) paid the price of inexperience in his professional debut, although he showed that his power could serve him well in the future on the tour.
In the team competition, the Crushers GC (-36) of DeChambeau, Casey, Lahiri, and Howell III won ahead of the 4Aces GC (-34) of DJ, Pieters, Reed, and Varner III and the Smash GC (-31) of Koepka, Gooch, Kokrak, and McDowell. Undoubtedly, one of the best tournaments of the year in LIV Golf, with a great public presence throughout the week despite the rain in this final round, which ended with Niemann being asked about the Roland Garros final next to the 18th green while waiting for his victory to be confirmed… and enjoying learning what Carlos Alcaraz had done.
