LIV Golf opened its 2024 season on Friday in Mayacaoba, Mexico. It was a great start to the year for Joaquín Niemann, with the Torque GC captain achieving great results. No bogey 59.
He holds a 5-stroke lead as an individual at 12 under par, but the Torque GC team also has a 5-stroke advantage at the end of the first round.
Niemann had 10 birdies and a hole-out eagle on Friday. He was at 12 under with two holes left and had a chance to drop further, but he parred out.
He started the day with a par on the second hole. The 25-year-old then lost consciousness. Niemann had five straight birdies and made his second par of the day on the par-3 eighth.
He made back-to-back birdies on the 9th and 10th holes, then holed out on the par-4 11th hole for an eagle. Niemann dunked the shot and couldn’t believe it went into the hole.
This shot moved him to 9 under through 10 holes. With eight shots left, the Chilean made three more birdies on the 13th, 15th and 17th.
Region XIII captain Jon Rahm told the media before the tournament that he would bet money that no one would hit a 59 on this course.
“So he owes me money,” Niemann said after the round. “I think the fairways are a lot tighter than they used to be. They’re a little longer and there’s a variety of lies, so it’s difficult. But, well, I played great golf. Whenever I was hitting the ball.” Everything turned out pretty good throughout the day as I got some good lies, some good bounces in the fairway, some good numbers. ”
This is the second time in LIV’s short history that someone has posted a historic sub-60 round. Bryson DeChambeau scored an impressive 58 points at the LIV Golf Greenbrier last year.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
