Chile’s Joaquin Niemann held his nerve to capture a third LIV Golf title on Sunday with a seven-under-par 65, rebuffing Mexican pair Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz by three shots in Adelaide.
WATCH: Patrick Reed makes hole-in-one at LIV Golf Adelaide, crowd goes WILD
The 26-year-old began the day three behind joint leaders Ancer, Ortiz and England’s Sam Horsfield, but reeled them in at Grange Golf Club with a near faultless round, sinking seven birdies.
In front of bumper crowds and a carnival atmosphere, he finished 54 holes at 13-under, three clear of Ortiz (71) and Ancer (71), who caved into the pressure with three bogeys in his last five holes.
Spain’s David Puig was fourth, four off the pace, and England’s Richard Bland a shot further back.
The Sergio Garcia-captained Fireballs took out the team title.
“Man, I love it,” said Niemann.
“I’m trying to feel chilled now because I didn’t want him to get out of that game rhythm, because you never know what could happen.
“But yeah, now for that relief.”
Niemann won his first LIV title at Mayakoba last year in a playoff against Garcia and added another at Jeddah.
He has history Down Under, winning the Australian Open at Sydney in 2023, his only European Tour victory. He has also won twice on the PGA Tour and said he now feels ready to challenge at the majors.
“Obviously that’s something that we all work for. It’s something that I know I can do,” he said, with Neimann eligible to play three of the four major tournaments.
“It’s just a matter of, you know, that week being my week. I just need to be patient.”
Ancer began with two birdies to open a two-shot lead from Ortiz and Horsfield.
But Niemann drilled four birdies on the front nine to move within a stroke at the turn.
The Chilean then sank another birdie at the par-three 12th to draw level, only for Ancer, in the group behind, to match the feat with a long-range putt and regain the lead.
Niemann struck again with a birdie on the 15th while Ancer hit the bunker off the tee at the 14th to card his first bogey and relinquish the lead.
A 15-foot putt for a birdie at the 16th kept Ancer in touch, but he crumbled on the last two holes, missing the fairway on both to record back-to-back bogeys and hand Niemann the win.
Mixed fortunes
Meanwhile, it was a tournament of mixed fortunes for the all-South African Stinger GC quartet.
Dean Burmester and Charl Schwartzel both finished in a tie for 12th place on 5-under par. That was good enough for $312 500 (R5.7 million) each.
Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace struggled over the 54 holes and both finished in a tie for 37th in the 54-man field.
The pair banked $135 285 (R2.5 million) each.
Stinger GC finished eighth in the 13-team leaderboard.
The LIV Tour’s 14-stop 2025 campaign teed off last week in Riyadh, where Adrian Meronk won the individual title and Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII the team crown.
It moves to Hong Kong next from 7-9 March.
LIV Golf Adelaide 2025 prize money payouts
Position | Player | Score | Earnings |
1 | Joaquin Niemann | -13 | $4,000,000 |
T2 | Abraham Ancer | -10 | $1,875,000 |
T2 | Carlos Ortiz | -10 | $1,875,000 |
4 | David Puig | -9 | $1,000,000 |
5 | Richard Bland | -8 | $800,000 |
6 | Jon Rahm | -7 | $700,000 |
T7 | Anirban Lahiri | -6 | $470,500 |
T7 | Harold Varner III | -6 | $470,500 |
T7 | Tom McKibbin | -6 | $470,500 |
T7 | Brooks Koepka | -6 | $470,500 |
T7 | Sam Horsfield | -6 | $470,500 |
T12 | Adrian Meronk | -5 | $312,500 |
T12 | Thomas Pieters | -5 | $312,500 |
T12 | Cameron Tringale | -5 | $312,500 |
T12 | Charl Schwartzel | -5 | $312,500 |
T12 | Dean Burmester | -5 | $312,500 |
T12 | Henrik Stenson | -5 | $312,500 |
T18 | Sergio Garcia | -4 | $250,000 |
T18 | Kevin Na | -4 | $250,000 |
T18 | Bryson DeChambeau | -4 | $250,000 |
T21 | Marc Leishman | -3 | $225,000 |
T21 | Bubba Watson | -3 | $225,000 |
T23 | Charles Howell III | -2 | $190,714 |
T23 | Phil Mickelson | -2 | $190,714 |
T23 | Brendan Steele | -2 | $190,714 |
T23 | Peter Uihlein | -2 | $190,714 |
T23 | Ben Campbell | -2 | $190,714 |
T23 | Yubin Jang | -2 | $190,714 |
T23 | Tyrrell Hatton | -2 | $190,714 |
30 | Cameron Smith | -1 | $170,000 |
T31 | Dustin Johnson | E | $153,833 |
T31 | Caleb Surratt | E | $153,833 |
T31 | Andy Ogletree | E | $153,833 |
T31 | Ian Poulter | E | $153,833 |
T31 | Paul Casey | E | $153,833 |
T31 | Lucas Herbert | E | $153,833 |
T37 | Graeme McDowell | 2 | $135,285 |
T37 | Lee Westwood | 2 | $135,285 |
T37 | Luis Masaveu | 2 | $135,285 |
T37 | Louis Oosthuizen | 2 | $135,285 |
T37 | Patrick Reed | 2 | $135,285 |
T37 | Branden Grace | 2 | $135,285 |
T37 | Danny Lee | 2 | $135,285 |
44 | Matt Jones | 3 | $128,000 |
45 | Sebastian Munoz | 4 | $125,000 |
46 | Mito Pereira | 6 | $125,000 |
T47 | Max Lee | 7 | $121,500 |
T47 | Jason Kokrak | 7 | $121,500 |
49 | Martin Kaymer | 8 | $60,000 |
50 | Wade Ormsby | 9 | $60,000 |
T51 | Talor Gooch | 10 | $55,000 |
T51 | Anthony Kim | 10 | $55,000 |
53 | Frederik Kjettrup | 12 | $50,000 |
54 | Matthew Wolff | 13 | $50,000 |
LIV Golf Adelaide 2025 team prize money payouts
Position | Team | Score | Earnings |
1 | Fireballs GC | -21 | $3,000,000 |
2 | Legion XIII | -15 | $1,500,000 |
3 | Torque GC | -13 | $500,000 |
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