"Majors are supposed to host the best" - Joaquin Niemann complains about LIV Golfers' lack of action on Majors qualification, after Masters invite

After getting the invite for the Masters 2024, Joaquin Niemann has lashed out at the OWGR, stating that the major championships should have the best players on the field.

Niemann is currently at Muscat for the International Series Oman, where he and several other LIV-associated players are trying to gain some ranking points. Fortunately for Nimeann, he got the invite for the Masters earlier this week and didn't have to depend on the ranking to compete at the Augusta National.

In his recent interview, the 25-year-old Chilean golfer said that they knew about the consequences when they joined LIV Golf. He also accepted that the probability of the LIV events getting OWGR was quite low.

He said via bunkered.co.uk:

"At the end of the day the majors are supposed to host the best players in the world. Everybody knows who they are. Taking out the Official World Golf Ranking – which I think is not really a ranking – you can figure out who they are easily."

Although Niemann couldn't make it to the field automatically, he got the special invite for the Masters Tournament. The Augusta National's press release mentioned his recent DP World Tour starts as well as the Australian Open win, but didn't say anything about LIV Golf.

The Australian Open champion said that it was useful to get ranking points, but it was disappointing that he was quite far from getting the call for all the Majors.

"It’s frustrating," he added. "It got a little bit tastier getting that invite from the Masters because one of my goals was trying to get into the first major because the US Open you can get in. You can qualify. That still sucks to do that though but I do have a chance to get in."

Besides Niemann, Thorbjorn Olesen and Ryo Hisatsune also earned the call for the first major of the year. Currently, Bubba Watson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Tyrell Hatton, Cameron Smith, Charl Schwartzel, Partick Reed, Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, and Bryson DeChambeau are the other 11 golfers from the Saudi-backed circuit who will be in action at the Masters.

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How did Joaquin Niemann perform at the International Series Oman on Saturday?

Joaquin Niemann carded 4-under 68 in the third round of the International Series Oman to aggregate at 9-under after 54 holes. He is currently three strokes behind Louis Oosthuizen and Carlos Ortiz.

Niemann is paired with Mingyu Cho, and Matthew Wolff for the final round of the International Series Oman. The trio will tee off on Sunday, February 25 at 10:18 am (local time) from the first hole.