“I felt like I was playing good in Saudi” – LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann reflects on his 2023 Australian Open win

Joaquin Niemann had an average season, but ended the year on a high note by winning the Australian Open earlier this month. Recently, he was a guest on the Fairway to Heaven podcast, hosted by Su-Ann Heng and Jerry Foltz, where he reflected on the biggest win of his career.

Niemann carded a 5-under-par 66 in the final round, aggregating to force the playoff with Rikuya Hoshino. It took him two extra holes to secure his first-ever title on the DP World Tour and his first professional win since LIV Golf Boston last year.

Speaking on the podcast, Niemann mentioned that this wasn't his best season, and he didn't play his best game. As a result, the team tried to make some modifications to his game, including the swing. He said:

"Also, the way I like my work ethic, I think it became a little bit better. At the end of the year, I felt I started working a lot harder on every aspect of my game a little bit more. And I mean, at the end of the season, I felt like I was playing good in Saudi.

"I messed it up a little bit on the back nine, but it gave me some kind of momentum knowing that my game is there. I was super calm those two weeks. I had a good time off right before, and it was kind of easy. It was a nice two weeks. Australia was fun, good company, so yeah, everything came out pretty good."

When asked about his experience of playing in Australia, Niemann said it was an easy decision to play both the Australian Championship and the Australian Open because he loved playing there during LIV Golf Adelaide. For the initiated, the LIV Golf Adelaide was the most successful event of the Saudi-backed circuit, and received a highly positive response from the crowd.

"Those two weeks that I was there," Niemann continued. "People were coming up to me and saying how thankful they are for all of us being in Adelaide, how much fun they had, how many good players they saw. So, it was kind of nice to see, to hear that from the fans in Australia and how much fun they had in Adelaide."

He added that while the crowd at the Australian Open was mostly supporting the local boy, Min Woo Lee, he also got respectable support.

He said:

"I'm not from there, but people were pretty supportive of me, so it was kind of nice also having the support from the crowd. Yeah, I mean, it was a great atmosphere."

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How did Joaquin Niemann perform in LIV Golf 2023?

Here's a look at Joaquin Niemann's performances in the LIV Golf 2023 season:

• LIV Golf Mayakoba: T11
• LIV Golf Tucson: T36
• LIV Golf Orlando: T31
• LIV Golf Adelaide: T30
• LIV Golf Singapore: T8
• LIV Golf Tulsa: T8
• LIV Golf DC: T31
• LIV Golf Andalucía: T10
• LIV Golf London: T21
• LIV Golf Greenbrier: T23
• LIV Golf Bedminster: T7
• LIV Golf Chicago: T18
• LIV Golf Jeddah: T9
• LIV Golf Miami, Stroke Play: T3