Joaquín Niemann secured a second LIV Golf triumph of the season in Jeddah, carding a final round 66 to see off a resurgent Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen by four strokes at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.
The Chilean, who won LIV Golf’s first event of the season in Mayakoba, got off to a hot start with a birdie at the first after knocking his pitch shot close, before picking up a second shot of the day on the fourth and then another at the tenth.
The recent Masters invitee made just his second bogey of the week on the 13th to give the chasing pack hope, but back-to-back birdies on the final two holes saw him extend his lead and finish on 17 under par.
“It’s huge,” said Niemann, who now has three worldwide wins in the last three months.
“I mean obviously we’ve got another week to come next week. I told myself that I can probably win these three weeks that I'm playing overseas, and this is a good start! I’ve got next week, hopefully try to do the same, play good golf and see what happens.
“I’m more than happy about the way that I’m playing, I just want to keep doing the same, keep on the same path, same practice that I’ve been doing and hopefully hitting it the same way.
“I’m pretty proud of the way I played during the week.”
Schwartzel’s runner-up finish marked a significant upturn in form after a woeful final round in Vegas before missing the cut at the International Series Oman just last week.
The 2011 Masters Tournament champion revealed yesterday that he had put a new driver in the bag which had helped his performance, with the 39-year-old impressive off the tee once again on Sunday en route to his best finish on the circuit since winning LIV Golf’s inaugural event in London two years ago.
Bryson DeChambeau, who shot a sublime bogey-free 62, finished fourth, with Dubai-based Adrian Meronk and Jon Rahm a shot further back in fifth.
Anthony Kim carded 74, his best round of the week, as he completed his first professional event in 12 years. The cult hero finished the week in last position, but there were definitely signs of improvement today that he can use as springboard for the remainder of the season.
In the Team event, Crushers GC, who were crowned season-long team champions last year, produced a remarkable comeback to win their first event of 2024.
The team, which consists of DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri, produced the largest comeback in LIV Golf history, overturning an 11-shot deficit, to beat overnight leaders Stinger GC by four shots.
“We have a lot of resolve,” said DeChambeau.
“We know every day we can go super low and that’s what happened today. Hopefully we shocked the whole eco-system of LIV!”
The LIV Golf League continues next week in Hong Kong.
