LIV GOLF INVITATIONAL SERIES: CHICAGO

September 15, 2022

Anirban Lahiri

Joaquin Niemann

Rich Harvest Farms

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome Anirban Lahiri from Team Crushers, and we have Joaquin Niemann from Team Torque. He's the captain, and these were our two playoff champions alongside Dustin Johnson in Boston. It was pretty epic.

Q. Since you guys played so well in Boston, how does this course compare to the International? Does it suit your eye just as well do you think?

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I think it's very different. Obviously I think Boston, there were a lot of holes that you could get after, lots of birdie holes, lots of opportunities to pick up a lot of shots. I think this golf course is a much harder test.

Yes, I think the similarity is that it's a huge premium on driving accuracy, similar to Boston, but longer, tougher green complexes for sure, smaller targets. Yeah, I think it's a great golf course. It's a big challenge and another really good finish, I think.

I really like the last three, four holes. You can see a lot of drama coming in.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I agree. I think a lot of holes during the round where you can have a different decision off the tee, where you can be aggressive off the driver, but there is a really small target to hit.

Yeah, I think it's going to be fun. There's a really exciting finish off the last few holes, so I think it's going to be a good challenge.

Q. How many times have you guys watched the replay of the final round at all?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: I just watched DJ's putt on repeat. I wanted to see how far he's jump off the hole, but I didn't see any of the playoff.

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I watched some of the highlights just when I had a few minutes because I was actually curious to see how it looked on TV. Obviously we were in the thick of it, but it was pretty amazing that last 45 minutes before the playoff I think was so chaotic, so much going on.

There were a lot of messages from my friends and other people about how entertaining it was, and yeah, I did see some of it later, and I said, yeah, it was a lot to take in because there was so much going on.

Yeah, unfortunately I saw that playoff quite a few times, too.

Q. Someone asked a medical question or a little bit more about fitness and health related. Now that you're on this Tour, what do you guys talk about your teams as far as longevity because of the schedule? Are you guys excited about that? Can you elaborate a little bit about health and fitness and what you guys are doing currently?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, for me, just to know that you have a great schedule where you know where you're going to play during the year, I was able to build like a nice schedule during my weeks off and my weeks during the tournament and find a way -- obviously now it's three days. We all play in the afternoon. It was normally work out when I have an early tee time, try to work out after. So I've got to change a little bit my fitness times where I have to maybe work out before the tournament, but yeah, I've been loving it, and I think you plan better for the week of the tournament where you have more energy, the body feels better, and I think, yeah, it's pretty good -- it's been feeling good for the last week, obviously.

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I think also in the long run, the off-season -- everybody keeps talking about the off-season. Now you can actually have more than four weeks or five weeks off. Traditionally even when you had a month, month and a half off, you would take some time out with the family or friends and take a holiday, and you're not really going to be -- at least I'm not going to be working out on my holiday.

But the thing is now we have enough time where I can actually sit down with my trainer, work on a program with my body, sit down with the rest of the team, sort out some other specific aspects or if I want to go into a fasting protocol or if I want to do something else. You have the time, and you have, like Joaquin said, you have the schedule in front of you.

In the long run, I think, yes, you can do a lot more work. You can gain a lot more in between seasons just because you have the luxury of time, which traditionally you didn't have.

Q. Quick question about the continuing concern over the funding of this golf series coming from the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Saudi Arabia. The senior senator of Illinois just tweeted a few hours ago that this event is using a golf glove to cover a bloody hand. What is your response to the continuing criticism that the players in this series are participating in sports washing?

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: See, we are all just here to play golf. I think what has happened over the last few weeks, what people have witnessed in terms of the golf speaks for itself. Honestly, I'm not going to comment on anything political. Everybody is obviously entitled to their opinion. I have mine. But I don't think it's relevant.

My golf is relevant. What we do with our actions for the community here are relevant. Those are all visible, and I think that's what people need to see. That's what people need to focus on because there's a lot of good happening, but no one is talking about it.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: I agree. There's a lot of good things going on. I'm also here to have a good performance on the golf course and see how we can grow the game in a good way doing this team format. It's getting so exciting. I've been loving it.

Q. Joaquin, I want to go back to the point where you made the decision to come over here after having some success on the other Tour. What were some of the pros and cons and concerns that you had, and now that you've experienced it, how have they been answered for you?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, it's been -- once I got here, I realized it was the best decision I could have made. Everybody here is talking about the team format that I always grew up playing when I was in Chile. My junior career I always played team events, and it was something which really drives me to be a better person, a better golfer and push the limits on the golf course. I've been feeling great, how I wanted to improve every day.

Yeah, the team format was one of the biggest things that motivates me and drives me now to make the decision.

Q. Can I ask both of you, the kind of reaction that you get over here is quite different from -- I'm sure especially for Ban, what you are getting from India and back home. Can you talk about that? How was the reaction from all your friends and other people when you finished second? Also for Joaquin, how are people in Chile reacting to your decision and your play?

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, so obviously the perception back home is very different. People are looking at the golf. People are looking at the opportunity. People are excited about having one of their own playing here, playing at this stage. People are excited about LIV going to Asia in three, four weeks' time. I have at least 20 people that I know of who are flying to Bangkok, just from the people I know, and that's just India. I'm sure people are flying over from Singapore and Malaysia and everywhere because golf is huge in Asia.

People are viewing this as something that could be the lifeline for them going forward, not just with what they're doing with the Asian Tour, but just the fact that they're going to get to see some of the players that they would like to see because I think everyone gets showed and everyone is looking at golf shots and people are loving the golf broadcast. All of it is overwhelmingly positive and people are excited.

Yeah, it's been fantastic. I'm very happy and very lucky to have so many people so positive about everything that's going on.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, the same. At the beginning obviously all I cared about was taking the decision knowing that I was going to be happy and my family. Obviously all the media, they pointed us how they wanted to point it to make it look bad, but in Chile they didn't know much about LIV.

Now that they watched me last week, they're really excited how things could go in the future with the team aspect, also, and yeah, now everybody in Chile is loving it, and now they're able to watch me more during the round instead of how they were used to before.

In that way, yeah, they are really happy.

Q. Ban, the Iron Heads, which is comprised of all Asian Tour players, captained by Kevin Na, they did really well last week. I don't know if you managed to have a look at the leaderboard at one stage they were five ahead, finished outside the podium, though. What are your thoughts on those three players and any of the Asian Tour players given your own history of playing in Asia? What does this Tour do for them?

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: It didn't surprise me one bit. I think if you look at the quality of golf, some of these players specifically who are playing for Iron Heads, they're not household names in America, but if you look at their record, you look at their scoring average, you look at how they played in the Open Championship, for example, or some of the other big large global events, their performance speaks for themselves, and obviously I don't need to talk about the potential of the talent in Asia. It is incredible. It's huge.

You know, there are so many, so many stars that have come from that channel, so many people who have made their future and made it big in golf coming from there, so it doesn't surprise me.

I think the more they play at this stage, the more they see their names on top of the leaderboard, and the more comfortable they get, I think their performances are only going to get better, and I think it's a great testament and vindication of the quality of golf that exists in Asia, and I think it can only get better.

For me, it makes me smile, but I smile more when we finish ahead, but that's why team golf is so much fun. So much can happen, like I said.

I think Boston was a great, like I said, testament to what LIV is all about, and I think the more golf action we have like that going forward, the more people are going to recognize that this is just a different product.

No one is asking you to like it. Just watch; I'm pretty sure you will.

Q. How much did it factor into your calculation when you made the decision to join LIV what it would do to the sport back at your respective homes, and what do you think it can do? What do you think your presence on this Tour can mean for golf back home?

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Yeah, I know for a fact that people back home are excited basically because they can see me play golf. There have been many, many, many occasions where I've played well, and they've got to see practically nothing of me.

But on this platform, everybody is pretty much a spotlight. Everybody has a spotlight on them. Doesn't matter if you're making a 40-footer. Normally you watch a golf broadcast, and here we have so-and-so and you know it's going in from 150 yards, because that's the only golf you ever see. If I don't hole out from 150 yards, I'm not going to get the three seconds on TV. That doesn't happen here. This putt is going in; do you want to take a bet?

That was the biggest feedback I got: We actually got to see you play.

I'm sure it's the same for every player in the field. Of course I played well, so they got to see my a little bit more. But even if I'm middle of the field, you're still going to see me hit a few shots. You still get a narrative because you follow my team, so my team is also something that my fans or the people who are following me will also follow because it affects me, and that's where the team aspect also builds the fan base.

I think the whole dynamic works really well, especially in countries where golf is still growing. People are still trying to educate themselves with the sport. People are trying to get interested and get involved. This platform I think does a lot more engagement than what has existed before.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I'm the same. Like I just said before, they're able to watch me a lot more on TV. There is always the same guys that they show on TV normally, and now we're part of a team where there are four players and they're the best three positions on the leaderboard, and you want to see all the four guys playing, they're going to show everybody at the same time on the team.

I think it's really cool, and yeah, all my friends and family, like I was able to see their reaction that they have over the LIV Tour the first time they watched me because they never watched it before, so it was cool.

Q. What can do that for the game and the growth of the game do you think looking down the road?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: The teams?

Q. Just the more eyeballs, people watching you, getting excited.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, just creating new fans. Once we get engaged into the name of our team, we get the rest together, using the same colors, that will create a great fan following for the people outside, and it's going to bring more people and more younger people into the game of golf.

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: I think it's just about creating more golfers. Basically if you narrow it down, growth of the game is just that. You want to create more golfers. You want to create more people who watch golf, who are interested in golf, more people who are buying into the sport in any which way, and this is exactly what it does because the outreach is different. The outreach is more global.

People in lesser markets, so to speak, are now interested, because they have something that they can relate to, something that they can call their own, and I think that's the big difference, and I think that's what franchises and teams do.

I was talking today to Paul Casey about it. All of Bryson's fans are going to watch me. All of my fans are also going to watch Paul. It transcends -- it's not just I'm only following my guy. That doesn't work anymore. That also creates -- it's growth. It's growth in many different ways.

Q. You're not playing in the Presidents Cup next week; how much are you going to miss it?

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Oh, definitely going to miss it. It's close to my heart. I've been on two teams. Very proud to have been a part of them, and they were very, very special weeks for me. I'll be supporting the international team wholeheartedly this next week, and I hope our boys go out there and put in a big effort and play really good. Yeah, I mean, it's something that I care about deeply, and it's unfortunate how things are, but I wish them the best.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, the same. Signing up to be on that team is something, is one of the goals, obviously, that you have as international player, to be in the Presidents Cup, where the best international players are on that team. Yeah, it's sad to see it, but obviously I'm going to be supporting the international team. I've got a lot of friends there and a lot of professional golfers that we share a lot during the year, during the season. Yeah, I'm going to be supporting them, and hopefully they beat the Americans.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys. Good luck this week.