LIV GOLF MAYAKOBA

February 2, 2024

Joaquin Niemann

El Camaleón Golf Course

Torque GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome the captain of Torque GC, Joaquin Niemann, who shot a historic 59 today. Joaco, tell us about your round.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: It was obviously an amazing round. I played solid since the beginning, and I never stopped playing good. It was good to hit good tee shots on the last couple holes where they're kind of tricky, especially 16, 18, and No. 1. I gave myself a few chances also the last couple holes to go even lower, but yeah, still really, really happy.

Q. Jon said he would have put money on the fact that no one would have shot a 59 on this course this week. What do you make of that?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: He owes me money then. How much was it?

Yeah, I wouldn't think the same, either. I think the fairways are playing a lot tighter than they used to be. The rough is a lot trickier, too. It's a little longer, and you've got a lot of different lies, which is tricky.

But man, I played amazing golf. Whenever I was hitting the ball, sometimes I was getting good lies, good bounces into the fairways, good numbers, so everything came out pretty good during the whole day.

Q. You said on the course that you didn't really know you were going sub-60 until about the 18th hole?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I knew I was close. I knew that the course could have been 71, could have been 72. But I didn't want to do the math and start counting how many par-5s and par-3s there is on the golf course.

But then I got to 18, and a few guys were shouting, Come on, Joaco, go for the 18, and I was like, wow, I'm right there.

I missed that putt on 18; it broke a lot more than I thought. But I hit a great tee shot also on No. 1, gave myself a good number. I just mis-hit it a little bit and misjudged the wind. But yeah.

Q. Was there a moment out there that you thought, all right, this is going to be a special round? Was it the hole-out? Was it the long par putt?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: I knew if I kept myself calm and if I kept myself the same way I was on the first couple holes, I knew it was going to be a really low day, and I felt that I was able to do that during the whole day. I felt like I was calm the whole day. I never went ahead of myself. I stuck to my routine. I visualized my shots, and I just went ahead and compromised with all those shots, and I was really confident on all of them.

I'm just happy to be able to pull those shots and finish the round with a 59.

Q. You're one of the few guys who have played competitive golf this year before this week, I guess in Dubai a few weeks ago. Do you think that gave you any advantage, like your game was there because you've had your rounds under your belt to be more ready to go?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Probably. Obviously since Miami it's been a few months, and I probably -- when you don't play for so long, I think you always have some expectation of how your game is, how it's feeling. I was able to play in Dubai a few weeks ago. I played at the end of December a few tournaments in Australia.

I kind of had a good break during new year, probably two weeks when I didn't grab a golf club, which I think went pretty well. I think sometimes it's too much golf and you start missing -- you start behaving a little bit the wrong way, and being away for a couple weeks makes you want to have more hunger to be back on the golf course and have a better attitude and get back to work and train.

I think those two weeks went pretty well, and then being able to play in Dubai to start the season, I think it was good.

Q. When you play as well as you did today, what is there to work on? What's the thought going into tomorrow? Is there anything that you want to tweak or fine tune going into tomorrow's round? How do you feed off that energy that you had today?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Same routine in the morning. Same everything. Just do the same. Just like today, it was just 18 holes. I've got 36 more to go, and I'll try to feel the same way I was today. Don't react on those bad shots.

I think there is a lot of holes here that are tricky, and there are going to be bad shots during the week. If I can stay calm during those shots, I think I'll be okay.

Q. Outside of the hole-out for eagle, is there a shot you were most proud of today?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I think I hit a great shot on No. 10. It's always a tricky hole, No. 10, especially with that pin on the left. You don't want to miss it left. But then on the right, you've got the water, and I was able to have a good number. Hit a great 7-iron to like three, four feet, and I think that was the best shot of the day for me.