LIV GOLF CHICAGO

September 13, 2024

Joaquin Niemann

Bolingbrook Golf Club

Torque GC

Quick Quotes

Q. I know it's just the first day and there's a lot remaining of the golf tournament, but it must be feeling good that you finished with that beautiful birdie on the 17th and a good par save on the 18th.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, look, there's a lot of golf to play. It's a good start, yes, but there's still a nice long weekend to come, so looking forward to that.

Q. It's always good to have a slight edge going into the second day, isn't it.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, you can look at it both ways. I was trying to focus on trying to win this golf tournament. I feel if I focus on that, everything else takes care of itself. That's kind of my mindset. Brooks played an amazing round today. It was really tricky today, so I think he's the target now.

For me, yeah, I'm trying to chase the leader. That's the goal.

Q. What did you like about your game today? Were you happy with it?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: I think my scrambling was pretty good. I hit a lot of good chips, an amazing chip on No. 8. I get a few props for my scrambling today.

Q. You missed a couple of chips very narrowly. That chip-in must be felt really good.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, the chip-in today was great. It was great.

Q. And your putting was also really on song, isn't it.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, putting was good. I actually thought I could have made a few more putts. A few good putts that I hit that were on my line, they ended up doing something different at the end. Yeah, that putt on No. 14 for eagle, I thought it was going to go in.

The putt after that on 15 where I hit it in the water, I almost made a good bogey. I putted good. Yeah, I could have made a few more, too.

Q. I must ask you about the double bogey. That must have been pretty frustrating --

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, it's a tricky drive. It's left-to-right wind, pretty strong. You don't want to miss it too far right, and I was trying to be a little bit more picky with my line and I was being aggressive, which I'm always like that, so just had to swallow it and pay the price.

Q. Even if you are ahead by several shots of Jon on Sunday, you're going to still stay aggressive, aren't you.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, obviously that's the goal, but it all depends how the weekend goes. If I'm in a position where I can win the tournament, I'm going to try to be aggressive and try to chase that.