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Joaquin Niemann, the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world, was ready to begin what many anticipate being a highly successful professional career this coming week, only to find himself “forced” to put those plans on hold on Tuesday. Don’t fret, however, for the 19-year-old’s future. The native of Chile will gladly wait a few more months to begin the next stage of his golf career in trade for what he accomplished—and the reward that it comes with.
With a closing eight-under-par 63 at Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago, Chile, Niemann turned what was expected to be a tense final round into a runaway victory at the fourth Latin America Amateur Championship. One stroke back of third-round leader Alvario Ortiz, he finished with a 11-under 273, five strokes clear of Ortiz.
The win comes with an invitation to this April’s Masters, provided Niemann remains an amateur, something he wasn’t planning on doing. The LAAC was going to be Niemann’s swansong as an amateur, fittingly coming in his home country eight months after ascending to the top spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
An invite to play Augusta National didn’t look like it was going to come to pass after Niemann shot an opening three-over 74 to sit six strokes off the lead in T-37. But he bounced back with a second-round 64, and his third-round even-par 72 left him in contention—along with several others. All told, 14 players were within three strokes of the lead entering the final round.
On Tuesday, Niemann made a birdie on the second hole to remain in the hunt, but got things going when he drove the green on the 312-yard par-4 eighth hole, and made the eagle putt to jump into the lead. It was the start of a seven-hole stretch in which Niemann went eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie-par-birdie.
Ortiz, a 22-year-old from Mexico, had shot rounds of 69-70-70 and was hoping to avenge his playoff loss in the tournament a year ago. A closing 69 wasn’t enough to do the trick.
As recently as last summer, Niemann expected to remain an amateur for the foreseeable future. He was set to enroll in South Florida in the fall, but found out a few months before the start of school that he had not scored high enough on the TOEFL placement exam. Niemann’s golf game, however, had never been better as he qualified for the U.S. Open at Erin Hills and finished T-29 at the Greenbrier Classic. He earned the sixth seed at the U.S. Amateur at Riviera last August, only to face NCAA individual champ Braden Thornberry in the first round. The loss did not keep Niemann from earning the Mark McCormack Medal as the top amateur in the world at the end of the summer.
With his game blossoming, Niemann decided he would bypass school. He played in Web.com Tour Qualifying School as an amateur last month, earning conditional status with a T-108 finish (despite a closing 64). After playing the LAAC, he was set to compete tournament in Chile next week to kick off his pro career and then try to Monday qualify.
Now everything has changed. And Niemann couldn’t be happier.
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