Joaquin Niemann Claims Home Open Title For The First Time At Abierto De Chile

Joaquin Niemann at the BMW PGA Championship — Joaquin Niemann has won his national open

(Image credit: Getty Images)

While we await confirmation of the future of LIV Golf, many of its players have been keeping busy during the off-season.

At the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour, 26 players from the circuit began the event, with Cleeks GC’s Adrian Meronk taking the title.

Now, a second LIV Golfer has won an event this week, with Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann winning his national open, the Abierto de Chile.

Rounds of 64, 73 and 69 gave Niemann a one-shot overnight lead at Club de Golf Las Brisas de Chicureo, near the country’s capital, Santiago.

In the final round, Niemann shot a 67, finishing with back-to-back birdies, to finish on 15-under-par and beat Gabriel Morgan by four shots.

The win adds a significant achievement to Niemann’s already impressive resume. The 27-year-old’s previous best finish at the tournament came in 2019, when he came third.

In contrast to the $25m purses regularly seen in the first five seasons of LIV Golf, the tournament had a prize fund of just $60,000.

However, there is significant prestige for Niemann in adding the title to his list of professional wins, which now stands at 23.

Nine of those came on the Chilean Tour between 2015 and 2021, while Niemann also has two PGA Tour wins, one on the Asian Tour, one DP World Tour title and nine on LIV Golf.

Joaquin Niemann with the LIV Golf New York trophy — Joaquin Niemann has also won nine LIV Golf titles

The victory also continues another hugely successful year for Niemann, with two of his LIV Golf titles coming in 2026.

Niemann has also played in two DP World Tour events since the LIV Golf season ended in August, with a tie for second at the Amgen Irish Open and a finish of T21 at the BMW PGA Championship.

Following the Wentworth event, Niemann revealed he had yet to commit his future to the proposed LIV Golf 2.0.

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.