Neimann wins eighth LIV title as Crushers top team race in Korea

Joaquin Neimann with the LIV Golf Korea trophy, his eighth in all, after prevailing in a playoff over Talor Gooch at Busan on Sunday. Image courtesy livgolf.com.

From a Correspondent

Busan, South Korea: To win a record eighth LIV Golf individual title, Joaquin Niemann outdueled another highly decorated player in Talor Gooch. 

To win a record 10th regular-season team title, Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC received help from a golden-haired reserve from Australia.

Niemann beat Gooch, the OKGC captain, with a birdie on the first playoff hole on Sunday to claim LIV Golf Korea. 

It was his first in 2026 after winning five times last season; he now has three more wins than any other player in league history.

“It was fun out there,” said the 27-year-old Niemann, the league’s youngest captain. “Really enjoy the feeling of winning again.

“I was in the last group in Singapore on Sunday, and looking back to that day, felt like I was just wanting it so bad to win. Sometimes it just takes you out of the focus. …

“I look back to 2025, and it was so easy to win. It just happened and I feel like that’s the way it should be, and I feel like I was forcing everything a little bit too much. 

“Just let things happen and just stick to my stuff, stick to my routine and just be part of the show.”

Niemann and Gooch, who shared the 54-hole lead, finished on 12 under in regulation after they each shot final-round 3-under 67s at Asiad Country Club.

Niemann had four birdies in a five-hole stretch on his front nine to take the lead, but Gooch made a 28-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to tie for the lead during their tense back nine battle.

Winning putt

In the playoff, Niemann’s approach from 150 yards finished inside six feet to set up his winning birdie putt.

“I feel like every hole was kind of like a match play,” Niemann said. “… I love having that pressure, knowing that you’ve got to hit the shot and you win the tournament. 

“I feel like that’s what I always dreamed when I was a kid, hitting that last shot and making that last putt.”

Said a disappointed Gooch, who was seeking his fifth individual title: “It’s frustrating when you have a chance to win. That doesn’t come too often in this game, so you want to capitalise on it.”

The Crushers successfully defended their LIV Golf Korea title won on a different course last year in Incheon, shooting a collective 23 under to beat OKGC by three shots. 

With their second win of this season, the Crushers now have 10 regular-season victories, breaking a tie with Legion XIII and 4Aces GC for most by any team.

“Just grateful, super grateful that I’ve got amazing guys, an amazing team,” said DeChambeau, who finished solo third individually at 11 under, one shot out of a playoff. 

“We all click in different ways, but we all work to make our team the best out here.”

Long lull

DeChambeau was 6 under on his first 10 holes of the week. He then played the next 45 holes in even par.

“I kind of went to Never Never Land,” he said.

Specifically, DeChambeau said his swing got out of sync and that his hands were getting ahead of him.

“It continued that way for the next two rounds, and it was very frustrating,” he explained. 

Suffice to say, he figured it out Sunday. Starting with the second hole, he posted five birdies in a 10-hole stretch to climb into contention before coming up a shot short of making the playoff.

“I feel like I’m on the right path now, and I had it OK in the first round, but I felt really good this round,” DeChambeau said. “I felt better than I did in the first round, which is a good trend.”

The Crushers’ 10 wins have come in 50 regular-season starts since the core group of DeChambeau, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri and Paul Casey were established midway through the inaugural 2022 season.

Sunday’s win, however, was the first with a lineup adjustment, as reserve player Travis Smyth filled in for Casey, who was sidelined with a wrist injury.

Smyth was critical for the team’s success, finishing in a four-way tie for eighth at 7 under that also included Howell. He played his final 10 holes in a bogey-free 3 under, providing some critical birdies en route to shooting 67.

“I didn’t want to be the fill-in guy that disappoints the team and stops them from standing on the podium,” said Smyth, who unfurled his blond shoulder-length hair during the team’s post-round press conference. 

“I’m over the moon. I’m super-proud of myself, super-proud of these guys, and couldn’t have asked for a better first week.”

Members of Crushers GC celebrate the successful defence of their LIV Golf Korea team title in Busan on Sunday. Image courtesy livgolf.com.

Rare honour

The Australian becomes just the second reserve player to celebrate any kind of LIV Golf trophy; John Catlin won as a reserve with Smash GC at Greenbrier during the 2024 season.

Smyth played in LIV Golf’s inaugural 2022 London tournament as a member of the Crushers when Peter Uihlein was the captain. 

DeChambeau then joined the league for the next tournament in Portland, Oregon, and Smyth played two more times that season for other teams. 

“I was one of the founding fathers of the Crushers when LIV first started,” Smyth said. “We came second then as a team, and we came first this week. So, I don’t know. There’s something to that.”

“Man, the week that Travis had, shooting those scores around this golf course,” Howell said. 

“When you’re playing for a team and you’re up there at the top and you’re wanting to win, it’s just one of the really, really cool things about LIV Golf – and it happens every week.”

Leaderboards

Individual Top 10

1. (-12) – Joaquin Niemann, Torque (66-69-66-67) *

2. (-12) – Talor Gooch, OKGC (69-63-69-67)

3. (-11) – Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (65-68-71-65)

4 (-10) – Dustin Johnson, 4Aces (70-70-64-66)

5. (-9) – Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (65-70-67-69)

T6 (-8) – Brendan Steele, HyFlyers (70-69-68-65); Harold Varner III, OKGC (68-69-68-67)

T8 (-7) – Travis Smyth, Crushers (72-66-68-67); Lucas Herbert, Ripper (71-66-69-67); Marc Leishman, Ripper (69-68-68-68); Charles Howell III, Crushers (65-70-68-70)

* Won on first playoff hole with birdie

Team Top 3

1. (-23) – Crushers GC (DeChambeau 65-68-71-65, Smyth 72-66-68-67, Howell III 65-70-68-70, Lahiri 68-73-70-71)

2. (-20) – OKGC (Gooch 69-63-69-67, Varner III 68-69-68-67, Kokrak 68-70-69-70, McDowell 68-71-73-71)

3. (-15) – Ripper GC (Leishman 69-68-68-68, Herbert 71-66-69-67, Smith 67-68-68-73, Smylie 71-69-74-69)

Day 4 stats

Driving Distance:Dean Burmester, 319.6-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Dean Burmester, 345.3 yards (11th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 11 and 12.

Driving Accuracy: Victor Perez, 92.86% (13 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Travis Smyth, Younghan Song, Laurie Canter, 88.89% (16 of 18)

Scrambling: Nine players tied at 100%, led by Richard Bland (7 of 7), Miguel Tabuena (7 of 7)

Fewest Putts: Danny Lee, 24

Bogey-free rounds: Brendan Steele (65), Laurie Canter (65), Louis Oosthuizen (65), Dustin Johnson (66), Branden Grace (67), Richard Bland (67), Miguel Tabuena (68).

Also read: Neimann, Gooch share lead in Busan as the Crushers stay ahead

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