Men's Golf: Joaquin Niemann #1 in the WORLD

[Mama_Bull]

I thought this deserved a thread of its own.

 

USGA‏Verified account @USGA  5h5 hours ago

Joaquin Niemann is now No.1 in the http://WAGR.com  rankings after his win at the Sage Valley Invitational.

 

Congrats to Joaquin Niemann on achieving the #1 World Amateur Golf Ranking.

 

Joaquin Niemann

• 1WAGR POSITION
• CHILECOUNTRY
• 1278.9205POINTS AVERAGE

Niemann enjoyed a banner 2016 season that saw him win six times by the time he turned up in Mexico to represent Chile in the World Amateur Team Championship. The Santiago resident counted the IMG Junior World Championship among those victories. He took that championship in July, successfully defending the title he won 12 months earlier. Other wins included the Chilean International Junior Championship and the AJGA’s May Open. Other notable victories include the 2015 Canadian International Junior Challenge and the 2014 Orange Bowl. He has committed to play college golf for the University of South Florida beginning in 2017.

 

Men's Ranking

The Men’s WORLD AMATEUR GOLF RANKING™ system ranks the top male amateur golfers in the world on the basis of their average performance in Counting Events over a rolling cycle of the previous 104 weeks.

 

The Mark H McCormack Medal is awarded to the WAGR^TM Number One at the culmination of the amateur season, following the US Amateur and European Amateur championships.

 

http://www.wagr.com/en/Mens-Ranking.aspx

Edited May 17, 2017 by Mama_Bull

[Mama_Bull]

The NCAA regionals are going on.

Maverick McNealy (Stanford) who was just dethroned by Niemann, is attempting to break Tiger Woods record for most collegiate victories.

 

Brentley Romine‏ @GolfweekBRomine  19m19 minutes ago

 

.@MavMcNealy needs to birdie one of last 3 holes to break @TigerWoods and @PRodgersGolf school record

 

He is currently tied for the lead and has two holes left to break the record.

http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=player&tid=12028

 

Of course, he will earn many WAGR points for his finish this week. Whether that will be sufficient to regain the #1 ranking we won't know until next week,

I expect Niemann to seesaw between #1 and #2 over the next few months as older counting events come off and new ones are added.

It is more important that he be #1 after the European Amateur in August. If he is, he will gain entry to both the US Open and The Open Championship.

 

Mark H. McCormack Medal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

The Mark H. McCormack Medal is presented annually by The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews to the leading player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking after the last 'elite' event of the season. The award is named after World Golf Hall of Famer Mark McCormack, who was an avid supporter of golf and the founder of IMG.^[1]

In 2011, New Zealand's Lydia Ko was awarded the first ever women's Mark H. McCormack Medal,^[2] a trophy she retained in 2012^[3] and 2013.

Beginning in 2012, the previous year's men's winner receives an invitation to both the U.S. Open and The Open Championship provided he remains an amateur.^[4][5]

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_H._McCormack_Medal

 

Niemann on top of the world

 

The Men

Niemann on top of the world

• Joaquin Niemann reaches the pinnacle of amateur golf by taking over as the number one player on the World Amateur Golf Ranking^TM. The Chilean swaps places with Maverick McNealy, with the American dropping to number two.
• Niemann forged his way to the top after a blistering start to 2017. He’s racked up six wins, including three in his homeland and three consecutive American Junior Golf Association events.
• http://www.wagr.com/en/News/2017/May/Week-19.aspx

Edited May 17, 2017 by Mama_Bull

[Mama_Bull]

As a follow up, McNealy double bogeyed his last two holes and did not win his regional. He will get another chance to break Tigers record in the NCAA Finals.

 

As for Niemann, there are numerous articles today in Spanish, especially in his home country of Chile, applauding him for becoming the #1 Amateur golfer in the world.

This is a google translation of his reaction:

"Definitely very happy. For this, I have been working and motivates me to continue advancing now in this new stage of entering the university, "said Niemann after knowing the news.

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Feldeportero.cl%2Fjoaquin-niemann-sube-al-primer-lugar-del-ranking-mundial-de-golf-amateur%2F&edit-text=

He will be enrolling at USF in August.

This fall USF will have three players in the top 100 WAGR:

#1 Joaquin Niemann 

http://www.wagr.com/en/Ranking/Player.aspx?playerid=12017&ismens=True

#80 Claudio Correa

 http://www.wagr.com/en/Ranking/Player.aspx?playerid=7126&ismens=True

#100 Won Jun Lee

 http://www.wagr.com/en/Ranking/Player.aspx?playerid=11241&ismens=True

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2017 by Mama_Bull

[NCBull]

Wow!

[Mama_Bull]

51 minutes ago, NCBull said:

Wow!

That's what I said! LOL

Nice to see his name listed among some of the greats who attained #1. 

Chronology of Men's World Number Ones[edit]

#	Player	Country	First week	Last week	Weeks	Total weeks
1	Richie Ramsay	Scotland	23 Jan 2007	30 Jan 2007	2	2
2	Rory McIlroy	Northern Ireland	6 Feb 2007	6 Feb 2007	1	1
3	Jamie Moul	England	13 Feb 2007	30 May 2007	17	-
4	Jamie Lovemark	United States	6 Jun 2007	6 Jun 2007	1	-
	Jamie Moul (2)	England	13 Jun 2007	13 Jun 2007	1	18
	Jamie Lovemark (2)	United States	20 Jun 2007	3 Aug 2007	7	8
5	Rickie Fowler	United States	7 Aug 2007	21 Aug 2007	3	-
6	Colt Knost	United States	29 Aug 2007	24 Sep 2007	5	5
	Rickie Fowler (2)	United States	5 Oct 2007	27 Feb 2008	22	-
7	Danny Willett	England	5 Mar 2008	21 May 2008	12	12
	Rickie Fowler (3)	United States	28 May 2008	25 Jun 2008	5	-
8	Michael Thompson	United States	2 Jul 2008	2 Jul 2008	1	1
	Rickie Fowler (4)	United States	9 Jul 2008	13 Aug 2008	6	36
9	Danny Lee	New Zealand	20 Aug 2008	15 Apr 2009	34	34
10	Scott Arnold	Australia	23 Apr 2009	20 May 2009	5	5
11	Morgan Hoffmann	United States	27 May 2009	10 Jun 2009	2	2
12	Nick Taylor	Canada	17 Jun 2009	28 Oct 2009	20	20
13	Victor Dubuisson	France	4 Nov 2009	23 Dec 2009	8	8
14	Matteo Manassero	Italy	30 Dec 2009	28 Apr 2010	18	18
15	Peter Uihlein	United States	5 May 2010	16 Jun 2010	7	-
16	Jin Jeong	South Korea	23 Jun 2010	30 Jun 2010	2	-
	Peter Uihlein (2)	United States	7 Jul 2010	21 Jul 2010	3	-
	Jin Jeong (2)	South Korea	28 Jul 2010	11 Aug 2010	3	5
	Peter Uihlein (3)	United States	18 Aug 2010	22 Dec 2010	19	-
17	David Chung	United States	29 Dec 2010	5 Jan 2011	2	2
	Peter Uihlein (4)	United States	12 Jan 2011	16 Mar 2011	10	-
18	Patrick Cantlay	United States	23 Mar 2011	23 Mar 2011	1	-
	Peter Uihlein (5)	United States	30 Mar 2011	1 Jun 2011	10	49
	Patrick Cantlay (2)	United States	8 Jun 2011	13 Jun 2012	54	55
19	Jordan Spieth	United States	20 Jun 2012	18 Jul 2012	5	5
20	Chris Williams	United States	25 Jul 2012	25 Jul 2012	1	-
21	Hideki Matsuyama	Japan	1 Aug 2012	1 Aug 2012	1	1
	Chris Williams (2)	United States	8 Aug 2012	12 Jun 2013	45	46
22	Brady Watt	Australia	19 Jun 2013	19 Jun 2013	1	1
23	Pan Cheng-tsung	Taiwan	26 Jun 2013	14 Aug 2013	8	8
24	Matthew Fitzpatrick	England	21 Aug 2013	16 Oct 2013	9	-
25	Cory Whitsett	United States	23 Oct 2013	27 Nov 2013	6	6
	Matthew Fitzpatrick (2)	England	4 Dec 2013	19 Feb 2014	12	21
26	Patrick Rodgers	United States	26 Feb 2014	11 Jun 2014	16	16
27	Ollie Schniederjans	United States	18 Jun 2014	25 Mar 2015	41	41
28	Jon Rahm	Spain	1 Apr 2015	16 Sep 2015	25	-
29	Maverick McNealy	United States	23 Sep 2015	21 Oct 2015	5	-
	Jon Rahm (2)	Spain	28 Oct 2015	22 Jun 2016	35	60^
	Maverick McNealy (2)	United States	29 Jun 2016	8 Mar 2017	37	-
30	Curtis Luck	Australia	15 Mar 2017	15 Mar 2017	1	-
	Maverick McNealy (3)	United States	22 Mar 2017	22 Mar 2017	1	-
	Curtis Luck (2)	Australia	29 Mar 2017	12 Apr 2017	3	4
	Maverick McNealy (4)	United States	19 Apr 2017	10 May 2017	4	47
31	Joaquín Niemann	Chile	17 May 2017	24 May 2017	1	1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Amateur_Golf_Ranking

[Paisa el Toro]

Buffy, USF is king of the Country Club sports! 

[smazza]

impressive

[Mama_Bull]

Niemann was interviewed today on Golf Channel Latin America. It is in Spanish. He mentions USF.

Golf Channel LA‏Verified account @GolfChannelLA  3h3 hours ago

More

.@ContiPatino habló en @NotiDiarioGolf con @joaconiemann, flamante N°1 del mundo del WAGR. Revisa la entrevista: http://bit.ly/2qBLgdu 

 

 

[Mama_Bull]

Can’t-Miss Chilean: Joaquin Niemann, 18, Ascends To Top Of World Amateur Rankings

 

 

May 20, 2017

 

By: Brentley Romine | May 20, 2017 11:44 am

 

Editor’s note: this story originally appeared in the May 2017 issue of Golfweek Magazine. At the time of publication, Niemann was ranked second in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. On Wednesday, he moved to No. 1 in the world, and the story was updated to reflect the change.

• • •

Joaquin Niemann spends many hours back home in Santiago, Chile, practicing on the range at Club de Polo y Equitacion San Cristobal. On some days he beats balls into the evening, as the setting sun shines off the Andean Mountains that loom in the distance.

The 18-year-old Niemann is No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, a tall feat for any amateur, let along a junior. Yet many familiar with the young prodigy are not surprised. One college golf coach predicted Niemann would reach No. 1 in the world by the end of 2017 – Niemann smashed that expectation.

“The first time I met him, I knew what he was capable of,” said Todd Timmerman, a longtime caddie at Sage Valley Golf Club who looped for Niemann in the last three Junior Invitationals at the tony Graniteville, S.C., club.

“In this game, some people have it and some people just play, and Joaquin has it. … You’re going to see Joaquin do many things, I promise it.”

Some would argue he already has. Niemann has a pair of IMG Academy Junior World Championship titles to his name, having won his age division in the prestigious junior event in each of the past two years. He narrowly missed out on two Masters berths at the Latin America Amateur, represented Chile at the World Amateur Team Championships, made the Round of 16 at both the Western Amateur and U.S. Amateur, and he won two Chilean professional events this year.

 

More recently, Niemann won three straight tournaments, sandwiching his triumph at Sage Valley – arguably the toughest junior event in the world – between two AJGA open competitions: the TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Junior at Innisbrook and the Sergio Garcia Foundation Junior at ChampionsGate.

“He has no glaring weaknesses,” said University of South Florida coach Steve Bradley, for whom Niemann will play beginning this fall. “He does everything well and he does some things really well. He doesn’t lack confidence. There’s not a shot out there that he can’t hit or he’s not comfortable hitting.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a situation where the moment is too big for him.”

Niemann, nicknamed “Joaco,” was groomed for the big moments starting at 2 years old when his father gifted him plastic golf clubs and balls. Growing up in a house at Club de Polo, Niemann quickly graduated to real equipment.

He remembers one time when he was 4 years old, and he hit a 40-yard shot during a family barbeque at his house that hit his grandmother in the leg. She wasn’t seriously hurt, but there was some blood.

“It was a pretty good shot, though,” Niemann said with a smile.

Niemann’s personality is infectious. When asking some of the best junior golfers in the world about Niemann, they all marvel at his golf game but have equally good things to say about his character. On the course, he’s a determined winner yet extremely even-keeled; he doesn’t get too high or too low – though his piercing ball flight, especially off the tee, stays plenty close to the ground.

“He’s an unbelievably humble kid,” Bradley said. “Now, don’t mistake his niceness for weakness, but he is just a genuinely likable kid.”

Two years ago Bradley heard about this talented 16-year-old Chilean from one of his players, Claudio Correa, who has known Niemann for about 13 years. Soon after, Bradley was on a plane to San Diego to watch Niemann compete in the Junior Worlds.

“I went out there to watch him specifically, and I followed him for all three days and watched him hit every golf shot,” Bradley said.

Niemann won that week, and Bradley later won the sweepstakes for Niemann’s college commitment. Niemann could easily turn professional tomorrow, but the mature teenager believes his path to the PGA Tour involves college golf.

“I don’t like to be away from home, but it’s going to be a good experience,” Niemann said.

Niemann, who plans to take summer school classes this year, will get a chance to see how he responds to life away from Chile, his family and swing coach Eduardo Miquel. Rooming with Correa should help ease some of the expected homesickness.

“I’m going to try to make everything feel a little more like home for him,” Correa said.

Niemann also will be less than a four-hour drive from his best friend, Toto Gana, a freshman at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. Also a Santiago native, Gana and Niemann share more than just a swing coach. They’ve spent the majority of the past seven years together, playing and practicing on the course and hanging out off of it. Their favorite thing to do together: grill steaks and be among friends.

Last January in Panama, the two best friends faced off in a playoff for the Latin America Amateur title – and a Masters berth. Gana won and earned his ticket to Augusta National. Niemann, not bitter in the least, traveled to Augusta to root on his good pal.

“The last day (of the LAAC), we said, ‘All right, let’s just play like we’re together back home in practice, and let’s just enjoy this day,’ ” Niemann said. “It was a dream come true playing for a Masters spot. … It was just Toto’s week.

“I was so close, just one shot from getting into the Masters, but it’s fine. I have another chance next year, so I’m just going to stay patient and wait for my turn.”

Said Gana: “Absolutely he can win next year. Of course I want to win it again, but if not me then I hope it’s him. He deserves it so much.”

 

A streaky putter, Niemann has worked tirelessly on that part of his game, and he’s been on the right side of the ledger during his winning streak. Correa remembers one time Miquel told him Niemann shot 69 in a recent round but missed five putts inside of 10 feet.

“I always say if he could make more putts, he would be unbeatable,” Correa said.

The gifted golfer who spends much of his practice time in the shadows of mountains? He’s not even close to reaching his peak yet.

http://golfweek.com/2017/05/20/amateur-golf-men-joaquin-niemann-wagr-rankings-no-1/

Edited May 20, 2017 by Mama_Bull

[Mama_Bull]

Joaquin Niemann is playing in a US Open sectional qualifier today.

There are 49 professional and amateurs in the field.

The top three will play in the upcoming US Open.

Niemann just birdied the last hole to get himself into a three man playoff for two of those spots.

http://www.usopen.com/qualifying/sectional/tequesta.html#!&slide=0&tab=results

 

Edited June 5, 2017 by Mama_Bull