Joaquin Niemann hopes that sleeping in his own bed will help him quickly reset for this week’s Honda Classic.
Following a wire-to-wire victory at The Genesis Invitational, Niemann flew back home to South Florida. By Tuesday, he made the 10-minute drive from his house to PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens.
“A lot of celebrations with my friends, with the family,” the 23-year-old Chilean said. “Yeah, we got to get back to this week and get started again this week.”
Niemann’s impressive victory at Riviera vaulted him 12 spots to a career-best 20th in the Official World Golf Ranking. That makes him the third-highest ranked player in the Honda field.
He tied for 25th last year after missing the cut in 2020. Niemann said PGA National is “a really tough course,” but he enjoys being able to stay at home while having friends come out to watch him play.
Niemann moved to South Florida a few years ago and joined Dye Preserve and Medalist, where Tiger Woods is among the members. He returns to Chile during the offseason to spend time with family and friends back home, and admitted living in the United States has been an adjustment
“It was an easy decision when I turned pro, I wanted to come here in Palm Beach because I know the best courses are around here,” Niemann said. “Especially where I practice, and knowing that I’m going to have the best facilities during the whole year as the same as we play on PGA Tour tournaments, I know it will prepare me better.”
Niemann went 2 1/2 years between his first two PGA Tour victories but is confident it won’t take as long to secure win No. 3. He has kicked off 2022 with a three-event stretch of T6 at Torrey Pines and T8 in Saudi Arabia before last week’s victory at Riviera.
“I always like playing challenging courses,” he said. “I really like those type of courses, kind of like majors tournament, that they sometimes win with one digit under par.
“I think it reflects and it pays a lot to guys that hit it good off the tee and good irons. So I think it could fit good my game, hopefully have a good week and why not go back-to-back?”
–Field Level Media