LIV Golf star wins home open days after making striking admission about his future

LIV Golf's Joaquin Niemann triumphed at his national open days after making a striking admission about his future on the breakaway tour.

Several LIV players were at the home of golf over the weekend competing in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship but Niemann was the star attraction in Chile. 

The Torque captain began the final round round at Club de Golf Las Brisas de Chicureo with a one-shot lead and ultimately turned that narrow advantage into a comfortable four-shot victory.

The Chilean carded a 67 to finish the tournament at 15 under par, pulling clear of Gabriel Morgan and securing the title with a flourish as he birdied each of the final two holes.

It was the culmination of a strong week in which Niemann had to recover from a second-round 73 after opening with a blistering 64.

A third-round 69 restored his position at the top of the leaderboard and gave him the lead heading into Sunday.

The 27-year-old's final-round performance ensured there was no repeat of the disappointment of 2019, when he finished third in his previous best showing at the tournament.

The win is another highlight in what has been an exceptional 2026 for Niemann, who has already claimed two LIV Golf titles this year.

He has also remained active since the LIV season ended prematurely in August, competing on the DP World Tour and finishing runner-up at the Amgen Irish Open before a tie for 21st at the BMW PGA Championship.

His victory in Chile comes only days after Niemann revealed he has yet to decide whether he will commit to the proposed next version of LIV Golf.

"I'm still deciding"

Several LIV Golf players are considering whether to commit to a reimagined version of the league. 

Under the new structure, players will be given equity. 

It's understood prize purses will also be reduced significantly and the schedule will be trimmed from 14 events per season down to 10. 

Niemann told La Tercera: "There are a lot of very smart people behind the league. 

"There are a lot of players who are also helping it. 

"And the truth is, I'm still deciding what to do; whether I want to stay and believe in what's happening in the league or go play more in Europe and from there try to get on the PGA Tour.

"So, those are my two options in the end. I'll have to make a decision in a couple of weeks."

He added: "I think both have their very positive aspects, being part of a league, being part of the league's percentage. 

"Knowing that it's something that I think could take a couple of years, I don't know if it's something I want to do at this stage of my career.

"So, these are questions I have to ask myself before making a decision."

Niemann added that with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, LIV Golf's funding issues were "somewhat predictable". 

"Saudi Arabia is a country that has been somewhat negatively impacted," he said.

"While the PIF is one of the most powerful investment funds in the world, with that instability of what's going to happen outside of golf, and knowing that golf is a tremendous expense for them, even though it was taking shape, it did need to continue injecting a lot of capital to be able to compete on par with the PGA Tour.

"And in the end, there are new institutions that are financing the LIV idea. 

"Because the idea is incredible, to be able to reach other tournaments around the world. 

"It's a different kind of golf product."