LIV GOLF INDIANAPOLIS

August 15, 2025

Joaquin Niemann

The Club at Chatham Hills

Torque GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Joaquín Niemann, captain of Torque GC. 7-under par round of 64, tied for third after round 1, projected to hold on to your first place in the standings. You started really hot today playing with Jon and Bryson. Talk us through your round today.

JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: Yeah, it was a good start. Obviously it's a really gettable course. If you start hitting good tee shots, you're going to be always in a good position with your lob wedge or sand wedge.

I started pretty good. I rolled the ball pretty good as well. My distance control, I think, was amazing. I've been working a lot on that, so it's good to see that ball rolling good.

I feel like it was only one bad swing during the day that really kind of slowed me down a little bit to kind of try and catch Sebastian, but I was watching Sebastian and I was -- Dom was following us and he told me he needed to birdie the last one for a 59. It's pretty cool to see that. I can't wait to see him and see his round.

Q. Coming off two back-to-back second-place finishes in the UK and in Chicago. What would a victory mean for you guys this week?

JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: Yeah, it would mean a lot. We talked about it earlier in the week. The whole thing is in a good momentum. I feel like we've been playing great golf lately. You can see Mito, how good he's playing, and I've been watching him obviously in the practice rounds, and you can see the confidence in his swing and the tee shots and every shot that he's hitting right now.

It's nice to see that.

I feel like we're in the right place to the end of the season and playing good golf in Chicago was nice. Having a little bit of a taste of almost winning and losing in a playoff, which it was pretty cool to be in that situation.

I feel like now it's a new week. We've had a good start, and we've got to keep that momentum going.

Q. Joaco, you went out in 28 and there was some talk about 59 for you. When did you hear that Seb was close?

JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: Well, I think on 11 or 12 -- I think on 12, I saw he was like 8-under and Dom told me that he started with a double and then eight birdies in a row. Felt like, yeah, he's hot, and he's a really hot player. We've seen that a lot of times.

Obviously he made it, it's pretty cool, and it's nice to have one of those run.

Now I can't say that I'm the only one on the team with a 59. He's also there, so yeah, it's fun.

Q. In terms of you and Jon, obviously you're one round closer to winning the individual championship. When you're playing out there, I assume it's not really on your mind that much, or is it in the back of your mind when you're out there inside the ropes?

JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: It's definitely on my mind. It's something that I really focus and try not to think that way. I feel like whenever I play my best golf and my best swings is whenever I'm present in the moment. I feel like I'm not thinking about what could happen. I'm not thinking about points. I'm not chasing any points, any score. I'm just hitting the shot that is right in front of me.

It's kind of like in a way, I've got to try not to get in my way, so yeah, sometimes it's easy to say, but it's hard to do it sometimes. But I'm working on it.

Today was one of those days, it was good. I felt like I hit really good shots. It was a lot of fun playing with Bryson as well, so yeah, it was a fun day.

Q. Did you feel like it was almost like head-to-head because obviously you guys were in the same group, able to see each other, kind of keep tabs on each other?

JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: Yeah, of course. In a way, it feels kind of like a match play, in a way. Obviously there's three days of golf, and we're only playing together today so far.

Obviously I really enjoy playing with Jon. I think he's a great competitor. He's somebody that's never giving up, and he's a fighter. It's always nice to be around people like that, and he always pushes you to be better.

Q. First official round here in Indianapolis. What did you think of the atmosphere and the fans that were out here today?

JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: Yeah, I was saying, it's amazing. Since I arrived to the golf course, when I left the locker room and went to the golf course, I saw the amount of people, and I was super impressed. I actually didn't have any expectations, and yeah, they definitely went past those. It was a lot of fun, especially obviously they love Bryson, and playing with him, you can feel how much of an atmosphere was out there.

It was a lot of fun.