August 17, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
The Club at Chatham Hills
Torque GC
Press Conference
THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome our LIV Golf Indianapolis team champions Torque GC and our individual winner Sebastian MuƱoz. Well played this week. Obviously there's some mixed emotions today with some of the individual battles at play.
Seb, I'll start with you, our LIV Golf Indianapolis individual champion, 6-under par round of 65 today, finishing birdie-birdie to tie with Jon Rahm in regulation and winning in that playoff with a birdie. Take us through your day today and how you're feeling right now.
SEBASTIAN MUĆOZ: Yeah, you know, it was a really solid day. I hit the ball really good. I had a good start. Putts didn't drop, but I was 3-under at the turn. Played pretty much flawless golf until the three-putt on 15.
Then I kind of looked at the leaderboard on, what was it, 15, 16, and I noticed I'm second already, and I'm like, damn. I knew it was Jon and he was playing great, and I thought he was at 21 and then he was at 22. It was like, okay, we can still do it.
We kind of dug deep and made a clutch birdie-birdie finish, and that got me extra holes with him, which he's a really tough opponent, and he hit the pin.
He's really good, and I got a little lucky that he didn't hit as close as me and I finished it quick. First time I've ever beat him, so really proud of that, and happy that I got to go home with the trophy.
Q. Seb, this is your first LIV Golf individual victory. You close the season fourth in the standings. How do you reflect on the season that you've just had, and what will you take from it into next year?
SEBASTIAN MUĆOZ: Yeah, really proud. It was a season that I didn't have a lot of hopes for at the beginning. I put a lot of work in the off-season, but I wasn't trying to get a number in specific or win the Order of Merit or anything like that. But ending up fourth, it's a huge accomplishment.
I feel like I showed a lot of good golf all year, a lot of good rounds, a lot of good ball-striking, and really proud that I got to take this home with me. Just got to do it more if I want to challenge the top spot.
Q. JoaquĆn, 5-under par round today, 66 to finish, tied fourth here in Indianapolis. Obviously a tough pill to swallow in terms of the individual season race, but Jon Rahm produced something absolutely incredible to take the title. How do you sum up your emotions just coming up short in the individual championship today?
JOAQUĆN NIEMANN: Yeah, it was quite a show by Jon. I obviously played with him today, and I knew it was going to be a good battle. It was going to be a long day. I knew I needed to play well. I knew Jon was playing amazing golf lately.
We all know how good of a player he is, and yeah, he played amazing.
I feel like he didn't miss many shots, made a lot of putts, left his ball close to the hole pretty much every time.
I played good. I started playing my best golf on the back nine, which I'm proud of it, but at the end of the day, the putts didn't drop, and it wasn't enough.
Yeah, it's kind of hard to swallow, like you said. But at the end of the day, I think it is what it is. I feel like it's going to put something inside me to kind of work harder and try to be in this situation again next year and make it different.
Q. Carlos, another strong week for you, 8-under par round of 63 today to finish tied fourth for the week. You close the season eighth in the standings. A great year for you. Torque also set a new record this week at 64-under par, your first team win since 2023. Can you reflect on the importance of the win this week and what it means heading into next week at the Team Championships in Michigan?
CARLOS ORTIZ: Obviously it was getting out of the way. Since I been on the team we hadn't had a win. Came out of four wins the first year, so had a bit of pressure, but now we got it done, and we're in good position for next week.
I feel like we have good momentum, and we're going to take advantage of it.
Q. Mito, we knew there was a lot on the line for you today. You finished the individual season just inside the drop zone by the narrowest of margins. How do you balance the emotion of celebrating the team victory this week with the personal disappointing of your place in the standings?
MITO PEREIRA: To be honest, I was really happy for Sebastian, really happy for Joaco, really happy for Carlos. Obviously how Sebastian played this tournament, how Joaco played this entire year and Carlos also. It's never easy to play bad, but I tried. I gave my best, and we move on.
Hopefully I'll have more opportunities in the future. If not, I know I gave my best these past two years. But overall really happy for these guys, too, and really happy to get the win with this team.
That, I think, means a lot to me and of course for them. On that side, I'm really happy. On the other one, I just know I gave my best.
Q. Seb, I think this is your first win in six years or something like that.
SEBASTIAN MUĆOZ: Correct.
Q. You've been knocking on the door for a long time, especially here on LIV. Did it ever get to a point where you just got really frustrated? How did you keep your positivity through those close calls?
SEBASTIAN MUĆOZ: Yeah, honestly, I think it was a team effort. Of course I want to win more. I try. But circumstances haven't really worked my way that I have more trophies.
But my team, they trust me a lot, and I trust in them a lot. There's something inside me that wants to push it and get more and try to squeeze the max out of my game.
Really, really happy that we ended that drought, and just really poised for next week.
Q. Joaco, obviously second year in a row that you and Rahm have gone down to essentially the final hole. How does this year compare to last year? Obviously a lot of wins this season.
JOAQUĆN NIEMANN: Yeah, obviously it was a great year. I look back, obviously, I won five times, had my first top 10 in a major, didn't play well at the other ones.
But yeah, I feel like going back to the year, going back to today, I feel like there is so much learning and so much things that I can get better that I'm actually really excited about it.
Yeah, I can't wait to have chill time, think about those things that I can get better, and start working on them.
Q. It essentially came down to victories versus consistency, I guess. Is that something that you're good with in terms of Jon was there every week and that's why he was here at the end?
JOAQUĆN NIEMANN: Yeah, it's a tricky -- I mean, I don't know what's the right way to do it. I know it was obviously three points apart. I could have played better today, this week, or probably last week I could have played a little bit better.
But Jon just proved how good he is and how good he is in these moments. Just like he did last week, he got in a playoff, and also this week.
That just shows how good he is of a golfer. It's actually exciting for me to come back next year and try to beat him again. Well, for the first time.
Q. What does it mean to be part of this team?
MITO PEREIRA: I think it means a lot. We've been in this team two years. The first year it was just the three of us and David, but I think we have a great team golf-wise and we have a great team also outside. I mean outside by Carlos, Milton, the media, trainer. I think everybody is a really big group of friends and we work together.
Like I said, I'm really happy to get this win. Everybody was working for it, and to do it in the last tournament is just a really good feeling. Obviously a part of my finish.
I take that positive on that side, and I'm just really happy to be a part of this team.
Q. Joaco, on the broadcast they described the emotions of basically everybody kind of being bizarre emotions. You win, you don't get the individual championship. Do you feel like -- bizarre, would that be a good phrase to describe it?
JOAQUĆN NIEMANN: Yeah, it sucks for -- yeah.
Q. 18 yesterday, obviously that double bogey, how much did you have to exorcise some demons today to get the job done?
SEBASTIAN MUĆOZ: Yeah, I mean, as soon as I got to the tee of course I saw the out-of-bounds left and I'm like, okay, just focus on the fairway. You've been doing it all day long, and trying to hit my reminders of what I'm working on in my swing and what helps me hit the ball the way I want to, and I delivered both times.
It just required a little bit of extra mental strength, and I pulled it off.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports


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