Joaquin Niemann Wins LIV Golf Korea in a Playoff for a Record Eighth LIV Title

Joaquin Niemann waited seven events for a first win of 2026. It took one extra hole in Busan to end the wait, and the record book moved with it.

Niemann and Talor Gooch both shot 3-under 67 on Sunday at Asiad Country Club to finish 72 holes tied at 12-under 268. On the first playoff hole, Niemann flushed an approach from 150 yards to inside six feet and made the birdie to win LIV Golf Korea. It is Niemann's eighth individual LIV Golf title, the most in league history and three more than anyone else, and it came with a $4 million check. In the team race, Crushers GC closed with a 7-under day to win at 23 under, three clear of OKGC, and defend the title they won in Korea a year ago.

Niemann's Front-Nine Burst

The two co-leaders started the day at 9 under, and Niemann wasted no time separating. The Torque GC captain made four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front nine, including back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh, and turned in 31 with the lead in hand.

A bogey at the 11th was the only blemish of the round, and it opened the door just enough. Niemann parred in from there, which meant the finish depended on what Gooch could do behind and alongside.

Gooch Answers at 16

Gooch had spent Saturday grinding out pars, and Sunday required a different gear. It came late. At the 16th, Gooch rolled in a 28-foot birdie putt to draw level at 12 under, and with two holes left neither player blinked. Both signed for 67, and the event went to extra holes for the title.

Gooch was the best iron player in the field all week, leading in strokes gained approach at plus 8.96, and the 63 on Friday was the lowest round of the tournament. None of it was quite enough. "It's frustrating when you have a chance to win," Gooch said, though the runner-up finish was worth $2.25 million and a jump from 29th to ninth in the individual standings.

One Swing to Decide It

The playoff lasted a single hole. Niemann, who led the field in strokes gained off the tee, put the approach close enough to remove most of the drama and converted. Niemann said the closing stretch felt like a duel. "I feel like every hole was kind of like a match play," Niemann said, adding that the pressure of needing to hit the shot to win is part of the appeal.

The numbers around the win are absurd for a league that is barely four years old. Niemann won five times in 2025, and this was the sixth time Niemann has entered a final round with a share of the lead. The win makes it five conversions in six tries and moved Niemann from 17th to third in the individual standings. "It was fun out there," Niemann said.

DeChambeau Comes Up One Short

The defending champion nearly crashed the playoff. Bryson DeChambeau, who had played 44 holes at even par through Saturday, made five birdies in a 10-hole stretch starting at the second and shot 65, the joint low round of the day, to finish solo third at 11 under, one shot out of the playoff.

Dustin Johnson was fourth at 10 under after a 66, finishing the week with 40 straight bogey-free holes despite being ill for much of it. Scott Vincent, the HyFlyers fill-in, shot 69 with bogeys on the first and last holes of the round and finished fifth at 9 under. Brendan Steele's 65 lifted the HyFlyers veteran into a tie for sixth with Harold Varner III.

Not everyone held on. Cameron Smith, two back to start the day, made a double bogey at the par-3 sixth on the way to a 73 and dropped into a tie for 16th. Jon Rahm shot 67, the best round of a tough week, and also tied for 16th, Rahm's first finish outside the top 10 at a LIV Golf event in nearly a year, two weeks after a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship.

Crushers Repeat

The Crushers entered the day one shot ahead of OKGC and finished three ahead, with DeChambeau's 65 and a 67 from reserve Travis Smyth doing most of the work. Charles Howell III shot 70 and Anirban Lahiri 71. OKGC got 67s from Gooch and Varner but could not close the gap after 70 from Jason Kokrak and 71 from Graeme McDowell. Ripper GC finished third at 15 under, with 4Aces GC fourth at 14 under and HyFlyers fifth at 13 under. Niemann's Torque was sixth at 10 under.

The title is the 10th regular-season team win for the Crushers, breaking a tie with Legion XIII and 4Aces for the most in league history, and the second of 2026. It is also the first Crushers win with a lineup change. Smyth, in for the injured Paul Casey, finished tied for eighth and became only the second reserve to celebrate a LIV Golf trophy, after John Catlin with Smash GC at Greenbrier in 2024. The team prize was worth $3 million.

For the home side, Korean Golf Club finished 10th at 1 under. Younghan Song tied for 12th at 6 under, a best result of the 2026 season, and debutant Doyeob Mun tied for 23rd.

What It Means

Niemann's drought was real, but the response was the most Niemann thing possible: another title, a new league record, and a playoff win under pressure. LIV Golf moves next to Andalucía and Valderrama, and the league's all-time wins leader arrives there with the trophy count at eight.

The full story is in the LIV Golf final-round recap (opens in a new tab). Our earlier coverage from Busan: Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3.

Sources: LIV Golf (final recap, Last Look, team results), AP, Arab News, Golf Australia, Golf Magic, Golf News Net. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Mateo Villalba/LIV Golf.