Joaquin Niemann of Santiago, Chile won the 2022 Genesis Invitational on Sunday from the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. For Niemann it was his second PGA Tour victory, as he previously won the 2019 Greenbrier by a whopping six strokes over 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champion Tom Hoge.
However, Sunday’s win for Niemann was much closer. He shot a four-round score of -19 to beat two-time major champion Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young by two strokes. Morikawa’s major titles came at the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 British Open.
Niemann won despite posting a score of only even par in the final round on Sunday. He becomes the first player on the PGA Tour this season not to go under par over the final 18 holes and win the golf tournament. The last player not to go under par in the final round and win was Jason Kokrak at the 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. Kokrak hung on to win despite shooting a fourth round score of even-par 70.
This past week, Niemann had rounds of eight-under-par 63 in round one and round two, and then shot a third round score of three-under-par. He also had three eagles during the tournament. They came on the par-five first hole in round two, on the par-four 1oth hole in round three, and the par-five 11th hole in round four.
When Niemann won the 2019 Greenbrier, he became the first Chilean to win on the PGA Tour. With the win at Riviera this past weekend, Niemann is now 20th in the Official World Golf Rankings, as he moved up 12 spots from the week before. He is also the highest ranked South American.
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