Joaquin Niemann is potentially just three rounds of golf away from earning $22 million... on top of the near $140,000,000 or so he may well have already banked in the past six years.
The Chilean leads the 2024 LIV Golf League's individual standings by almost 25 points from second placed Jon Rahm heading into LIV Golf Greenbrier this weekend. And with only two events left before the Team Championship in Chicago, time is running out for anyone to catch Niemann at the top.
He could ice the race on Sunday with victory at Greenbrier and a finish of third or worse for Rahm. Alternatively, any other combination of results which sees the gap from Niemann to second exceed 40 points would also do it.
Should Niemann win LIV Golf Greenbrier, he would scoop $4 million. If that success ties in with a season victory on the LIV Golf money list, the $18 million top prize will be bundled in and the Torque GC captain will have likely accumulated in excess of $36 million for 2024 alone.
He began the year in fine style with a couple of tournament wins at LIV Golf Mayakoba and LIV Golf Jeddah, either side of an unusually poor result (T30 at LIV Golf Las Vegas), with each earning him $4 million a time.
From there on, Niemann banged in top-10 after top-10 without winning, and only once since has he missed out on at least 10 points and a paycheck of around $375,000.
Tack his 2024 earnings onto the $4,774,286 from 2022 and $3,553,333 last season, and Niemann's total LIV Golf tally might reach almost $45 million ($44,558,786).
That figure would have been even higher if team earnings had continued to be split between members - as was the case in 2022 - but LIV initiated a change from the beginning of the 2023 season which saw winning-team prize money reinvested into the franchises.
Regardless, the above does not take into account the reported circa $100 million fee LIV Golf paid Niemann when he joined the PIF-backed circuit as a 23-year-old in August 2022.
Plus, during a 124-event career in PGA Tour-sanctioned events, the 25-year-old had already picked up $15,225,082, giving him a potential $159,783,868 since turning pro in 2018.
And even if Niemann is somehow usurped by Rahm in the dying moments of LIV's 2024 campaign, he will be able to console himself with likely career earnings of at least $130,000,000. So far.
