LIV golfer Joaquin Niemann has announced he will return to defend his Australian Open title later this year.
Niemann held off Rikuya Hoshino in a playoff at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney last season to land his third pro victory outside of the Chilean Tour and ensure he earned a spot at The Open Championship at Royal Troon.
Along with two-time women's champion, Ashleigh Buhai and Australian talent, Min Woo Lee, Niemann has been confirmed as returning in 2024 as the Australian Open - which is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia - takes place at Kingston Heath Golf Club and The Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne.
Commenting on the prestige of the event after his decision, Niemann said: “I feel like a good golf tournament and a proper tournament has to have a great golf course, and Australia (is) always the leader in that. A great crowd, always the leader in that as well.
“Golf in Australia has always been amazing and they always try to live up to the standard. Obviously you can't say it's a Major, but if you look around, I mean you got the US Open, it's still an Open, then you got the British Open, which obviously they are majors.
.@joaconiemann’s putting was unstoppable in 2023 ➡️🕳#AusOpenGolf pic.twitter.com/DRjUPAUF39September 10, 2024
"Yes, I don't think you can put the Australian Open as a Major, but it's one of the Opens that it has to be up there. I don't think there is any other open in any other country that come near close to that."
The Australian Open is set to take place between Thursday, November 28 and Sunday, December 1 and will be the DP World Tour's second tournament of the 2024-25 campaign, following on from the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland GC in Brisbane.
Part of the reason Niemann has committed to the Australian Open once again is due to his desire to earn more world-ranking points while LIV Golf is unable to offer them.
The Torque GC captain is currently 110th in the Official World Golf Ranking at the time of writing and needs to head back towards the top-50 if he is to earn guaranteed starts at the four men's Majors.
Niemann teed it up in three of the four this season - failing to qualify for the US Open - and managed a best result of T22nd at The Masters while ending T39th at the PGA Championship and T58th at The Open.
Meanwhile, Niemann's appearance at the Australian Open will also count towards one of the four DP World Tour starts he must make per season in order to maintain his membership.
Should the 25-year-old fail to defend his title in Australia, he will hope to finish inside the top-three places as the event has typically offered up spots in The Open via the Open Qualifying Series.
In the meantime, Niemann will be aiming to finish on top of the LIV Golf League's individual standings after the final round the season in Chicago this weekend. The Chilean currently trails only Jon Rahm in the standings and must do better than the Spaniard at Bolingbrook if he is to land the $18 million top prize.
