Joaquin Niemann is one of the rising stars in golf, having accumulated a lot of success at this early stage of his career. Despite this success, Niemann has tumbled down the Official World Golf Rankings recently due to his participation on the LIV Golf Tour, currently sitting outside the top-85 in the world.
Outperforming his skewed rankings, the Chilean has recently picked up two LIV Golf titles in quick succession, as well as holding two PGA Tour titles, but who is the person who helps him to be so successful on the course? In this article, we find out a little bit more about the man carrying Joaquin Niemann's bag...
Who Is Joaquin Niemann's Caddie?
Gary Matthews has worked as Joaquin Niemann's caddie since 2020, but has over 20 years experience in the business. Starting around 2003, Matthews has worked with a number of high profile players including Tim Clark, Sergio Garcia, Trevor Immelman, Anthony Kim, Luke Donald, Charl Schwartzel, Lydia Ko and Minjee Lee.
Matthews' greatest memory comes from the 2003 Presidents Cup in South Africa, the country in which he grew up, where he worked a caddie for Tim Clark. The pair played five matches, and won two of them. That event was famous for it being a tie at 17 points each. Matthews mainly remembers it because he was able to meet Nelson Mandela.
Matthews is an accomplished golfer himself, playing off a handicap of one, and represented the University of Arizona in the sport. In addition to being a self-professed foodie, he also enjoys managing his fitness and regularly competes in half and full marathons.
The partnership with Niemann occured after the 2020 US Open, where Niemann had Dean Elliott on the bag. The pair had worked together for a while, including at the 2019 Presidents Cup, and Niemann's win at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in the same year.
Matthews continued his partnership with Niemann as the Chilean made his switch to LIV Golf, where they have seen plenty of success so far. Two wins in the space of one month, in Mexico and Saudi Arabia, along with other impressive performances earned Niemann and Matthews a place in the 2024 Masters Tournament.
