From a low TOEFL score to bypassing the PGA Tour's hierarchy

Countries & Cities · Published 15 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Joaquín Niemann didn't follow the traditional path to pro golf stardom. After being denied entry to his dream university for a language test, he forged a meteoric rise that allowed him to skip entire professional tiers and become Chile's first PGA Tour winner.

Niemann’s journey began with three plastic clubs in his house at age two or three. Despite growing up in a family of athletes—his mother was a Chilean national team field hockey player and his father a college basketball player—most of his siblings preferred soccer. His path was shaped by early moves to Santiago for better golf development and a scholarship at the Athletic Study Centre, despite his self-admitted lack of interest in traditional schooling.

His amateur career was defined by dominance; he held the number one spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for 44 weeks between May 2017 and April 2018. This success earned him a special invitation to the 2018 Masters, but turning professional meant forfeiting his exemptions to other major championships like the U.S. Open. However, his immediate impact was undeniable: he secured three top-ten finishes in just five starts on the PGA Tour.

By his fourth top-ten finish, Niemann achieved a rare feat, joining only Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm as golfers who completely bypassed the Web.com Tour Finals to earn full PGA Tour cards from scratch. This momentum led to his historic 2019 victory at The Greenbrier, where he became the youngest international winner on the tour since 1923. Today, he balances a high-profile career in LIV Golf with significant philanthropic efforts, notably donating over $150,000 to help fund life-saving medical treatment for his cousin.

Niemann's career is marked by both extreme highs and notable lows. He has recorded historic scores, including a 2024 round of 59 in Mexico—one of the best since 2004—and high-profile wins across the Asian Tour and LIV Golf. Yet, he remains human; at the 2026 U.S. Open, he famously carded a septuple-bogey 11 after throwing a club in frustration, later joking about his grandmother's 'tires' to downplay the moment.

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