Chile’s Joaquin Niemann outlasted American Talor Gooch in a playoff to win LIV Golf Korea on Sunday, as Bryson DeChambeau fell just short with a final-day charge.
Niemann birdied the par-4 first extra hole at Asiad Country Club in Busan after a sublime approach shot to claim his first win of the season on the troubled breakaway circuit.
Cease bankrolling
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced last month that it would cease bankrolling LIV after the 2026 season.
PIF had reportedly ploughed more than $5 billion dollars into the breakaway circuit since it was founded in 2021.
Niemann claimed a record-extending eighth career victory on the circuit, which was once again worth a cool $4 million.
Two-time major champion DeChambeau finished one stroke behind Niemann and Gooch after a 5-under-par final round.
Meanwhile, on the team front, DeChambeau’s Crushers GC – with Travis Smyth in for an injured Paul Casey – defended their title.
Best-placed
For the all-South African Southern Guards GC line-up, it wasn’t the best of outings.
Branden Grace was best-placed in the individual competition, finishing tied-12th on six-under par which earned him $330 000 (R5.4 million).
Dean Burmester was next best in a tie of 23rd on two-under par which saw him bank $193 333 (R3.1 million).
Charl Schwartzel ended in a tie for 34th on level par which saw him walk away $147 500 (R2.4 million) richer, while Louis Oosthuizen finished on one-over par in a share for 37th place, which was good enough for a cheque of $138 750 (R2.3 million).
In the team competition, the Southern Guards GC team finished seventh out of 13 team on a cumulative score of seven-under par – 16 shots behind the winning Crushers GC outfit – and shared $550 000 (R8.9 million), which worked out at $137 500 (R2.2 million) each.
LIV Golf Korea prize money: Individual standings
| POSITION | PLAYER | SCORE | EARNINGS |
| 1 | Joaquin Niemann | -12 | $4,000,000 |
| 2 | Talor Gooch | -12 | $2,250,000 |
| 3 | Bryson DeChambeau | -11 | $1,500,000 |
| 4 | Dustin Johnson | -10 | $1,000,000 |
| 5 | Scott Vincent | -9 | $800,000 |
| T6 | Harold Varner III | -8 | $650,000 |
| T6 | Brendan Steele | -8 | $650,000 |
| T8 | Travis Smyth | -7 | $442,500 |
| T8 | Marc Leishman | -7 | $442,500 |
| T8 | Charles Howell III | -7 | $442,500 |
| T8 | Lucas Herbert | -7 | $442,500 |
| T12 | Ben Campbell | -6 | $330,000 |
| T12 | Laurie Canter | -6 | $330,000 |
| T12 | Young-Han Song | -6 | $330,000 |
| T12 | Branden Grace | -6 | $330,000 |
| T16 | Cameron Smith | -4 | $266,250 |
| T16 | Ian Poulter | -4 | $266,250 |
| T16 | David Puig | -4 | $266,250 |
| T16 | Jon Rahm | -4 | $266,250 |
| T20 | Jason Kokrak | -3 | $230,000 |
| T20 | Thomas Pieters | -3 | $230,000 |
| T20 | Anthony Kim | -3 | $230,000 |
| T23 | Do-Yeob Mun | -2 | $193,333 |
| T23 | Sebastian Munoz | -2 | $193,333 |
| T23 | Richard Bland | -2 | $193,333 |
| T23 | Tom McKibbin | -2 | $193,333 |
| T23 | Victor Perez | -2 | $193,333 |
| T23 | Dean Burmester | -2 | $193,333 |
| T29 | Abraham Ancer | -1 | $165,000 |
| T29 | Bubba Watson | -1 | $165,000 |
| T29 | Adrian Meronk | -1 | $165,000 |
| T29 | Sergio Garcia | -1 | $165,000 |
| T29 | Danny Lee | -1 | $165,000 |
| T34 | Cameron Tringale | E | $147,500 |
| T34 | Charl Schwartzel | E | $147,500 |
| T34 | Jose Luis Ballester | E | $147,500 |
| T37 | Luis Masaveu | 1 | $138,750 |
| T37 | Louis Oosthuizen | 1 | $138,750 |
| T37 | Byeong-Hun An | 1 | $138,750 |
| T37 | Lee Westwood | 1 | $138,750 |
| T41 | Anirban Lahiri | 2 | $129,875 |
| T41 | Yosuke Asaji | 2 | $129,875 |
| T41 | Richard T. Lee | 2 | $129,875 |
| T41 | Thomas Detry | 2 | $129,875 |
| T45 | Max Rottluff | 3 | $80,600 |
| T45 | Elvis Smylie | 3 | $80,600 |
| T45 | Martin Kaymer | 3 | $80,600 |
| T45 | Graeme McDowell | 3 | $80,600 |
| T45 | Caleb Surratt | 3 | $80,600 |
| T50 | Michael La Sasso | 4 | $50,000 |
| T50 | Miguel Tabuena | 4 | $50,000 |
| T52 | Peter Uihlein | 5 | $50,000 |
| T52 | Carlos Ortiz | 5 | $50,000 |
| 54 | Min-Kyu Kim | 6 | $50,000 |
| 55 | Sam Horsfield | 9 | $50,000 |
| 56 | Bjoern Hellgren | 14 | $50,000 |
| 57 | Matthew Wolff | 21 | $50,000 |
LIV Golf Korea prize money: Team standings
| POSITION | TEAM | SCORE | EARNINGS |
| 1 | Crushers GC | -23 | $3,000,000 |
| 2 | OKGC | -20 | $1,500,000 |
| 3 | Ripper GC | -15 | $900,000 |
| 4 | 4Aces GC | -14 | $700,000 |
| 5 | HyFlyers GC | -13 | $650,000 |
| 6 | Torque GC | -10 | $600,000 |
| 7 | Southern Guards GC | -7 | $550,000 |
| 8 | Fireballs GC | -4 | $500,000 |
| 9 | Cleeks Golf Club | -2 | $450,000 |
| 10 | Korean Golf Club | -1 | $400,000 |
| T11 | Legion XIII | E | $275,000 |
| T11 | Majesticks Golf Club | E | $275,000 |
| 13 | RangeGoats GC | +19 | $200,000 |
