Joaquin Niemann claims Genesis Invitational victory
- Published
Niemann was the amateur world number one from May 2017 to April 2018
Genesis Invitational final leaderboard |
|---|
-19 J Niemann (Chi); -17 C Morikawa (US), C Young (US); -14 V Hovland (Nor), A Scott (Aus); -13 J Thomas (US) |
Selected others: -10 R McIlroy (NI); -9 X Schauffele (US); -8 P Casey (Eng), R MacIntyre (Sco); -7 J Rahm (Spa); -6 J Spieth (US) |
Chile's Joaquin Niemann beat a strong field to claim a wire-to-wire win at the Genesis Invitational in California.
The 23-year-old carded a level-par round of 71 to finish on 19 under, which was two shots ahead of Americans Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy shot 68 as he finished on 10 under.
"It's got the best field, the best players are here and that proves [to] myself that I can be competing with the top guys," said Niemann.
"I can be up there in the world ranking. I think it's going to give me a lot of confidence for what is coming next."
A bogey on the seventh cut Niemann's lead to one shot but he birdied the next and made an eagle at the 11th at Riviera Country Club.
He had two more bogeys at the 14th and 15th but secured victory with three pars to finish before he was presented with the trophy by tournament host Tiger Woods.
Morikawa produced a final round of 65, while Young carded 70.
England's Paul Casey and Scotland's Robert MacIntyre were tied in 15th place on eight under.
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