When LIV Golf arrived in 2022, the upstart league knew it needed major champions amongst its ranks for credibility, and it launched with big names like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau. Although both Koepka and DeChambeau have won majors since joining LIV, critics of LIV Golf and its format have been quick to point out those victories were built off the foundation they constructed while competing on the PGA Tour.
In order to shift the perception that the league and its format can bring out the best in players, one could argue that LIV needs a homegrown major champion.
Joaquin Niemann stands as LIV’s best chance to represent LIV on the major championship stage. The Chilean won the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational in 2022 at age 23, cementing himself as one of the game’s young stars, and he has arguably been LIV’s best player since joining. Over the last two seasons, Niemann has won six times worldwide, including four times on LIV in his past 17 starts. Despite routinely beating some of the best players in the world, Niemann will only be able to quiet detractors with a major championship.
While speaking to Sports Illustrated, Niemann addressed the importance of validating his talent with a major.
“Yeah, I do think [I need one],” he said. “The majors are a big stage for both tours to prove you can have consistency throughout the year. I haven’t felt like I’ve really been contending [in majors] yet, so yeah, that might help to think I’m one of the best players in the world. I feel like that’s something that’s eventually gonna happen.”
In today’s golf landscape, there are only four times per year to see the best go against each other. Niemann will be stacked up against the best of the PGA Tour, which includes world number one Scottie Scheffler.
“Obviously, Scottie’s won majors, he’s won a lot of tournaments. He’s an unbelievable player,” Niemann says. “If I can be contending on a Sunday against Scottie, that would be pretty good.”
Niemann’s first chance at delivering a major for LIV Golf comes next week at Augusta National. Earlier this year, the 26-year-old received a special invitation to the Masters and Masters chairman Fred Ridley highlighted Niemann’s strong global performances as his reason for the invitation. Niemann’s two best finishes in majors have both come at the Masters, where he finished T16 in 2023 and T22 in 2024. When asked if Augusta National was the course that gave him the best chance to win a major, he didn’t hesitate.
“Yeah, I feel like it’s my best chance,” he says. “If I play good golf, it will be any of those four that I might have a good chance. But if you look at all the four majors, [the Masters] is a tournament with a lesser number of players. It’s a smaller field. I’ve been there a few years. I feel like I can really play well there if my game is there.”
His second chance will come at the PGA Championship in May. Niemann was once again extended an invitation to play in the event, which was not a surprise due to his likelihood to be inside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings by the time of the event (he’s currently 84th despite LIV not accruing OWGR points).
Niemann played at 2025 PGA Championship site Quail Hollow three times while on the PGA Tour, with his best finish coming in his most recent appearance (T19) in 2021.
Niemann added that competing for the LIV Golf individual season title against Jon Rahm will help him prepare for majors. Rahm won the title last season; Niemann leads this year’s race.
“I have felt the anxiety and the nerves of performing, especially last year where I wanted to win [the LIV Individual championship]. I was able to handle [the emotions] pretty good, even though I was just short of it,” Niemann says. “That’s how I felt like I have evolved through the years—I’ve been able to prepare better, and that translated to the course.”
One Chance, for Now
Dean Burmester is another player who has the potential to make some noise in the majors this season. The problem for the South African is that he’s currently only in the field for one of them. Burmester earned his spot for the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow with a 12th-place finish at the 2024 PGA (the top 15 are exempt the following year).
Louis Oosthuizen, who won the 2010 British Open at St. Andrews, sees the major championship potential in his Stinger GC teammate.
“I think he’s been ready for a while,” Oosthuizen says. “He’s definitely got the game. He’s longer than most. He’s a very good putter.”
With his enormous length off the tee and putting ability, Burmester is well-equipped for Quail Hollow. Burmester's confidence from last year’s PGA Championship bolsters his case.
“Yeah, I think last year I—I kind of, at the PGA, I just played solid all week, never really thought, you know, I was only a couple of shots out of the top 5 or something at the end of the week,” Burmester says. “So that kind of gave me quite a lot of confidence.”
Burmester also played well at last year’s Open, where he finished T19 and was in a tie for fourth through 36 holes and paired with Scottie Scheffler on Saturday.
“I feel like I’ve learned a lot in those situations, and yeah, I’m ready going forward,” he adds.
Oosthuizen, reflecting on his teammate, alluded to Burmester’s qualification problems as the real hindrance to his major success.
“Just getting into the majors was the biggest thing,” Oosthuizen says. “He’s definitely ready. I think it’s a matter of just going out there and not really worrying about anything else and just going for it and winning it.”
Looking for a Chance
Adrian Meronk has yet to finish in the top 20 in a major, but has played spectacular golf over the last few years.
Since 2022, Meronk has won four times on the DP World Tour. Despite a controversial 2023 European Ryder Cup snub, his peers voted him the 2023 Seve Ballesteros Award winner as DP World Tour Player of the Year, recognizing his fourth-place finish in the Race to Dubai.
Meronk joined LIV Golf’s Cleeks GC in 2024 and continued his strong play on and off the league, finishing runner-up to Rory McIlroy at the Dubai Desert Classic in January before securing his first LIV win in Riyadh in February 2025..
Like everyone on LIV, Meronk struggles to gain world ranking points to qualify for the majors. As of now, he isn’t in the field for any of the four, however he plans to play in qualifiers for the U.S. and British Opens.
“Obviously I’m not playing any of them yet this year, so I’ll do my best to qualify and then we can see what I can do,” he says. “Playing on LIV with a lot of great players, you know, ex-No. 1s, people who won majors a couple of times, Ryder Cup players, I mean, I think that’s what makes me a better player.”
But the LIV catch-22 weighs on him—beating some of the best in the world at Riyadh or elsewhere has no impact on his OWGR, so he’ll have to grind through qualifiers.
Meronk’s teammate Martin Kaymer, who knows a thing or two about winning majors with his 2010 PGA and 2014 U.S. Open titles, thinks he has what it takes to win one.
“He doesn’t lack any capability,” Kaymer says. “When you go from putting all the way up to driving, he can deliver everything, and that is necessary to win big tournaments, all the majors. He’s great.”
Kaymer saw Meronk's performance in Riyadh as a positive sign that he can play under pressure. After beginning the final round with a two-shot lead that was extended to four early, he began to struggle on the back nine.
“The way he got himself back into the tournament, this is something that he worked for to get to that point because this is a mental practice and training,” Kaymer says “I believe he has every chance to win a major.”
The Young Hope
David Puig, who arguably has as much raw talent as any young player in the world, is uniquely positioned to potentially become LIV Golf’s first homegrown star.
Unlike established champions such as Phil Mickelson (six major championships won before joining LIV), Brooks Koepka (five), Bryson DeChambeau (two) and Jon Rahm (two), Puig did not arrive at LIV with a resume forged elsewhere. Anything he accomplishes professionally will be connected to his decision to join LIV Golf.
Puig took a different route than most. At the age of 20, he transitioned directly from Arizona State to LIV Golf in 2022, bypassing the conventional progression through amateur circuits or developmental tours. Now 23, the fiery Spaniard is ready to show he can compete on the biggest stage.
But like many on LIV, again, his path to major championships remains obstructed by LIV’s exclusion from world ranking points, forcing him to compete on the Asian Tour and play in qualifiers for major berths. His current world ranking of 92nd makes him likely to receive a PGA Championship invite.
In 2024, he received a special invitation as a LIV player ranked around the top 100 (No. 106 then), and with his current ranking now higher, it seems reasonable that he will get another invitation.
If Puig wants to participate in the U.S. Open in June, he will need to go through local qualifying, which he successfully did in 2023 and 2024, navigating “golf’s longest day.”
Puig says he will play in the qualifiers to get into the U.S. Open and British Open once again in 2025.
So far, the former Sun Devil has participated in four majors, with his best finish a T39 at the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
Asked if he feels like he has something to prove, Puig expressed mixed feelings.
“Yes and no,” Puig said. “At the end of the day, I’m trying to qualify for majors to try to win one. I just do it for me, that’s why I practice, because it’s what I love to do.”
Puig has competed with Spanish legends Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm amongst other players on LIV, which he says is why he made the controversial decision to forego his last few seasons at ASU to play professionally.
“That’s probably the No. 1 part of why I made the decision to [join LIV],” Puig said. “It gave me an opportunity to jump right from college to play against the best players in the world. I think it taught me a lot in terms of experience.”
As the 2025 major season begins, LIV Golf faces a moment of truth, and a chance to produce a major champion of its own to silence skeptics. Niemann, who’s playing as well as anyone, will lead the charge at the Masters and PGA, while Burmester should bring a PGA Championship ticket and eagerness to build on last year’s showing.
For LIV, it’s about proving the league can birth its own legends, not just rent them.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as With Major Season Beginning, LIV Golf’s Quest for a Homegrown Winner Continues.
