Niemann wins, but talk in golf is still about Phil

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Golf, the Tour, is going to be like this for a while, at least until The Issue, the Phil Mickelson-Saudi plan, is resolved. If ever it is resolved.

A pro wins a tournament, plays brilliantly as did the young man from Chile, Joaquin Niemann, who was ahead start-to-finish, took the Genesis Invitational, which ended Sunday at Riviera, and all anyone seemed to care about was the game’s future.

Which depending on your viewpoint may not be as interesting as the present.

This should have been Niemann’s moment, and surely, shooting an even-par 71, and hanging on to a lead that after an eagle 3 on the 11th was up to five strokes but finished at two over Collin Morikawa, it was.

In winning for the second time on Tour, the 23-year-old from Chile shot a 19-under total of 268.

Great golf in a, well, not so much troubled time but distracting time, not that Niemann appeared at all distracted on yet another beautiful, blue-sky Southern California afternoon.

The top 10 in the World Golf rankings all were entered in the Genesis, which both made Niemann’s victory impressive but also brought many of the top journalists, most of whom had questions about Phil trying to get his fill.

Mickelson was not at Riviera. In body. Talk of his project to force a remodeling of the PGA Tour by leveraging money from Saudi Arabia — yes, they’re killers and such, but the plan only deals with golf, not humanity — was everywhere.

Niemann surely is perceptive enough to realize this whole mess is like Covid-19 and other misfortunes in life to deal with as maturely as possible. Another season and Niemann would be receiving accolades — after all, he won on the course where Tiger Woods never has — rather than questions.

Hey, the wise and capable know not to get riled about situations beyond their control. They step forward and leave the grumbling to others. Of all the sports, golf especially teaches how to deal with adversity.

Niemann didn’t have much in his three days until holing the final putt. Then a reporter told him,  “…while you were doing some pretty good golf out there today, there was a lot of news going on with the Tour when DJ (Dustin Johnson) and Bryson (DeChambeau) said that they were going to be staying on the PGA Tour . ...I know you didn't want to talk about it earlier, but in a broader view when the top 12 players in the world have indicated that they're staying here, do you think that it would make it tougher for someone to not want to compete against the best?”

Niemann was as sharp with his words as he had been with his clubs. “I want to compete with the best players in the world,” he said. “I want to be No. 1 one day ... I think there's nothing better like what I'm feeling right now, winning a PGA Tour event, getting a trophy.”

In 2019 Niemann took first in the Military Tribute tourney at the Greenbrier, joining the late Seve Ballesteros and Rory McIlroy as the only foreign-born players in the last 98 years to win on Tour before turning 21.

Some 10 years later, McIlroy has four majors — and at Riviera on a Sunday an opinion on where golf is going and why he’s staying.

“I don't want to kick someone while he's down obviously,” McIlroy said, meaning Mickelson, “but I thought they were naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant. It was just very surprising and disappointing, sad. I'm sure he's sitting at home sort of rethinking his position.”

Joaquin Niemann’s position in the Genesis doesn’t need rethinking, only cheers.