Joaquin Niemann has expressed his desire to merge the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

The 26-year-old Chilean, who captains the Saudi-backed Torque GC team in the LIV league, has previously won the PGA Tour, including the 2019 Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and the 2022 Genesis Invitational. Despite many players switching from the PGA to LIV and not looking back, Niemann has confessed his wish to return to his old format.

In a recent interview with Fox Sports, he said: “I would love for a merger to happen because it would be for the best for the game. If they do a merger, it’s because they’re thinking about the big picture and what is best for the game, for the fans, and I would love for that to happen.

“For me, ideally it would be awesome to play PGA Tour events. As captain of my team, Torque, I am playing LIV Golf and I would love to play those 14 events as well as a few events I love from the PGA Tour.” However, Niemann believes that his sentiment is not widely shared among professional golfers.

Despite fellow LIV star Jon Rahm expressing similar thoughts, Niemann is convinced that only a few professionals would want to play globally. He explained: “To be honest, I don’t think there’s many people that would want to play all over the world,” reports the Mirror. He added: “They just want to play on LIV and that’s it, and there’s a few guys who probably just want to play on the PGA Tour and that’s it. For me, if I don’t play on the PGA Tour, I don’t think it would really hurt me a lot but I would like to play more.”

It comes after Rahm explained what he would like to see from a merger deal at the Spanish Open: “Just one that allows us to play freely between tours and enjoy the game of golf. For example, in my case, play Torrey (Farmers Insurance Open) and American Express in January, and then continue to enjoy the fact of being a DP World Tour member and play some events in the fall as well without any problems.”

Jon Rahm has expressed similar sentiments

Jon Rahm has expressed similar sentiments ( 

Image:

Getty Images)

As golf fans eagerly await a potential merger between the two tours, Rory McIlroy has surprisingly suggested that Donald Trump might be the key to brokering a deal, given his close ties with Saudi Arabia. McIlroy noted: “He might be able to. He’s got Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest man in the world, beside him. We might be able to do something if we can get Musk involved, too.”

McIlroy acknowledged that the situation is more complex than it appears, saying: “Yeah, I think from the outside looking in, it’s probably a little less complicated than it actually is. But obviously, Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He’s got a great relationship with golf. He’s a lover of golf. So, maybe. Who knows?”

Trump himself has claimed that he could resolve the issue in “15 minutes” advocating for a single, unified golf league. In an appearance on the Lets Go! podcast with Bill Belichick and Jim Gray, former President Trump said: “I could probably get it done. I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done. I think we have much bigger problems than that. But I do think we should have one tour, and they should have the best players in that tour.”