Young Gun Enjoys An Awesome Pro Tour Debut

19-year-old Joaquin Niemann had quite the PGA Tour debut as a pro golfer. The #1 ranked amateur in the world finished 6th at the Valero Texas Open Sunday.

The $223,200 is a good start to secure his card this season. And, the 6th place finish gives him an automatic invite at the Wells Fargo Championship in two weeks. GolfWorld’s Ryan Herrington profiles the prodigy from Chile.

Fun fact: Prior to Niemann, the last player to finish inside the top 10 in his first tour start as a professional at the Valero Texas Open was Anthony Kim, who finished T-2 in 2006.

Niemann, the No. 1 ranked amateur at the end of last summer, had played in three professional events as an amateur, including the 2017 U.S. Open and the Masters earlier this month. He missed the cut in both majors, but did have a T-29 finish at the Greenbrier Classic last July.

Niemann, who competed in this year’s Masters as the Latin America Amateur champ, had earned his way into the U.S. Open and Open Championship fields as the Mark H. McCormack Medal winner, but lost invites after turning pro. That decision largely had to do with confidence in his game, yet also involved some NCAA red tape. Niemann was set to play college golf at South Florida, but while still in the midst of learning English, had an issue with an entrance exam that would delay his entry by a year. Following his exit in the Round of 64 at last August’s U.S. Amateur, Niemann decided to expedite the professional process.

Given his impressive amateur resume, which included a win at the Latin America Amateur in January, Niemann has lined up a handful of sponsor’s exemptions in addition to the one he got at the Valero. He is scheduled to play at the Wells Fargo Championship, AT&T Byron Nelson and the Memorial. He can now save the Wells Fargo exemption for another tournament as he has gained entry into Quail Hollow thanks to this week’s top 10.

More important than the money, Niemann earned 100 non-member FedEx Cup points for his Valero performance. He needs at least 269 points in his other starts to earn special temporary membership on tour. That status then allows him to take an unlimited number of sponsor’s exemptions (otherwise, he can take just seven through the end of the 2017-’18 season). And if he earns 365, the number of points for the 125th player on the FedEx Cup points list a year ago, he’ll secure a PGA Tour card for the 2018-’19 season.

“I mean, I was playing good [coming into the week]. I never thought I was going to finish how I played this week, but I can’t be more happy than this,” Niemann said after Sunday’s round. “Just try to keep it up and hope to play well for the next weeks.”

“I think this is going to give me a lot of confidence to try to do my card for this year,” Niemann said. “Thing is I’ve got a couple more tournaments coming, and I just can’t wait for it.”