Joaquin Niemann walked into the 2026 LIV Golf captains' press conference with reason to reflect on one of the most successful individual seasons in the league's short history, and he did not shy away from the moment.
The Torque GC captain recorded five LIV Golf individual wins during 2025, a mark that put him at the top of his competitive peers and secured his status as one of the brightest stars in the breakaway circuit. Asked about the season, Niemann was direct about both the highs and his appetite for more consistency in 2026.
"Yeah, I was pretty satisfied. I mean, winning five times is something that I look back now and I'm pretty proud of. It was pretty cool."
The answer was understated by the standards of a five-win season, but captured the competitive edge that Torque teammates have talked about for two years. Niemann has been vocal in past interviews that individual success is only part of the project. His broader goal, he has said repeatedly, is to build Torque into a team title contender.
That ambition is the backdrop to his biggest announcement at the press conference: the addition of Abraham Ancer to the Torque GC roster for 2026. Ancer, a Mexico Open winner and Presidents Cup regular before his LIV move, slots into a squad that was already brimming with talent but had missed a veteran closer in some of the bigger team events of last season.
The pairing makes geographic and stylistic sense. Torque's identity, rooted in Chilean and broader Latin American golf culture, gains another recognisable Latin voice in Ancer. It also creates a stronger floor for the team on weeks when Niemann himself is not firing at maximum. In LIV's three-days, team-total format, having a reliable third and fourth card on a Friday or Saturday is often the difference between top-three and top-eight team finishes.
For Niemann personally, 2026 will test whether a five-win 2025 was a peak or a platform. The 27-year-old has repeatedly outplayed his Official World Golf Ranking position — a number that does not reflect LIV performances — and his results continue to force the conversation about major championship invites and future Ryder Cup eligibility.
The captains' press conference format has increasingly been used by LIV to highlight the league's narrative arcs between seasons, and Niemann's combination of a record-setting year and a headline addition made Torque one of the most talked-about teams in the room. Fellow captains including Bubba Watson, Louis Oosthuizen and Cameron Smith all acknowledged Torque as a team to beat heading into the new calendar.
For fans, the storyline is simple. Niemann is hungry to turn individual form into a team trophy. Adding Ancer gives him a partner he can trust in the final group on a Sunday. And if 2025 is a guide, the bar has been raised — and the Chilean has already shown he can clear it.