Tiger Woods Caught in Crossfire as 1x PGA Tour Winner’s Feud With LIV Golf Heats Up

Yes, Joaquin Niemann has won his fourth LIV Golf title of the season. The last time anyone even won 3 was way back in the 2023 season. The only difference is that Talor Gooch didn’t have the likes of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau chasing him down. The Chilean has undoubtedly been one of the best golfers in the world in 2025. This nearly justifies Phil Mickelson’s claims of Niemann being the “#1” in the world.

The veteran golfer may be trying to throw shade at Scottie Scheffler, but he was not too far from the truth. If anything, Joaquin Niemann definitely deserves to be in the top 3 in the world. That’s a huge compliment for anyone considering the achievements of Scheffler and Rory McIlroy this year. But the commotion after his 4th win at LIV Golf Virginia has seen some wild reactions. LIV Golf fans around the world have been claiming that there is no one in the world who can beat the 26-year-old at that point. That gave the opportunity for Michael S. Kim to drop a sarcastic tweet.

Poking fun at crazy declarations, Kim wrote, “2000 Tiger Woods would have no chance against LIV golf Niemann .” This reads so ridiculous that it would have been taken as a joke even if the 31-year-old didn’t add a laughing emoji at the end of it. Woods of 2000 was a menace. Nothing the golf world had ever seen in history. The humiliation he delivered at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach will be hard to beat for anyone in the world. Woods won 9 titles that year, including 3 of the 4 majors. Even if you’re an in-form Chilean golfer who is ripping apart the competition in limited-field 54-hole events.

It’s worth noting that Tiger Woods has been a harsh critic of LIV Golf. In the past, he has berated the players who jumped ship by stating that they have “turned their backs on what has allowed them to get to this position.” He can’t believe that the golfers who have built a career and a reputation on the PGA Tour betrayed it for LIV Golf money. Showing no faith in the future of LIV Golf, Woods also said, “I just don’t see how that move is positive in the long-term for a lot of these players.” He believes that the concept of the PIF-funded league is not sustainable in the long run.

Kim, who came close to tying Niemann’s 2 PGA Tour wins at the 2025 WM Phoenix Open, has been in good form in 2025 himself. He may not have won 4 LIV Golf titles, but he still has 3 top-10 finishes on the much larger fields of the PGA Tour. Speaking of larger fields, the fact that Joaquin Niemann isn’t able to replicate his success in LIV at the majors is another example of why he isn’t the absolute best golfer this season.

He may have won 4 LIV Golf events, but his record in the prestigious major events is not as appealing as some of the players he has been compared to. At ANGC back in April 2025, Niemann finished at T29, 11 strokes away from Rory McIlroy. A month later at Quail Hollow, the golfer from Chile was 7 strokes away from Scottie Scheffler at T8.

2000 Tiger Woods would have no chance against LIV golf Niemann

— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) June 8, 2025

Interestingly, it’s not just the world #1 and #2 that he’s struggling against in the majors. His record against his peers from the Saudi-based promotion hasn’t been all that great as either.

Joaquin Niemann is failing to keep up with Phil Mickelson’s claims

Here’s why Joaquin Niemann cannot live up to Phil Mickelson’s claims, let alone compete with Tiger Woods. He has bigger monsters to fight within the LIV Golf setup. The Chilean pro’s failure to impress at the biggest stages in the world is evident. It’s no surprise that Bryson DeChambeau has outranked him when it really mattered. Sticking strictly to the 2025 records, DeChambeau has been a serious contender during the two majors that have been played so far.

He was McIlroy’s toughest competitor until the last round blunder that saw him drop to T5. The 31-year-old was also a contender in the 2025 PGA Championship, finishing second behind Scheffler at the end of the fourth round. Going into the next major, Bryson DeChambeau will be a favorite as he will try to defend his U.S. Open title from 2024.

As far as Jon Rahm goes, he himself admitted to not being at his best this season. Yet, the Spaniard has been fairly consistent at finishing in the top half of the table in the majors. The man who still hasn’t finished outside the top 10 in LIV Golf ended his run at ANGC at T14. Rahm was a serious contender at the 2025 PGA Championship as he was tied with Scheffler at one point during the 9th hole. While the #1 ran away with the title after that, the Legion XIII captain dropped to T8 alongside Niemann after a series of bad holes. While it was a joke, Joaquin Niemann would still need to better his peers from LIV Golf before reaching the level of Scheffler & McIlroy and be judged to be better than the one and only Tiger Woods. Wouldn’t you agree?

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