Joaquin Niemann, a Man on a Mission

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Joaquin Niemann, who turned 22 in November 2020, was the world No 1 amateur golfer from May 2017 to April 2018 when he turned professional.  In September 2019 he won A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier for his first PGA Tour victory.  He became the first PGA Tour winner from Chile and the youngest international PGA Tour winner since 1923.  In December 2019 he played on the International team at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club. 

In 2021 Niemann's final round 64 in the Sentry Tournament of Champions put him into playoff with Harris English, who won the TOC.

Now after Round One of the 2021 Sony Open, Niemann is at the top of the Leaderboard with Malnati and Kokrak, each having hit an 8-under par 62 round. 

Already driven to succeed, Joaquin Niemann has an additional motivation. His infant cousin is in urgent need of lifesaving medical treatment. 

From Golf Channel, November 2020:

Salvemos a Rafita.

The phrase, which in English translates to “save Rafita,” has recently become a rallying cry for Joaquin Niemann and his family. As Niemann, the 22-year-old rising star from Chile, competes on the PGA Tour, back in Niemann’s native Santiago, his 1-month-old cousin Rafita Calderon is fighting for his life in a hospital room as he battles a rare neuromuscular disease called spinal muscular atrophy.

“He needs the most expensive medicine ever,” Niemann said last week at the RSM Classic. “… He’s got 100 days to get the medicine.”

That medicine is called Zolgensma, and it is designed to combat the debilitating and often fatal muscle weakness associated with SMA, which affects about 1 in 1,000 babies each year and has an average life expectancy of just two years. A single intravenous injection of the gene-therapy drug, which was approved by the FDA last year, can drastically improve the survival rate and quality of life for those suffering from the disease.

However, the potentially life-saving treatment also costs $2.1 million. The controversial price tag, which is 33 times the national per capita income, is unsurprisingly too expensive for Calderon’s family and not covered by insurance, and it must be administered in the baby’s first 100 days of life in order to be most effective.    Full article, including links to fundraising efforts, at Golf Channel.

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