Joaquin Niemann

Joaquin “Joaco” Niemann, 21, is the sole representative of Chile in the 2020 United States Open Championship. Including the Chilean golfer, 144 players will compete in the 120th edition of the annual open national championship of golf in the U.S.

Niemann was born in Santiago, Chile on November 7, 1998. From May 2017 to April 2018, he ranked number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

In 2018, Niemann turned professional and competed in the Valero Texas Open where he finished sixth. On September 15, 2019, he became the first player from Chile to win on the PGA Tour.

Chile has yet to have a U.S. Open champion. The annual golf competition was established in 1895.

The 2020 U.S. Open will take place at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, USA from September 17–20, 2020. The last time the tournament was held there was in 2006 when Geoff Ogilvy, 43, of Australia won with a score of 5 over par.

Including Chile and the U.S., 27 countries from six continents are represented. The others are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada,  Colombia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan and Thailand.

Due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the 144-player field consists entirely of exempt players. Professional golfers Daniel Chopra, 46, of Sweden and Anthony Kang, 47, of South Korea will co-host the golf tournament with former professional cricketer Jason de la Peña, 47, of England live on FOX Sports 2 from September 18-21, 2020.

The U.S. Open champions in the past five years were from the U.S. Jordan Spieth, 27, and Dustin “DJ” Johnson, 36, won in 2015 and 2016, respectively, Brooks Koepka, 30, won in 2017 and in 2018 and Gary Woodland, 36, won in 2019.