Jon Rahm shot a final round 67 for a 54-hole total of 200 to secure a heartfelt triumph in the prestigious $25 million LIV Golf UK tournament held at JCB Golf & Country Club in England.
Not only did the 29-year-old talented Spanish golfer claim his inaugural LIV Golf individual title but he also played a key role in guiding Legion XIII to their fourth team victory of the season. Joining Rahm in the winning team were fellow golfers Tyrrell Hatton, Kieran Vincent, and Caleb Surratt.
It was a victory that had been eagerly anticipated since the two-time Major winner joined the League last December. But it was also a bittersweet win as it came at the expense of his close friend and teammate Hatton.
Rahm and Hatton started the final round with the intent of chasing down 36-hole leader Andy Ogletree of HyFlyers GC. Ogletree opened with consecutive birdies and led by four shots at one point before the rest of the field started to chip away at his lead.
Ogletree double-bogeyed the eighth hole but still had a share of the lead with Rahm after consecutive birdies at the drivable par-4 12th and par-5 13th. But the American followed with consecutive double bogeys on the next two holes to fall out of contention with a final round 74 and had to settle for tied sixth.
Rahm had a five birdie round with his only dropped shot on Hole 17.
“Obviously, you always want to win, selfishly you always want to get that done,” said Rahm, victorious for the first time since the 2023 Masters.
“But you don’t want to see a teammate and a good friend missing a putt for that to happen to me. It’s a bit of an unusual situation that I don’t think any one of us is used to.
“To get this one done -she (wife Kelley Cahill) did tell me, our son Kepa said to bring a trophy home in this stretch of golf, and I started to believe it was going to happen at one point today,” Rahm told a press conference.
“Maybe not in the last 20 minutes. But at least I can look at them and say I’m bringing one home for them.”
Dubai-based players Adrian Meronk (Cleeks GC) and Anirban Lahiri (Crushers GC) finished tied 16th and tied 39th respectively. Meronk had rounds of 68, 69 and 70 to finish on six under par – with Lahiri, having rounds of 69, 72 and 73 to finish one over par.
The next LIV Golf event, the 12th of the 13 event series is in Greenbrier, US, which will be held 16th – 18th August, 2024. The final event to determine the Individual Standings will be held in Chicago, 13th – 15th September, 2024. The Team Championship, the 14th and final event of the season will be held in Dallas from 20th – 22nd September, 2024.
Results
(7,243 Yards, Par 71)
Individual
J. Rahm (Legion XIII) 63. 70. 67. 200. J. Niemann (Torque GC) 69. 67. 65. 201. C. Smith (Ripper GC) 66. 66. 69. 201. T. Hatton (Legion XIII) 66. 66. 69. 201.
Team
(Best 3 from 4 scores for the first two rounds and all four scores to count for the final round). Legion XIII -26. Ripper GC -23. Crushers GC -20. Smash GC -20.
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