Jon Rahm’s first season in the LIV Golf League wrapped up with a bang on Sunday, securing his second win in just three tournaments and clinching the coveted 2024 Individual Championship.
If you thought the Spaniard was going to ease into his new surroundings, you clearly don’t know Rahm. With a perfect streak of top-10 finishes all season, Rahm’s first year in LIV has been nothing short of extraordinary.
“I wouldn’t say it exceeded my expectations … but it definitely met what I expected,” Rahm said after his win, summing up a year that’s been full of highlights.
Rahm’s final round at the Bolingbrook Golf Club was a masterclass in precision. He shot a bogey-free 4-under 66 to hold off Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann and win both the LIV Golf Chicago title and the season-long Individual title. Niemann and Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia tied for second, three shots back.
In shooting 11 under, Rahm played bogey-free golf for the last 38 holes and suffered just one bogey all week (in Friday’s first round) while winning for the second time.
He also won in LIV Golf UK in July and came close to winning in Greenbrier last month, losing in a playoff to Brooks Koepka. Rahm finished in the top 10 in all 12 regular-season tournaments that he finished. The lone outlier was his WD due to a foot infection in Houston.
“It was quite fun to see Jon Rahm play as well as he did this year,” said Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau, whose team won its third title this season while securing the top seed for next week’s Dallas Team Championship. “That’s a year.”
A Battle at the Top
The battle between Rahm and Niemann for the Individual Championship was just one of several races to be determined in this week’s regular-season finale.
Rahm entered the day with a three-stroke advantage over Niemann, who needed to finish ahead of Rahm on the leaderboard to win the championship.
Niemann started with birdies on two of his first three holes to apply early pressure, but Rahm never wavered. He made three birdies in his first 10 holes and then made two consecutive par-saving putts on 11 and 12 to avoid giving Niemann an opening.
“It was definitely a stressful day, but that pressure is a privilege,” Rahm said.
Niemann reflected on his round, stating, “I knew I had to do something great, and I felt like I did. I played amazing golf. But I feel like to beat someone like Jon Rahm, you’ve got to do things better.”
Crushers GC Claims Top Seed
While Rahm took the spotlight on the individual front, Bryson DeChambeau and his Crushers GC team made a statement of their own.
Entering LIV Golf Chicago with one of the three quarterfinal byes for next week’s Dallas Team Championship already secured, the Crushers weren’t content to rest on their laurels.
They edged out Legion XIII by a single stroke to win their third tournament title of the season, securing the top seed in Dallas.
Anirban Lahiri led the Crushers in the final round with a 3-under 67, while DeChambeau shot 68, Paul Casey shot 70, and Charles Howell III – in just his second start since returning from a leg injury – shot a 71.
Casey had a bogey-free round with 18 pars, the first time he’s done that in his career.
“We wanted to prove a point,” DeChambeau said. “We wanted to show that we’re back, and we wanted to have some momentum going into next week. We feel like we’ve got ourselves in a good place.”
Final Standings and Seeds for Dallas
With the regular season in the books, the seeds for next week’s Team Championship in Dallas are set. Crushers GC, Legion XIII, and Ripper GC earned the coveted byes for Friday’s quarterfinals, with Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC securing the first pick of match-play opponents.
Here’s the full seeding lineup:
- Crushers GC
- Legion XIII
- Ripper GC
- Smash GC
- Torque GC
- Fireballs GC
- Stinger GC
- Cleeks GC
- RangeGoats GC
- 4Aces GC
- Majesticks GC
- HyFlyers GC
- Iron Heads GC
Niemann and Garcia Reflect on Their Seasons
Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, who pushed Rahm to the limit, was satisfied with his runner-up finish in the individual race.
“I’m pretty happy,” Niemann said. “I was telling my caddie that I don’t feel any disappointment.
I feel like I gave it everything that I had. It didn’t feel like I gave a shot away the whole season. That for me is a win.”
Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia of Fireballs GC overtook Rahm’s teammate Tyrrell Hatton to snag third place in the standings.
“More than anything, just to finish as high as possible, it’s great against all these guys that are so good,” Garcia said.
A Look Ahead to Dallas
With momentum on their side, the Crushers GC head to Dallas as the team to beat.
As DeChambeau put it, “Proved to ourselves that we’re in a good spot.” Whether or not they can keep that momentum going through the semifinals and finals remains to be seen, but they’ve certainly set the stage for an exciting finale.
As for Jon Rahm, the 2024 LIV Golf Individual Champion, he’ll now set his sights on leading Legion XIII to a team title. Given his form this year, few would bet against him.
FIVE PLAYERS SUFFER RELEGATION:
Regular LIV Golf team members 49th or lower in the final points standings finish in the Drop Zone and suffer relegation out of the league, although they can still earn their way back, including opportunities such as the International Series and the LIV Golf Promotions tournament.
These five players finished in the Drop Zone: Cleeks GC’s Kalle Samooja, Iron Heads GC’s Scott Vincent, Stinger GC’s Branden Grace, RangeGoats GC Captain Bubba Watson and Legion XIII’s Kieran Vincent.
Samooja came closest to moving up into the Open Zone this week, finishing tied for 15th at 2 under. Two bogeys in his final three holes proved costly.
Grace won LIV Golf Portland in 2022, the first LIV Golf tournament held in the U.S., and finished second and ninth in the first two season-long individual standings.
Scott Vincent had finished in the top 24 Lock Zone the first two seasons, while his younger brother Kieran earned his spot this season through the Promotions tournament.
“He did do it once,” said Kieran Vincent’s captain Jon Rahm, “so he might be able to do it again.”
