Jon Rahm started Sunday 12-under and seven shots behind French leader Julien Guerrier who had rounds of 62 and 63 on Thursday and Saturday, respectively, and fellow Spaniard Jorge Campillo who shot 64, 65, and 68 going into Sunday.
Rahm made a late charge Sunday, shooting 5-under and finishing the tournament 17-under par for 6th place.
His only mistake of the day, a bogey on the Par 4 16th, ended a masterful run, but would likely be for naught as Campillo and Guerrier duelled it out down the stretch, leading to a gruelling multi-round playoff that eventually saw Guerrier as the champion, putting for par on the 18th after nine playoff rounds.
During the onset of the Estrella Damm Andalucia Masters Rahm hinted that he was playing alongside his future Legion XIII teammate, a mystery golfer to be determined, possibly in the next couple of weeks.
Rahm’s choice would fill the job vacancy left by Kieran Vincent who was relegated out of LIV at the conclusion of the Chicago regular season finale.
While there’s speculation as to who Legion XIII’s newest member will be, we can likely narrow down the field to the Spanish stars like Angel Hidalgo who outdueled Rahm last month in a playoff at the Open De Espana. Jorge Campillo, who ended the tournament in 2nd Place could also be the running, or perhaps young Rasmus Hojaard of Denmark, one of the game’s brightest young stars, has caught Rahm’s eye.
David Puig finished Sunday strong with a 5-under par for a final score of -13 and a T12 finish. All things considered; Puig had a great tournament which featured a lot of scoring that offset numerous mistakes. With such a strong field, luck and skill had to be constant for four straight days to secure a top ten finish which the Fireballs star couldn’t quite crack.
Eugenio Chacarra, who had been the source of some minor controversy recently, finished Sunday even par, good for T28, a final placing he shared with seven other members of the field.
Elsewhere, former LIV Golfers Laurie Canter (-7; T43) and Bernd Wiesberger (-6; T49) survived the cut but failed to make a positive impression on any round.
Rahm and other LIV golfers may look forward to the remaining schedule to secure additional Ryder Cup points as well as big paydays with the Genesis Championship in Incheon, South Korea taking place next week October 24 – 27.
By securing a top 10 finish Rahm has guaranteed himself a spot at the Genesis Championship.
It will be up to the 2024 Individual Champion to decide if he wants to make the trip or not, but in his current form, he would be the favourite to win.
