Jon Rahm lands 3rd straight LIV Golf individual title
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Jon Rahm of Spain playing his tee shot on the 12th hole during day two of LIV Golf New York on Aug 7.
PHOTO: AFP
What has seemed like a formality for much of the season became official on Aug 9.
Three years with LIV Golf, three straight individual championships for Jon Rahm.
The Spaniard did not have a stellar week on the course at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, where Chile’s Joaquin Niemann (69) won the LIV Golf New York event with a 16-under 268 total for a league-record ninth individual title.
But that did not stop Rahm from clinching the 2026 season title with one event to spare.
Entering the week with a whopping 938.44 points, Rahm was more than 200 clear of second-place Bryson DeChambeau. And while Rahm posted his worst finish of the season at Bedminster, carding a five-over 76 to place tied-41st on eight-over 292, DeChambeau (71) failed to take advantage of the opportunity, tying for 38th on seven over.
Now, there is no chance for the 32-year-old American or any other player to catch Rahm in the final regular-season event, LIV Golf Indianapolis from Aug 20 to 23.
“It’s weird because in golf, it’s something that it’s odd to have still one more tournament before things are done,” Rahm said. “Most season-long races, you have to wait until the last event because the last event counts so much. But it feels different this year.”
The 31-year-old pointed out that in 2025, he claimed the season-long title without winning a single event. That was hardly the case this season; in his first six outings, Rahm won LIV Golf Hong Kong and LIV Golf Mexico City, placed second at three more events and finished fifth at the other, building an insurmountable lead.
“Last year, in my mind at least, even though it was a point system, it was a question mark with having not won, and it didn’t feel the same. So, this year, to play as good as I did early on and have such a big lead that I can even enjoy not playing good this week and next week, it feels really good.”
Rahm has been one of the dominant figures in LIV Golf since joining the league ahead of the 2024 season. The other top players in that time have been DeChambeau and Niemann.
“I’ve gone head-to-head with both of them quite a few times,” Rahm said. “They’ve won some, I’ve won some. It’s been quite interesting. It’s been a lot of fun. The only thing we’ve missed is one week where all three of us were firing on all cylinders and we could have enjoyed that. That could have been quite a thing.”
He said he will try to enjoy the title – which comes with an US$18 million (S$23 million) prize – once he forgets about his tough week on the course.
“Probably tonight once I get back home with the family,” he said. “I’ve got a pretty long car ride to get back to where we’re staying. I’ll have time then for sure. Once I get over how bad I played this week, it’ll be all right.”
Niemann, who opened with a bogey at the first hole but birdied the par-three seventh, sank a 56-foot birdie putt at the 13th hole and a long eagle putt at the 15th to seize a four-stroke edge on American Harold Varner III (70).
A bogey at 17 only trimmed the 27-year-old’s victory margin.
Niemann was glad that he gradually improved after a poor start on a tough course, adding: “Pretty happy and proud of the way I played at the end.”
DeChambeau’s Crushers GC won their third team title of the season on six over, beating Rahm’s Legion XIII and Niemann’s Torque by two.
“Yeah, this is what makes team golf, I think, so much better than just personal individual golf because you’ve got something else to play for,” said DeChambeau.
The future of LIV has been in doubt since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced in April that it would not continue its financial support of the league beyond this season.
But the breakaway tour is expected to seal a deal with a “lead investor” in September. REUTERS
