Jon Rahm landed in LIV Golf in 2024. Since then, the Saudi league has practically become a head-to-head between the player from Barrika and the Chilean Joaquín Niemann, with occasional appearances by other luxury guests like Bryson DeChambeau or Sergio García. The data is irrefutable. Jon finished first and Joaco second in 2024 and they repeated positions in 2025. In the first season, the difference between them was 16 points and in the second, it was 2.5. It is the great duel of LIV. A textbook head-to-head.
Let’s say that’s the war everyone sees. It’s palpable every week and translates into numbers. It’s the fight to be Number One in the individual ranking. Under its shelter, another equally spectacular and directly related battle is fought, although much less visible. It’s the birdie war. The numbers are really curious. Rahm and Niemann are by far the two players who have accumulated the most birdies in LIV Golf from the first tournament of 2024 to last week’s event in Riyadh. The equality is once again astonishing.
Rahm has a total of 414 birdies, while Niemann’s count stands at 410. It’s a full-fledged head-to-head, as the third is already somewhat distant. It’s Tyrrell Hatton with 379 birdies. It should be noted that before the season opener in Saudi Arabia, the positions were exactly the opposite. Joaco was ahead of Jon. The Spaniard turned the tables thanks to the 25 birdies he scored at the Riyadh Golf Club compared to Joaquín’s 19.
As it stands, the The Grange Golf Club, the Australian course hosting the LIV Golf Adelaide starting this Thursday, will witness a new birdie battle between Jon and Joaco. Will the South American be able to reclaim the top spot? Will Jon maintain the birdie throne? It should be noted that recent history favours Niemann. Both in 2024 and 2025, The Grange was also played, and the Torque captain scored more birdies. Specifically, he closed the two weeks with a total of 35, while Jon had 33. The difference is minimal, although if the same thing happened as last year, we would leave Adelaide with a total tie. In 2025, Niemann made 18 birdies (and won the tournament) compared to Rahm’s 14.
That said, an important nuance should be added to this statistic. We are talking about total birdies. Rahm’s figure and his leadership are even more commendable considering he has played one less tournament than Niemann, the one he missed in Houston due to a foot injury that also forced him to withdraw from the US Open before it started. As it stands, Rahm has 414 birdies in 26 tournaments and 79 rounds, while Niemann has 410 in 27 tournaments and 82 rounds. The difference, in any case, is small. Jon makes 5.24 birdies per round in LIV, while Niemann scores exactly 5.
The birdies of both will, therefore, be another point of interest for the week, already the most attractive of the year in LIV Golf due to the intensity with which Australian fans experience this event. Obviously, Cameron Smith’s team, with Lucas Herbert, Marc Leishman, and the brand-new winner Elvis Smylie, captures much of the spotlight, although it will also be very interesting to see the performance of Puig, winner in Australia on the DP World Tour at the end of 2025, Bryson DeChambeau, who seemed somewhat lacklustre in Arabia, or the Spanish team of the Fireballs with Sergio García, Luis Masaveu, Josele Ballester, and the aforementioned Puig.
