With a great round of 64 strokes, Jon Rahm managed to give himself one last chance this Saturday to reclaim victory in the order of merit of LIV Golf. The man from Barrika will not have it easy. To begin with, he must surpass Joaquín Niemann in the standings, but then he will have to keep climbing positions to open up a sufficient points gap over the Chilean to recover the 12-point deficit he started with this week in the Indianapolis tournament, the last of the individual classification of the 2025 season in the Saudi tour.
One of the Spaniard’s weapons in the final round will be the fact of sharing a match with Joaco and being able to ‘pressure him’ from the first hole, “I think either option, playing with him or not, is fine. If I can start well and put pressure on him, that would be good. I wouldn’t change anything. Whether I play with him or not, I’m going to go out there and try to shoot the lowest round I can,” said the Spaniard just after completing his second round, before knowing he would share the round tomorrow with both the Chilean and his teammate, David Puig.
Regarding his performance this Saturday in Indianapolis, Rahm saw the positive side: “I’m glad I didn’t fall too far behind. I haven’t seen all the scores. I have no idea what’s going on. I have no idea where the leaders are. But in my mind, I have to expect Joaquín to go out and, at the very least, get a 5 under par. He’s a very good player and it’s a very accessible golf course. I’m going to need a Sebastián-style round to have a chance to win and, hopefully, take it all. If not, I’m going to need a lot of luck in all possible scenarios. Obviously, the higher I finish, the better my chances.”
“I’m going to need a Sebastián-style round to have a chance to win and, hopefully, take it all”
The man from Barrika, despite not winning any tournament, will play the last 18 holes with a chance to win the ring again, something that makes him feel satisfied, but also serves as a lesson for the future: “It’s great, and I’m proud of it, but I’m still angry with myself for not having won at least once. I’ve definitely had opportunities. There will be something to learn from this year. I’ve had chances to win and haven’t been able to take them. But if somehow I manage to finish second on my own and Joaquín doesn’t have his best day, being a winner without winning a tournament is something that might not happen again, so it would definitely be special.”
As for the course hosting this LIV Golf in Indianapolis, Jon warns: “The fairways are still firming up, so it will remain short. The only thing that can be done to make this course less accessible is the pin placement… The greens are quite soft and we’re coming in with short irons, so there’s not much they can do. If you put it in play, you’re going to have so many short irons that it’s not that hard to shoot three or four under par. You don’t need anything special to shoot six under par here compared to other courses, because the fairways are very firm and, for the most part, you’re playing with short irons. On the par fives, the ball rolls 60 yards, so if you manage to hit it between the lines, you’ll have short irons. There are 50 of the best players in the world with wedges in hand, so you have to expect birdies…”
