Jon Rahm (-22) has not needed to win a single tournament all season to once again claim the champion’s ring of LIV Golf. The man from Barrika, for the second consecutive year, has accumulated more points than anyone else in the Order of Merit and not even losing the playoff this afternoon in Indianapolis to Colombian Juan Sebastián Muñoz (-22) has deprived him of achieving his main goal and proving, if there were still any doubts, that he is the best player on the Saudi tour.
Rahmbo said yesterday, after a great round in which he managed to recover positions and place himself one shot behind Joaquín Niemann (-17), that to win the 18 million dollar bonus awarded to the champion, he would need to have a round very similar to the 59 that Sebastián Muñoz (-22) signed on Friday. Said and done. The Basque golfer has sealed a round of 60 strokes to climb to the top and finish the season in style, despite the little thorn that will surely remain for not achieving partial victories.
The man from Barrika went on the attack from the first minute. He birdied the first hole putting from off the green and the second after a great shot from the tee. On the fifth, he gained his third stroke on the field with a five-meter putt. On the seventh, he signed his fourth birdie, missing an eagle putt from three and a half meters. And he closed the first half of his round with another birdie with a nearly six-meter putt to put the Chilean, one of his playing partners, in a tight spot.
ABSOLUTELY EPIC 🔥@JonRahmOfficial ties the lead in Indy and is now in pole to win the Individual Championship 😱
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📲 Stream on the LIV Golf App#LIVGolfIndy @LegionXIIIgc pic.twitter.com/syAd3m7Fq7— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) August 17, 2025
The Chilean was barely surviving, scraping strokes where he could and starting to rely on none of those at the top losing momentum and deducting points from Jon. But little by little, he began to realize the sad fate that awaited him and that his five tournament wins in 2025 would not be enough to take the ring. On the 10th, leaving it very close, Rahm scored again. On the 13th, he made an eagle and became co-leader. And to his only mistake of the day, on the 14th, with a ball that got ‘stuck’ in the rough costing him a bogey, he responded with brilliance from the 15th fairway that almost ended in an eagle by sheer miracle.
That recovered stroke on the 15th was the first of an incredible final series: birdie on the 16th leaving it very close, birdie on the 17th putting for eagle from nine meters, and the icing on the cake, a great shot from the fairway that brought the crowd in the 18th stands to their feet to leave another birdie made. A round of eleven strokes under par with which to take advantage of the lack of final push from Dustin Johnson (-21) and fight for the partial victory, with the Order of Merit already in the bag, against a Muñoz who with birdies on the 17th and 18th gave himself one last chance.
ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE ‼️@JonRahmOfficial shoots 11-under to lead in Indy with the Individual Championship on the line 🔥#LIVGolfIndy @legionxiiigc pic.twitter.com/ZWDjPJnLp7
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) August 17, 2025
Bad luck struck the man from Barrika on the first and only playoff hole. His rival, after a good shot from the tee to the left side of the fairway, left himself a birdie putt of a couple of meters. Rahm wanted to be as precise as possible, but his ball was so accurate that it hit the flag and veered off. He failed to sink an uphill putt of about five meters, handing the victory in Indianapolis to Juan Sebastián.
But for the Spaniard, who hasn’t won a tournament since the LIV Golf in Chicago last September, the big prize was already guaranteed. A second ring, a million-dollar bonus, and his team, the Legion XIII, leading the overall standings before the big team final in which he will try to round off another great year. Consistency has allowed Jon to knock a dejected Joaquín Niemann off the top spot at the last moment and demonstrate that, when he goes ‘hunting’, he is a true predator.
In the battle to avoid ‘relegation’, Mito Pereira, who had it tough, has been joined by Henrik Stenson, who, if LIV Golf keeps its promise, will lose his playing rights on the circuit for 2026. By teams, the victory in Indianapolis went to the Torque GC, who double up with Juan Sebastián‘s win… but they are left with a bittersweet taste because Rahm overtook their captain at the finish line. It will have to be celebrated with milk, as tradition dictates in the city of races.
