Nobody, least of all him, expected that the first victory in LIV Golf would be so hard to come by. But in the end it came. It was in Rocester, a small English village south of Manchester with less than two thousand inhabitants. It was at the JCB Golf and Country Club. Jon Rahm has won the LIV Golf UK. At the eleventh attempt. After three third places and nine top 10s in the nine tournaments he finished, as he had to withdraw in Houston due to an infection in his left foot. It is the second consecutive Spanish victory in LIV Golf after Sergio García‘s in Valderrama.
When you’re so close to winning so many times and you don’t succeed, you don’t expect the first triumph to be a walk in the park. Far from it. Jon has suffered a lot to lift his first trophy in LIV Golf and, fundamentally, it has been because he has displayed great golf on the last day, practically like the whole week and eliminating the mistakes that yesterday made him lose his footing in the ranking, and also Tyrrell Hatton has missed a putt of about two meters for par on the last hole that would have forced the playoff. Also counts the collapse of Andy Ogletree in the last holes when he was leading the tournament with authority.
Rahm (-13) has won with a one-stroke advantage over Hatton, Joaco Niemann and Cameron Smith and three over Paul Casey. The truth is that from the beginning of the round he has looked very tuned. Even, gesturally he seemed like a different player. He reminded of the old Jon, the one who kept an imperturbable gaze and clenched teeth for 18 holes. The one who gave the impression of playing golf not as if winning was a goal, but almost an obligation, a mission that must be fulfilled.
Jon has played like a clock, brilliant from the tee, hitting with everything when it was time and conserving with the irons when necessary. He started with a birdie on the 2nd, signed another on the 6th and added three more on holes 10, 12 and 13. The 10th and 13th are par 5s, those that have resisted him in the last tournaments and that, undoubtedly, have prevented him from finishing higher in some weeks this year. Today he has not forgiven them. Two easy birdies, moreover, hunting the green in two in both cases after two very good starts.
From there, with a great partial of five under on the day, he played with more head than heart. It was about not failing. Especially seeing that it was not Cameron Smith’s day, very erratic at the start of the day, and that Ogletree was falling apart like a sugar cube in the hour of truth, with two double bogeys on holes 14 and 15. Neither Paul Casey managed to finish his comeback, quite the opposite, and the only danger was Tyrrell Hatton, his inseparable companion.
Jon dominated the tournament with two holes to go, with a one-stroke margin over Hatton. Neither the 17th nor the 18th are birdie holes, so two pars almost assured him the victory. He played for that, but he did not calculate the par putt of one meter that escaped him on the penultimate hole. It was not given, it had its guile, but it escaped him. Three putts and a tie with Hatton.
Rahm finished with a great par on the 18th and 67 strokes. Now he did make two putts, of great merit, from almost his house, something that the Englishman did not achieve. Hatton finished with three putts and Jon wins his first title in LIV. His emotion at the end of the tournament is a faithful reflection of the pressure he has put on himself this year to achieve that first victory. It is also a sign that it has not been easy weeks at home with his wife Kelly’s high-risk pregnancy.
Jon achieves victory at a great time of the season, just before the Olympic Games. He has taken off the weight of winning for the first time in 2024 and, in passing, it serves him to polish the medal. Inevitably, he arrives at the Paris appointment a little more favorite than he was when he finished the Open.
David Puig (-8) also arrives at a good time, despite the three final bogeys. The one from La Garriga has not been able to finish a round that was being golden. He was six under on the day and had even put the second place within reach. However, those three bogeys have relegated him to eleventh position. In any case, he also arrives with good feelings at the Olympic Games. However, we will see if he is able to adjust his game to the hard and narrow Golf National in Paris.
Finally, Sergio García (-5) has finished twentieth and Eugenio Chacarra (+2) has finished 41st and still needs points to maintain his position in LIV Golf. He has two tournaments left so that his continuity in the Saudi league does not depend on anyone but him.
As for the team classification, victory also for Legion XIII, as expected with those two first positions of Rahm and Hatton. They remain second in the ranking, although somewhat closer to DeChambeau’s Crushers. In the individual ranking, Jon is also second behind Niemann, but he has put the first place within reach of victory again.
