Jon Rahm has made history by becoming the champion of LIV Golf in his debut season on the Saudi tour. The golfer from Barrika has not dropped out of the top 10 all year, except for that fateful tournament in Houston where he had to withdraw due to an infection in a toe that prevented him from playing after the US Open. And with two victories in the last month and a half, in the UK at the end of July and today in Chicago, he has surpassed Joaquín Niemann in the individual general to take the title.
A victory that was very much on track after his sensational performance yesterday, when he closed the first 36 holes of the tournament with a three-stroke lead over the Chilean, the only player who could snatch the ring from him, but who had to work hard this Sunday at a Bolingbrook Golf Club with many more fans in the stands and on the course than usual at Saudi tour tournaments when they step on American soil.
Clutch down the stretch 😤@JonRahmOfficial slammed the door in Chicago to win the Individual Championship 🏆#LIVGolf @LegionXIIIgc pic.twitter.com/jYIOX5IjQ8
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) September 15, 2024
As if he sensed that it would be a demanding day, the man from Barrika woke up this morning with more restlessness than usual in someone used to always fighting to win: “Today I woke up very nervous, as I thought. Even warming up, I told Adam, ‘dude, I’m nervous’. But then I started to think, you know, playing with Sergio and Brooks… Last time, Sergio and I played well. It was a good Sunday at Valderrama. Sergio ended up winning”.
“The last time I faced Brooks he ended up beating me, right? So I wanted to have a good game this time and maybe achieve it. I’m very happy to have played so well. I mean, going without bogeys all weekend, one bogey in the whole tournament, is quite spectacular. So I’m very proud of how I played today and very proud of that birdie on the 17th, which made the 18th much easier”, Jon said in a quick interview on the 18th green just after winning.
