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| Jon Rahm out-lasted Tyrrell Hatton to win his first LIV Golf event and breathe a sigh of relief after what's been a taxing 2024 season. AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES |
Jon Rahm put his hand to his forehead and tried to hold back tears, but some might have escaped.
He battled mixed emotions; his Legion XIII teammate, Tyrrell Hatton, had just three-putted his final hole at LIV Golf’s United Kingdom stop at JCB Golf & Country Club on Sunday. For Hatton, one putt would have won, two would have forced a playoff and anything worse handed Rahm his long-awaited first LIV win.
From 65 feet, 10 inches, Hatton nestled it to about 6 feet away, but the par save missed on the low end and Rahm, who was looking on from off the green, was the winner.
Finally.
“It’s just emotional,” Rahm said. “It hasn’t been the easiest year for our family. Kelley and I have gone through quite a bit, and she has gone through even more, being on bedrest among many other things. She did tell me, our son Kepa said to bring a trophy home in this stretch of golf, and I started to believe it was going to happen at one point today. Maybe not in the last 20 minutes. But at least I can look at them and say I’m bringing one home for them.”
Rahm famously ditched the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in the offseason, a huge feather in the cap for LIV and one giant cold-shoulder to the Tour, which lost one of its biggest stars despite its “Framework Agreement” with the Saudi PIF. But after he went to LIV, Rahm failed to shine on the biggest stages.
“It’s not like I’ve been playing bad, even though a lot of you make it sound like I’m playing bad,” Rahm said at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst last month. “I had two bad weeks. I’ve been top 10 and had a chance to win in most of the tournaments I’ve played, and then unfortunately Augusta and PGA wasn’t my best showings. But yeah, I’m happy. I mean, it’s been a wonderful career so far. And yeah, it hasn’t been the best first half of the year, but there’s been many times where I haven’t had a great start, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a great finish.”
Hours after that interview, Rahm withdrew from the U.S. Open with a foot injury, which continued a disappointing major streak for the 29-year-old two-time major champ. After a win (the Masters) and two other top 10s in the majors in 2023, since joining LIV Rahm tied for 45th at the 2024 Masters and was cut from the PGA Championship — the first time he’d failed to make the weekend at a major in five years.
But Rahm was right about one thing at the U.S. Open — he hadn’t been playing that poorly. In the lead up to Pinehurst, and excluding his withdraw due to injury from one event, he finished top 10 in all seven of his LIV starts. Two of those were third-place finishes.
Those strong LIV finishes, however, still don’t garner much attention from the wider golf world. Ratings are not great for LIV events, it remains somewhat difficult to track down the broadcasts and Rahm is essentially in a lose-lose scenario. Despite some marquee names headlining tournaments — Rahm, Hatton, Cameron Smith, Sergio Garcia, Joaquin Niemann, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson — LIV fields are still small with 54 players, and many of those pros who round out the field are far from household names.
If Rahm wins, it’s because he should have. If he doesn’t, well, he must be in a slump. Besides, the larger golf audience focuses solely on majors, so many aren’t privy to Rahm’s top-10 parade on LIV. And if they are, perhaps they were unimpressed.
After the U.S. Open, Rahm was third at LIV Nashville and then took 10th in Spain, giving him his ninth top-10 in as many starts. A week later he tied for 7th at The Open, by far his best major finish of the year.
“At Nashville and last week, I felt closer to getting to a higher level of golf where maybe there isn’t as many thoughts on my process,” Rahm said at Royal Troon. “Maybe I’m playing a little bit more freely and seeing the ball flight that I want to see more often. Yeah, I’m getting much closer to what it might have been early last year.”
On Sunday, Rahm started the day nine under, three back of leader Andy Ogletree and also a stroke behind Hatton and Smith. But Rahm turned in two under and then made three birdies in a four-hole stretch to start the back nine. As Ogletree faded, it was Rahm, Hatton, Niemann and Smith contending for the title.
Rahm made his lone bogey on 17, and he got in with a four-under 67 to take the clubhouse lead at 13 under. Then he waited for Hatton to finish. Three putts later, Rahm had won.
“Finally got one done,” Rahm said. “You never want to get those feelings to go on for too long, and to get over the hump feels great incredible. It’s been a fantastic week and a fantastic year, and just relieved that it happened.”
- Josh Berhow
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