It seems absurd that a player of Jon Rahm’s caliber hadn’t won since the Masters last year, but that has finally changed.
Rahm finally got the monkey off of his back, winning LIV Golf UK by a shot over teammate Tyrrell Hatton for his first victory since moving to LIV Golf League this season. Hatton bogeyed the final hole, missing a 6-foot par putt that would’ve forced a playoff between he and his Legion XIII captain.
Rahm hasn’t finished worse than T-10 since moving over to LIV, sitting at second in the season-long standings heading into the week, but he also hadn’t hoisted a trophy in more than a year. That changed Sunday, when he shot 4-under 67 and finished at 13 under for the week at JCB Golf and Country Club, besting Hatton, Joaquin Niemann and Cameron Smith by a shot.
“Obviously you always want to win. Selfishly you always want to get that done,” Rahm said. “But you don’t want to see a teammate and a good friend missing a putt for that to happen for me.
“It’s a bit of an unusual situation that I don’t think any of us are used to. Team wins, I win individually, but still, having so much respect for Tyrrell, somebody who’s a good friend and somebody I’ve experienced a lot with — I can’t really celebrate because I still feel for him for finishing like that.
“Personally I will say a bit relieved, having top-tenned pretty much every time I’ve teed it up and given myself plenty of chances to win, and finally getting it done feels very good. Feels like I got a lot of weight off my shoulders on that one.”
On the par-3 17th, Rahm three-putted for bogey, falling back into a tie with Hatton. But then Hatton three-putted the 54th hole, opening the door for Rahm to win for the first time.
Jon Rahm has won LIV Golf UK, after Tyrrell Hatton missed his par putt on 18. It’s his first win since the 2023 Masters and his very first individual win on the league. I’m not sure, but did he shed a tear there?? pic.twitter.com/ngbvxm5db8
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) July 28, 2024
Legion XIII took home the team title, so Hatton isn’t exactly going home empty handed. He’ll get a share of the $3 million the team takes home for the win.
“I’m really happy for the guys to have a solid weekend and for us to win our fourth event as a team, but it doesn’t change how I feel towards my own individual performance,” Hatton said. “It sucks to bogey the last in front of your home crowd to effectively miss out on a playoff. That’s unfortunately the reality of my situation at the moment.”
Now, Rahm heads to Paris to compete in the Olympic games, where he’s one of the favorites to win a gold medal for Spain.