Jon Rahm finished his first season with LIV Golf with his second championship win in three starts to secure one championship all season.
The Legion XIII captain has never finished in the top-10 in his 12 starts since December.
“I wouldn’t say it exceeded my expectations, but it definitely met my expectations,” said Rahm, who earned $22m on the payday for his victory at Bolingbrook Golf Club in Chicago and the overall title.
The 29-year-old Spanish star shot a 4-under 66 on Sunday to catch Joaquin Niemann and Sergio Garcia by three shots.
Shooting 11 under, Rahm played bogey-free golf for the final 38 holes and suffered one bogey all week while winning the second round. He also won at LIV Golf UK in July and nearly won at the Greenbrier last month, losing in the final to Brooks Koepka.
The battle between Rahm and Niemann for the Individual Championship was one of several races to be decided at this week’s regular season finale.
Last seed Dallas was eliminated, while Crushers GC, Legion XIII and Ripper GC received three byes in next Friday’s quarter-finals.
“PRESSURE IS A RIGHT”
With Rahm and Niemann finishing 1-2 in the same position, Garcia passed Tyrrell Hatton in the final position for the bonus podium. The margin between Garcia and Hatton, who finished alone in fourth place, was just one point.
Rahm entered the final day with a three-stroke lead over Niemann, who needed to finish ahead of Rahm on the leaderboard to win the championship.
Niemann started with birdies on two of his first three holes to apply early pressure, but Rahm never wavered. He made three birdies in his first 10 holes, then made two consecutive par-saving putts on 11 and 12 to avoid giving Niemann an opening.
A three-putt par on the par-5 14th was the only downside of Rahm’s round, but he bounced back with a birdie at 17 to end Niemann’s late rally hopes. The fact that the season’s top three players finished atop the Chicago leaderboard was a fitting conclusion.
“You really can’t write that much better?” Rahm said. “It was a really stressful day, but that stress is a privilege.”
Niemann said: “I knew I had to do something big, and I felt like I did. I played some amazing golf. But I feel like to beat someone like Jon Rahm, you have to do things better.”
“It’s a different feeling,” Rahm said. “Just being able to finish the season with good golf, and especially to do it with individual wins today, I think that’s what makes it so special. Knowing that I had to win and I did it is something to be proud of and something to reflect on.”
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