Jon Rahm earns first title since joining LIV Golf

Jon Rahm won his first LIV Golf title on Sunday when teammate Tyrrell Hatton missed a 6-foot par putt on No. 18 that could have forced a playoff at LIV United Kingdom in Rocester, England.

Rahm carded a 4-under-par 67 to finish ahead by one stroke at 13-under 271 at JCB Golf and Country Club. The Spaniard recorded five birdies at Nos. 2, 6, 10, 12 and 13 before making his lone bogey with a three-putt at the par-3, 231-yard No. 17 and closing out with a par.

The captain of the victorious Legion XIII team, Rahm finished one hole ahead of England’s Hatton, who was tied at 13 under before his putt at No. 18 slid to the right of the hole.

“Well, first of all, I’ve got to give Tyrrell a lot of credit, too,” Rahm said. “He’s a fantastic player, and you never want to see it end like that. I almost wish we would have got it done in the playoff.”

Hatton settled for bogey and a 69 and finished in a three-way tie for second place at 12 under with Chile’s Joaquín Niemann (65 on Sunday) and Australia’s Cameron Smith (69).

Hatton lost two strokes with a double bogey at the par-4, 485-yard No. 6 sandwiched between two birdies. He carded five birdies in the round at Nos. 3, 5, 7, 12 and 13.

Niemann put seven birdies against one bogey, while Smith had five birdies and three bogeys.

“You know, it’s hard because I feel like I didn’t do much wrong the first six or seven holes, and I was a couple over par,” Smith said. “Really just staying in it. It goes to show what you can do from not even being in the tournament to almost winning it. Yeah, it was good to stick in there, good to hit some good shots down the stretch with some pressure on.”

Rahm, who left the PGA Tour in December when he was the No. 3 golfer in the world, had not won a tournament since the 2023 Masters.

The Spaniard started the day in fourth place after a round of 8-under 63 placed him atop the leaderboard after the first round Friday. He plans to compete for Spain at the Paris Olympics.

Second-round leader Andy Ogletree, who was seeking his first LIV Tour title, slipped to a five-way tie for sixth place at 9 under. He carded a 3-over 74 with four birdies, one bogey and three double bogeys.

Legion XIII earned its fourth team title this season at 26 under with Rahm, Hatton, American Caleb Surratt (even) and Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent (1 over) contributing scores.

“I said early on, I tried to set the tone to the team and just make it clear that the goal is to win, and I’m just glad that we’re getting it done,” Rahm said.

Smith is captain of all-Australia Ripper GC, which finished second at 23 under. Matt Jones (4 under), Lucas Herbert (5 under) and Wade Ormsby (even) figured in the scoring.

Crushers GC and Smash GC tied for third at 20 under.