2024 Individual Championship and key season-long races to be determined at LIV Golf Chicago

BOLINGBROOK, Ill – The countdown is on for the final two events of the 2024 LIV Golf League season, with much at stake for players and teams heading into LIV Golf Chicago, teeing off Sept. 13-15 at Bolingbrook Golf Club. A battle for the season-long individual title between two of the sport’s best, determining final seeds for the team championship, and securing a spot in the league for 2025 are among the exciting races to be decided this week in Illinois. The following week, the 13 teams travel to Texas for the season-ending LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship, Sept. 20-22 at Maridoe Golf Club.

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP: JON RAHM VS. JOAQUIN NIEMANN

In a league complete with major champions, Ryder Cup heroes and rising stars, Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm has positioned himself for a championship finish in his first season with LIV Golf. Rahm, who has finished in the top 10 in all 11 LIV Golf events he has competed in this year, including five top-3 finishes and a victory at LIV Golf UK by JCB, has one challenger for the title of 2024 LIV Golf Individual Champion: Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, who took home titles in Mayakoba and Jeddah and led the league’s season-long standings until the conclusion of LIV Golf Greenbrier. The duo are the only players mathematically eligible to win the 2024 Individual Championship, with Rahm currently leading Niemann by 195.17 points to 192.20 points, a difference of 2.97 points. Both players are guaranteed to finish either first or second on the season-ending podium.

Rahm will win the title if he finishes ahead or equal to Niemann among the top 15 spots on the Chicago leaderboard. If Niemann finishes 16th or 17th, Rahm must finish inside the top 24 players who receive points. If Niemann finishes 18th or worse, Rahm is guaranteed the title.

For Niemann to claim the title, he must finish with 3 more points than Rahm. Any top-3 result in Chicago will secure him the title, as long as they do not tie and he finishes ahead of Rahm. If Niemann finishes 4th or worse, his fate will be determined by Rahm’s place on the leaderboard. 

“He's been playing great lately, so he's probably going to keep doing the same,” Niemann said of Rahm. “I've got to try to bring my ‘A’ game.”

Despite the variety of scenarios at play, Rahm is preparing for Niemann to be at the top of the leaderboard in Chicago.

“I'm probably going to need to win,” said Rahm of the race with Niemann. “He’s going to be up there. I'm going to need another good week.”

RACE FOR THIRD PLACE: FOUR MAJOR CHAMPIONS IN PURSUIT OF HATTON

Five players are still mathematically alive for the third and final podium position in the season-long points standings. Legion XIII’s Tyrrell Hatton currently is in third place, 8 points ahead of Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia. Three more captains – Stinger GC’s Louis Oosthuizen (14.39 points behind), Ripper GC’s Cameron Smith (15.83 points behind) and Smash GC’s Brooks Koepka (16.73 points behind) – also have a chance to catch Hatton.

Hatton is guaranteed third place with a top-3 finish in Chicago, as long as Garcia doesn’t win. If Garcia wins, he will jump ahead of Hatton. 

Due to the points separation, Garcia must finish at least 11th or better to have any possibility of catching Hatton. Oosthuizen and Smith must finish at least 5th or better, while Koepka must finish at least fourth. Their fates would then rest on Hatton’s final leaderboard spot.

LOCK ZONE: TOP 24 SECURE A SPOT FOR 2025

The top 15 players on the current points standings are guaranteed to finish in the top 24 Lock Zone and earn a spot in the 2025 LIV Golf League. Players just outside the top 15 include reigning DP World Tour Player of the Year and first-year LIV Golf player Adrian Meronk (16th) and two-time senior major winner Richard Bland (19th), both of whom play for Cleeks GC. They are likely to remain in the top 24 along with 4Aces GC’s Patrick Reed (20th) barring an unlikely finish which requires a number of ties. 

Players currently ranked 21st through 24th – Stinger’s Charl Schwartzel, Smash’s Jason Kokrak, Torque’s Sebastián Muñoz and HyFlyers GC’s Brendan Steele – are still vulnerable to dropping out of the Lock Zone. Any of those players will guarantee a Lock Zone berth with a top-10 finish in Chicago.

Players ranked 25th through 47th still have a mathematical chance of jumping into the Lock Zone, although it will require a high finish. No. 25 David Puig of Fireballs could move up with a top-10 finish; all others will need to perform better to have a chance. Players ranked 39th and below must win the individual title in Chicago to have a shot at a Lock Zone finish. Following the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship, players with expiring contracts who finish in the Open Zone (25-48) will become free agents with the opportunity to be re-signed by their team or picked up by another team.

DROP ZONE: RELEGATION 

Team members ranked 49th or below in points after Chicago will finish in the Drop Zone and be relegated out of the league for the 2025 season – although they will have an opportunity to earn their way back in at the LIV Golf Promotions tournament later this year. 

Currently, seven players in the Chicago field are in the Drop Zone – Iron Heads GC’s Scott Vincent, Stinger’s Branden Grace, RangeGoats GC Captain Bubba Watson, Cleeks’ Kalle Samooja, Legion XIII’s Kieran Vincent, and Wild Card players Hudson Swafford and Anthony Kim. 

The bottom seven players in the Open Zone remain mathematically vulnerable to falling into the Drop Zone – Majesticks GC Co-Captain Henrik Stenson, Torque’s Mito Pereira, HyFlyers Captain Phil Mickelson, Iron Heads’ Jinichiro Kozuma, Majesticks Co-Captain Ian Poulter and the 4Aces GC duo of Harold Varner III and Pat Perez. Perez is currently on the Open Zone bubble at 48th, with 7.76 points. Scott Vincent, at No. 49, has 5.90 points.

TOP 3 TEAMS EARN FIRST-ROUND BYES IN THE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

The top 3 teams in the final standings after Chicago will earn first-round byes at the following week’s Dallas Team Championship. Two of those byes have already been earned by Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC and Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII, currently Nos. 1-2 on the team points list, separated by just a half-point. The Crushers are the defending team champions while the expansion Legion XIII has posted a league-best four team wins this season.

Ripper GC, Smash GC and Torque GC are Nos. 3-5 and are the only teams still eligible to claim the final available bye. Ripper also is within striking distance of earning the No. 1 seed with a victory, depending on how the Crushers and Legion XIII finish in Chicago.

Currently trailing Ripper by 28 points, Torque needs a win in Chicago to have a chance at the third-place bye. Ripper will automatically retain the bye if Smash finishes no better than 3rd and Torque doesn’t win in Chicago. If Smash wins, Ripper will need to finish 3rd or better. If Smash finishes 2nd, Ripper will need to finish 5th or better. And if Torque wins, Ripper will have to finish 5th or better.  

Teams currently Nos. 6-13 – Fireballs GC, Stinger GC, Cleeks GC, RangeGoats GC, 4Aces GC, Majesticks GC, HyFlyers GC and Iron Heads GC– have been eliminated from bye consideration and must compete in Friday’s Quarterfinals in Dallas, although their final seeding position is not yet determined.

LIV Golf Chicago tees off Friday, September 13 at 12:15 pm CDT at Bolingbrook Golf Club, a premier golfing destination which has been ranked the No. 1 public course in Illinois (2024). Located in the Village of Bolingbrook near Chicago, the course was designed by renowned golf course architects Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest and opened in 2002.