Rd. 3 News and Notes: Rahm leads LIV Golf charge into Olympics
ROCESTER, England – After a season of close calls, Jon Rahm sealed the deal and won his first LIV Golf individual title. Here are some other news and notes from the final round at JCB Golf & Country Club.
RELATED: Rahm wins first LIV individual title; his Legion XIII wins 4th team trophy
SEVEN HEADED TO OLYMPICS: LIV Golf UK by JCB winner Jon Rahm and six other LIV Golf players are now headed to France to compete for Olympic medals in next week’s men’s tournament at Le Golf National outside of Paris.
Rahm will represent Spain along with Fireballs GC’s David Puig. Competing for Chile are Torque GC teammates Joaquin Niemann and Mito Pereira. Another Torque player, Carlos Ortiz, will play for Mexico, as will Fireballs’ Abraham Ancer. Adrian Meronk of Cleeks GC is representing Poland.
The 72-hole individual stroke-play competition starts Thursday.
LEGION XIII’S FOURTH WIN: LIV Golf’s newest team continues to find its way to the top of the podium in its expansion season.
Legion XIII, captained by Jon Rahm, won for a league-leading fourth time this season. It’s the third consecutive year that a LIV Golf team has won at least four times.
In the 2022 beta-test Invitational season, Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC won four regular-season tournaments, then capped the year by claiming the Team Championship.
In last year’s first full season, Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC won four regular-season trophies but not the Team Championship.
And now Legion XIII has won four times, although the team remains in second place in the standings, 15.5 points behind Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC, who have two wins and four other podium results, including a tie for third Sunday.
Although Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are LIV Golf’s most lethal one-two punch this season, Kieran Vincent and first-year pro Caleb Surratt have produced for Legion XIII when needed, avoiding the crippling high scores that can prove to be the difference, especially when all four scores count in the final round.
“Even though it may not look like we had flashy scores today, we still put in good scores for what we had this week, so I'm proud of Caleb and obviously the rest of the guys,” Vincent said.
While Rahm shot a 4-under 67 to win and Hatton tied for second with a 69, Surratt shot an even-par 71 and Vincent a 1-over 72 in a round that included 17 pars and one bogey.
“When you're looking at the leaderboard and you see what our team score is and then how these two guys were playing, it just makes you think of how great of an opportunity me and Kieran have to learn and compete with the two best players arguably,” said the 20-year-old Surratt. “That's a blessing in itself. It was pretty great golf to watch.”
SMITH PLEASED WITH RIPPERS PODIUM: Ripper GC did not have Marc Leishman this weekend after he was forced to withdraw with appendicitis that required surgery.
Reserve player Wade Ormsby filled in for Leishman and shot consecutive rounds of even-par 71 as the all-Australian team managed a second-place team finish, three shots behind winners Legion XIII.
“We were missing Leish,” Smith said. “Not to say Wade isn’t a good player, but I think we could have been really close this week to getting a W. It was a really good effort by Wade, and he’ll be thanked.”
It’s the fourth podium finish for the Rippers, who have two team victories and are currently third in the season-long standings.
Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert each shot 4-under 67s to lead the Rippers on Sunday. Meanwhile, Smith shot 69 to tie for second individually. It’s his third runner-up finish this season.
“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 of his final round. “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.”
NIEMANN REMAINS NO. 1: Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann continues to set the pace atop the season-long individual standings, as he shot a 6-under 65 – low round in the field on Sunday – to finish in a tie for second behind LIV Golf UK winner Jon Rahm.
Niemann has a 24-point lead over Rahm, and 46 points over No. 3 Tyrrell Hatton going into the final two regular-season tournaments that will decide the season-long Individual Championship.
The top three in points after LIV Golf Chicago each earn season-long bonuses.
ROUND 3 STATS LEADERS
Driving accuracy: Anirban Lahiri, 85.71% (12 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: David Puig, 322.1 yards avg.
Longest drive: Matthew Wolff, 332.5 yards, 10th hole
Greens in regulation: Jon Rahm, Matthew Wolff, 88.89% (16 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Charl Schwartzel (5 of 5), Harold Varner III (3 of 3), Jon Rahm (2 of 2), 100%
Putting: Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, Matt Jones, Patrick Reed, Thomas Pieters, Caleb Surratt, 1.44 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Charl Schwartzel (68)