NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
Jon Rahm arrived Sunday at the top and with a familiar rival at his side. At the end of the day, he left no doubt.
The captain of the Legion During the week, Rahm shot four rounds in the 60s and steadily pulled away from the field.
Paired in the final group with teammate Tyrrell Hatton (the first time the Ryder Cup duo had shared a final group at LIV Golf), Rahm quickly took control and never looked back.
Behind him, a pair of fellow Arizona State Sun Devils products stepped up to complete the podium. David Puig finished solo second at 15 under after a closing 5 under par (66), capping a strong week that included a third-round 62, one shy of the course record.
Puig briefly threatened to make things interesting on the back nine.
“Obviously, I still think I had my chances, right, even with how well it started,” Puig said. “I was 6 under after 10, three back… If I birdie 11 and 12 (I’m practically adding 11 and 12 is reachable) I definitely had my chances.”
In the end, he failed to capitalize on those key opportunities, leaving Rahm with too much room to breathe down the stretch.
Josele Ballester continued his impressive streak with a 67 in the final round to finish solo third at 14 under par. Ballester was among the most consistent drivers of the week, leading the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and repeatedly creating scoring opportunities.
Further back, Scott Vincent finished solo fourth at 12 under on his HyFlyers GC debut, while a five-way tie for fifth at 11 under included Branden Grace, Thomas Detry, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin and Matthew Wolff.
Hatton, who started the day two shots behind, struggled to a 1-over 72 in the final round, while McKibbin added another consistent performance to cap a good week for Legion XIII.
In the team competition, Legion XIII completed a wire-to-wire victory in emphatic fashion, finishing at 45 under par and securing the victory by 9 strokes.
Led by Rahm, the team’s consistency between the four players proved overwhelming as they maintained field separation all week. Fireballs GC, powered by Puig and Ballester, secured second place at 36 under par, while Southern Guards GC finished third at 26 under par.
Torque GC moved up to fourth place at 22 under, with HyFlyers GC rounding out the top five at 17 under.
This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in association with LIV Golf.
