Jon Rahm stands 18 holes away from season-ending title and a Chicago win
Spain’s Jon Rahm took a big step towards sealing both the season’s individual title and a win at LIV Golf Chicago with a superb bogey-free round on Saturday that gave him a one-shot lead over the field.
- Sep 15, 2024,
- Updated Sep 15, 2024 3:44 PM IST
Tyrrel Hatton spanked his 13th career hole-in-one even as league leader Jon Rahm moved a step closer to both the individual title and the season-ending championship on day two of LIV Golf Chicago at the Bolingbrook Golf Course on Saturday.
Rahm started the week with a slim points margin over Joaquin Niemann in their battle for the 2024 overall championship and the Legion XIII captain widened the gap with a bogey-free 6 under par 64 that now has him in pole position to pick up both trophies after Sunday’s final round. Rahm was 7 under after 36 holes and had a one-shot lead over Valderrama winner Sergio Garcia of the Fireballs and a three-stroke advantage over Niemann, the Torque GC captain. Since Niemann has to finish ahead of Rahm, it’s essentially a four-shot advantage. Rahm though can still emerge the season’s champion even if he doesn’t win in Chicago.
But he’d like to make sure of the twin outcome by himself. “I try to keep reminding myself to stay within the tournament, because if I do well in the tournament, everything else takes care of itself,” said Rahm, who earned his first LIV Golf win in July in the UK. “So yeah, the goal is still to win tomorrow, and if I win, I'll leave here with two wins.
“It's a championship within a championship,” Rahm added. “It's a weird combination, but yeah, you're definitely aware of it every step of the way, especially having played with him (Neimann) the first two rounds. I think we've both had a lot of fun. Probably I had a little bit more fun today than he did, but he's a fantastic player, and tomorrow should be a really fun day.”
Hatton was in danger of falling well behind the frontrunners with a 1 over 73 on Friday and then playing the first 11 holes on Saturday at par. But then picked up pace over the closing stretch, playing the last seven holes in 5 under – a stretch that included a hole-in-one at the island green sixth hole for the eighth ace in LIV Golf history. “The first probably 27 to 29 holes of this tournament haven't been particularly enjoyable,” said Hatton, who shared 12th place on 2 under, four shots behind Garcia. “Nice to finish with some momentum and we'll try our best to go out there tomorrow and have a good day.
“I think that's the first one (of his 13 holes in one) that they actually got on camera, so that's cool. I'll enjoy watching that one back. Yeah, just a gripped down 9-under around 160 yards and landed just short and trickled in and left side.” The ace was sandwiched between two birdies and proved to be timely, as Hatton rallied to shoot 65 and play his way back into contention in hopes of maintaining third place in the Individual points standings. He has his work cut out for him as Garcia and Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka are both projected to move ahead of Hatton if the leaderboard doesn’t change on Sunday.
“It would be nice to have another good day tomorrow and finish third,” Hatton added. “It would cap off a pretty solid first year on LIV. Yeah, that's the goal, but there's obviously guys that are playing really well so far this week, and if they win, then yeah, they'll overtake me. They deserve to, obviously, if they go out and win this week.” Other contests will end on Sunday too, including final player status vis-à-vis team spots and relegation while team seedings and first-round byes for next week’s team championship in Dallas will also be finalised. Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers have already clinched one of the three available seedings along with Rahm’s Legion XIII.
The Crushers, team champions in 2023, start the final round tied for the lead with Cleeks GC on 10 under and will clinch the top seeding with a victory. The Cleeks are out of the running for a bye but can move up in the standings with a second team win.
Ripper GC, who entered this week third in the standings, are projected to hold the spot and earn the final bye. The Rippers were 11th after Saturday while the two other teams who could still earn the bye, Torque and Smash were sixth and eighth, respectively.
Niemann’s one-shot advantage entering the day was erased in the first eight holes. Playing in the same group for the second consecutive day, Rahm was 3 under while Niemann was 2 over, making for a five-shot turnaround. But Niemann fought back down the stretch with birdies in three of the final four holes to shoot a 2-under 68 and stay within striking distance. The Chilean was tied for fourth on 4 under with the Cleeks’ Adrian Meronk and Majesticks GC co-leader Ian Poulter, who is hoping to make a run for his team’s first trophy of any kind since Henrik Stenson’s win on LIV Golf debut in 2022 at Bedminster.
Also in the mix is Garcia, a winner earlier this year in front of his Spanish home crowd at Andalucía, who shot a 65 on Saturday. “It's something that obviously you're trying to achieve,” said Garcia, who started the week in fourth place, “and it's nice for me to see myself up there throughout the whole year.
“It's a little bit the kind of golf course that I like, small greens like Valderrama. I always like those kinds of courses. It's obviously a totally different look from the tee than Valderrama might be, but the targets are similar. “I've always enjoyed those kinds of courses, and obviously it's been working great so far this week.”
Friday leader Brooks Koepka followed his bogey-free 8-under 62 with a 73 that included five bogeys in his first 12 holes. But he made two late birdies and finished at 5 under and solo third.
Tyrrel Hatton spanked his 13th career hole-in-one even as league leader Jon Rahm moved a step closer to both the individual title and the season-ending championship on day two of LIV Golf Chicago at the Bolingbrook Golf Course on Saturday.
Rahm started the week with a slim points margin over Joaquin Niemann in their battle for the 2024 overall championship and the Legion XIII captain widened the gap with a bogey-free 6 under par 64 that now has him in pole position to pick up both trophies after Sunday’s final round. Rahm was 7 under after 36 holes and had a one-shot lead over Valderrama winner Sergio Garcia of the Fireballs and a three-stroke advantage over Niemann, the Torque GC captain. Since Niemann has to finish ahead of Rahm, it’s essentially a four-shot advantage. Rahm though can still emerge the season’s champion even if he doesn’t win in Chicago.
But he’d like to make sure of the twin outcome by himself. “I try to keep reminding myself to stay within the tournament, because if I do well in the tournament, everything else takes care of itself,” said Rahm, who earned his first LIV Golf win in July in the UK. “So yeah, the goal is still to win tomorrow, and if I win, I'll leave here with two wins.
“It's a championship within a championship,” Rahm added. “It's a weird combination, but yeah, you're definitely aware of it every step of the way, especially having played with him (Neimann) the first two rounds. I think we've both had a lot of fun. Probably I had a little bit more fun today than he did, but he's a fantastic player, and tomorrow should be a really fun day.”
Hatton was in danger of falling well behind the frontrunners with a 1 over 73 on Friday and then playing the first 11 holes on Saturday at par. But then picked up pace over the closing stretch, playing the last seven holes in 5 under – a stretch that included a hole-in-one at the island green sixth hole for the eighth ace in LIV Golf history. “The first probably 27 to 29 holes of this tournament haven't been particularly enjoyable,” said Hatton, who shared 12th place on 2 under, four shots behind Garcia. “Nice to finish with some momentum and we'll try our best to go out there tomorrow and have a good day.
“I think that's the first one (of his 13 holes in one) that they actually got on camera, so that's cool. I'll enjoy watching that one back. Yeah, just a gripped down 9-under around 160 yards and landed just short and trickled in and left side.” The ace was sandwiched between two birdies and proved to be timely, as Hatton rallied to shoot 65 and play his way back into contention in hopes of maintaining third place in the Individual points standings. He has his work cut out for him as Garcia and Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka are both projected to move ahead of Hatton if the leaderboard doesn’t change on Sunday.
“It would be nice to have another good day tomorrow and finish third,” Hatton added. “It would cap off a pretty solid first year on LIV. Yeah, that's the goal, but there's obviously guys that are playing really well so far this week, and if they win, then yeah, they'll overtake me. They deserve to, obviously, if they go out and win this week.” Other contests will end on Sunday too, including final player status vis-à-vis team spots and relegation while team seedings and first-round byes for next week’s team championship in Dallas will also be finalised. Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers have already clinched one of the three available seedings along with Rahm’s Legion XIII.
The Crushers, team champions in 2023, start the final round tied for the lead with Cleeks GC on 10 under and will clinch the top seeding with a victory. The Cleeks are out of the running for a bye but can move up in the standings with a second team win.
Ripper GC, who entered this week third in the standings, are projected to hold the spot and earn the final bye. The Rippers were 11th after Saturday while the two other teams who could still earn the bye, Torque and Smash were sixth and eighth, respectively.
Niemann’s one-shot advantage entering the day was erased in the first eight holes. Playing in the same group for the second consecutive day, Rahm was 3 under while Niemann was 2 over, making for a five-shot turnaround. But Niemann fought back down the stretch with birdies in three of the final four holes to shoot a 2-under 68 and stay within striking distance. The Chilean was tied for fourth on 4 under with the Cleeks’ Adrian Meronk and Majesticks GC co-leader Ian Poulter, who is hoping to make a run for his team’s first trophy of any kind since Henrik Stenson’s win on LIV Golf debut in 2022 at Bedminster.
Also in the mix is Garcia, a winner earlier this year in front of his Spanish home crowd at Andalucía, who shot a 65 on Saturday. “It's something that obviously you're trying to achieve,” said Garcia, who started the week in fourth place, “and it's nice for me to see myself up there throughout the whole year.
“It's a little bit the kind of golf course that I like, small greens like Valderrama. I always like those kinds of courses. It's obviously a totally different look from the tee than Valderrama might be, but the targets are similar. “I've always enjoyed those kinds of courses, and obviously it's been working great so far this week.”
Friday leader Brooks Koepka followed his bogey-free 8-under 62 with a 73 that included five bogeys in his first 12 holes. But he made two late birdies and finished at 5 under and solo third.