By Samuel Blatchford

ROCESTER, ENGLAND – Jon Rahm claims first LIV Individual title and Legion XIII wins their fourth team title in LIV Golf UK by JCB.

It was a victory that had been eagerly anticipated since the two-time major winner joined the league last December. But it was also a bittersweet win as it came at the expense of his close friend and Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton.

Rahm, playing in the group ahead of Hatton, finished off a final-round 4-under 67 that left him at 13 under. Hatton was also at 13 under as he played the 18th hole. The Englishman, playing in front of his home crowd, found the green in two, and then did well to knock his 76-foot birdie putt to 5 feet. 

But with a chance to force a playoff against his captain, Hatton missed the par putt, leaving a muted celebration for the entire team.

“Obviously, you always want to win,” said Rahm, victorious for the first time since the 2023 Masters. “Selfishly you always want to get that done. But you don’t want to see a teammate and a good friend missing a putt for that to happen for me.”

It was an emotional victory on several levels for Rahm, who had finished in the top 10 in each of the previous nine LIV Golf tournaments he has completed.

“Finally got one done,” he said. “You never want to get those feelings to go on for too long, and to get over the hump feels great, incredible. It’s been a fantastic week and a fantastic year, and just relieved that it happened. … Feels like I got a lot of weight off my shoulders on that one.”