Indianapolis individual champion Michael La Sasso of Hyflyers GC poses with his trophy at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Indiana, on Sunday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
From a Correspondent
Westfield, Indiana: The 2026 LIV Golf season ended on Sunday with a familiar foursome atop the team leaderboard, and a bright young star declaring his future greatness as the individual champion of LIV Golf Indianapolis.
Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII won their second consecutive team championship and the 12th team trophy in all, an impressive run of success in its three seasons as the league’s first expansion team.
The quartet of Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Caleb Surratt and Tom McKibbin shot a cumulative 10 under in the final round at The Club of Chatham Hills to win by six strokes over HyFlyers GC.
Rahm, the three-time season-long individual champion, pressed hard for the Indy title with a 7 under par 63 but came up one stroke short to the HyFlyers’ Michael La Sasso, who at 22 becomes the youngest LIV Golf winner.
Despite the pressure of being chased by major winners Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Sergio Garcia, La Sasso was unflappable on Sunday.
Entering the day with a one-shot lead, he finished with a bogey-free 65 to finish at 18 under, clinching the tournament title with a clutch up-and-down birdie at the par-5 18th.
“I’m completely speechless,” said La Sasso, the 2025 NCAA individual champion who turned pro to join the HyFlyers this season.
Pretty unbelieveble
“… I knew coming into this week that something special might happen, and kind of shooting 1-over the first round and looking back at the leaderboard, I didn’t really think I’d be standing here right now. But I was able to putt it off. It’s pretty unbelievable.”
Rahm was his primary pursuer, and the two were tied for a large portion of the back nine. The Spaniard, who started his final round on the second hole, birdied the 18th to take a one-shot lead but finished with a bogey at the par-4 first hole after missing an 11-foot par putt.
That dropped him into a tie with La Sasso, giving the youngster an opening to win the tournament on the last hole.
“My mistake opening the door,” said Rahm, the league’s dominant performer since joining in 2024.
“Michael made a great up-and-down on 18 to win. He earned it, and as frustrating as it is for me, I’m happy about all the good things I did this week to give myself a chance.”
Said La Sasso: “I definitely saw the names starting to rise up on the leaderboard, especially early. I know we teed off a little bit later, so I knew I had some holes coming in to kind of shake them off a little bit.
“I knew as soon as I saw this last hole, I was like, this is my time to strike. It all worked out.”
First move
La Sasso has struggled for results this season, but his second-round 10 under 60 on Friday put him in position to make his move on the weekend.
On Sunday, he played steady golf all day, hitting every green in regulation – just the fifth time that’s happened for any player this season – and then finishing with three birdies in his last six holes.
He’s 50 days younger than former LIV Golf player Eugenio Chacarra, the previous youngest winner at age 22 at LIV Golf Bangkok in the inaugural 2022 season.
“That was impressive,” said Majesticks Golf Club’s Laurie Canter, who played with La Sasso in the final group Sunday.
“I knew he was a good player, but he’s had no form. He’s a killer, isn’t he? He knows where it’s going. I love it. I think it’s great. I think he’s going to be great for golf.”
Legion XIII have been great for three seasons. The combination of Rahm and Hatton have been complemented by youngsters Surratt and McKibbin during their final two championship years.
They started the day with a one-stroke lead but it only took approximately 90 minutes to build the lead to 10 shots, with all four players getting off to quick starts.
A year ago, they won the title under the previous format of match-play and stroke play. With all stroke play for this week, Rahm wasn’t surprised his team repeated as champions.
Consistent performers
“Giving us four stroke-play days where all the scores count, I think it benefits us the way we play,” he said. “I think we’re very consistent tee to green, and that plays to our advantage.”
Added Hatton: “As a team we’ve done incredibly well. Winning last year was special. Obviously, this time around it’s a little bit different, but it’s nice to defend the title.”
As for La Sasso, the future is bright. This week’s tournament was just his 13th as a professional. Pressured by some of the best golfers in the world, he stood strong, unflappable, never showing any nerves.
“Seeing those names on the leaderboard, those are guys I grew up watching and admiring,” La Sasso said.
“Knowing I was able to hold (Rahm) off, that’s even more special, to be honest. I think it just kind of set the scene for it. It was a perfect day.”
DeChambeau’s day
Crushers captain DeChambeau made a push to win the individual tournament title, but his 6 under 64 left him at 16 under and in solo third, two shots behind La Sasso.
Even so, it secured DeChambeau his best-ever season-long individual ranking, as he finished second behind Rahm to earn one of the three bonus-paying podium results.
Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann took third to claim the other bonus.
“I was proud of the way I fought,” DeChambeau said. “I started to catch some momentum on the back nine. Just the putts didn’t drop today, and that’s golf.
“It’s a game of inches. Unfortunately, today just didn’t go my way.” (courtesy LIV Golf)
Leaderboards
Individual Top 10
1. (-18) – Michael La Sasso, HyFlyers (71-60-66-65)
2. (-17) – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (67-67-66-63)
T3 (-16) – Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (65-68-67-64); Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (64-69-66-65)
T5 (-15) – Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (66-68-66-65); Laurie Canter, Majesticks (62-68-68-67); Richard T. Lee, Wild Card (63-66-73-63)
8. (-14) – Dean Burmester, Southern Guards (64-68-68-66)
9. (-13) – Richard Bland, Cleeks (66-67-65-69
T10 (-12) – Thomas Detry, 4Aces (66-64-68-70); Marc Leishman, Ripper (66-67-68-67)
Team Top 3
1. (-44) – Legion XIII (Hatton 67-67-68-70, McKibbin 67-69-66-67, Rahm 67-67-66-63, Surratt 64-69-69-70)
2. (-38) – HyFlyers GC (La Sasso 71-60-66-65, Steele 64-68-69-72, Vincent 66-68-66-65, Tringale 68-70-7-73)
3. (-36) – Ripper GC (Herbert 66-69-71-64, Leishman 66-67-68-67, Smith 63-68-67-72, Smyth 70-66-68-72)
Day 4 stats
Driving Distance:Matthew Wolff, 328.5-yard avg.
Longest Drive:Matthew Wolff, 354.1 yards (8th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 8 and 18.
Driving Accuracy:Laurie Canter, Tom McKibbin, Abraham Ancer, 100% (14 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Michael La Sasso, 100% (18 of 18)
Scrambling:Scott Vincent (6 of 6), Marc Leishman (5 of 5), Lucas Herbert (5 of 5), Tom McKibbin (4 of 4), Bryson DeChambeau (3 of 3), Martin Kaymer (3 of 3), Richard T. Lee (2 of 2), 100%
Fewest Putts: Younghan Song, 24
Bogey-free rounds:Richard T. Lee (63), Bryson DeChambeau (64), Lucas Herbert (64), Michael La Sasso (65), Scott Vincent (65), Martin Kaymer (67), Tom McKibbin (67)
Also read: LIV Golf’s youngest, Michael La Sasso, grabs Indianapolis lead
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