LIV Golf Riyadh individual champion Adrian Meronk of Cleeks GC and Poland with his trophy. Image courtesy LIV Golf/Chris Trotman.
From a Correspondent
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Adrian Meronk of Cleeks GC faced some tense moments on the back nine Saturday night at LIV Golf Riyadh presented by Ma’aden.
On the other hand, Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII spent the final round mostly in cruise control, their substantial lead never seriously threatened on the team leaderboard.
In the end, both Meronk and Legion XIII emerged as wire-to-wire champions in LIV Golf’s first tournament under the lights at Riyadh Golf Club.
The 31-year-old from Poland won his first individual title since joining LIV Golf, shooting a 1 under 71 to finish on 17 under 199, two strokes ahead of Rahm and Torque GC’s Sebastián Muñoz.
Dean Burmester (Stinger GC) and Lucas Herbert (Ripper GC) tied for fourth at 14 under. India’s Anirban Lahiri finished in a solid 12th place on 11 under 205 (69-67-69) as 2023 team champions Crushers GC took fourth place in the team race.
“Super special,” said Meronk, a former DP World Tour Player of the Year. “I was nervous all day. I played quite good in the beginning, then it was a fight at the end. But super happy that I crossed the line. It was very satisfying, definitely.”
Dominant performance
Legion XIII won the LIV Golf season opener for the second consecutive season, having captured the title last year in Mayakoba when making their debut as LIV Golf’s first expansion team.They began Saturday’s final round with an 11-shot lead, which ended up as their winning margin.
The winning total of 50 under for the week was just three shots off the record low by any team in a LIV Golf event, with Riyadh being the first tournament in which all four scores counted for every round.
Legion XIII won the LIV Golf season opener for the second consecutive time, having captured the title last year in Mayakoba. They won three more times in 2024 and now have five wins in their first 15 LIV Golf tournaments.
Rahm led his team on Saturday with a 5 under 67, with Tyrrell Hatton shooting 70 and Caleb Surratt 71. Tom McKibbin, the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland, shot even par to finish at 10 under and tie for 15th in his LIV Golf debut for Legion XIII.
“Luckily we had a nice cushion going into today and we could afford to not have our best day as a team,” Rahm said, “But still, it was a decisive win and very happy we got to start the year again like this.”
The All-Australian Ripper GC, the reigning LIV Golf team champions, prepared for their return to Adelaide this week as defending tournament champions by finishing tied for second on 39 under with RangeGoats GC.
With Legion XIII draining the final round of drama on the team leaderboard, Meronk appeared to be doing the same in the individual competition. Entering the round with a two-shot lead, he extended it to four shots at the turn.
Late drama
But then he missed a short par putt at the 10th hole and followed with an errant tee shot at 11 that set up a second consecutive bogey.
At the par-5 13th, his short birdie putt circled the cup 360 degrees before lipping out. Muñoz, playing in the same group, made birdie to tie Meronk for the lead.
“The lip-out at 13, that was just so ugly,” Meronk said. “But it happens.”
He steadied his nerves and delivered the decisive blow at the par-4 16th when his second shot from 167 yards settled 4 feet from the pin for the go-ahead birdie.
The towering Pole then closed it out with two pars. “The birdie on 16 was really huge,” Meronk said. “…It was probably the biggest shot for me this round.”
Defending LIV Golf individual champion Rahm was six shots back to start the day.
Members of the victorious Legion XIII team (from left) Caleb Surrat, Tom McKibbin, captain Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton in Riyadh on Saturday. Image courtesy LIV Golf/Montana Pritchard.
Hot run
He produced five birdies in a six-hole stretch early in his round and spent the back nine threatening to join the leaders. But he missed a 3-foot birdie putt at 15 that could’ve moved him to within a shot.
“I think I played good enough to win,” he said. “Obviously it just maybe wasn’t my week.” It was definitely his team’s week, though. Their dominance under the lights left no doubt.
“There’s no coincidence that I’ve tried to keep the team young,” Rahm said. “The idea here is hopefully find four really strong players and form a team that lasts together for a long time.
“Hopefully, we can create a powerhouse that can do what many other teams in other disciplines have been able to do. I might be a little early to say that, but the goal is there.”
“Me and Tyrrell having the experience and then having two younger guys with that much talent, yeah, I like our chances to possibly see the podium again. I was very hopeful coming into this year, and I think this week only proves what we can do.” (courtesy LIV Golf)
Final scores
1. Legion XIII -50 (Rahm 67, Hatton 70, Surratt 71, McKibbin 72; Rd. 3: -8)
T2. Ripper GC -39 (Leishman 68, Jones 69, Herbert 70, Smith 70; Rd. 3: -11)
T2. RangeGoats GC -39 (Watson 68, Uihlein 68, Campbell 69, Wolff 72; Rd. 3: -11)
4. Crushers GC -36 (DeChambeau 68, Casey 69, Lahiri 69, Howell III 74; Rd. 3: -8)
5. Fireballs GC -34 (Puig 65, Garcia 67, Masaveu 68, Ancer 74; Rd. 3: -14)
6. Cleeks GC -28 (Kjettrup 68, Bland 70, Meronk 71, Kaymer 75; Rd. 3: -4)
7. Torque GC -27 (Muñoz 71, Ortiz 72, Niemann 73, Pereira 76; Rd. 3: +4)
T8. Stinger GC -25 (Burmester 65, Schwartzel 68, Oosthuizen 69, Grace 74; Rd. 3: -12)
T8. Majesticks GC -25 (Horsfield 69, Poulter 71, Westwood 73, Stenson 74; Rd. 3: -1)
10. Smash GC -23 (Kokrak 67, McDowell 68, Koepka 70, Gooch 71; Rd. 3: -12)
11. 4Aces GC -21 (Pieters 67, Varner III 68, Reed 71, Johnson 74; Rd. 3: -8)
12. HyFlyers GC -18 (Tringale 65, Schniederjans 70, Steele 70, Ogletree 71; Rd. 3: -12)
13. Iron Heads GC -11 (Lee 69, Ormsby 69, Jang 73, Na 75; Rd. 3: -2)
Wild Cards: Lee 71, Kim 72
Final round stats
Driving accuracy: Brendan Steele, 92.86% (13 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: Peter Uihlein, 325.5 yards avg.
Longest drive: Peter Uihlein, 344.3 yards, 16th hole
Greens in regulation: Luis Masaveu, 100% (18 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: 12 players with 100%, led by Louis Oosthuizen (8 of 8)
Putting: Louis Oosthuizen, 1.39 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Dean Burmester (65), David Puig (65), Cameron Tringale (65), Sergio Garcia (67), Marc Leishman (68), Bryson DeChambeau (68), Harold Varner III (68), Bubba Watson (68), Anirban Lahiri (69), Louis Oosthuizen (69)
Also read: Meronk stays ahead as Legion XIII dominate team leaderboard
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.