Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm hits off the first tee during round one of LIV Golf Chicago at Bolingbrook Golf Club on Friday. Image courtesy LIV Golf/Matthew Harris.
From a Correspondent
Bolingbrook: Jon Rahm entered this week’s regular-season finale with a slim points margin over Joaquin Niemann in their duel for the 2024 LIV Golf individual championship.
The Legion XIII captain increased that advantage on Saturday at LIV Golf Chicago with a brilliant bogey-free 6 under par 64 that now has him in position to claim two trophies after Sunday’s final round at Bolingbrook Golf Club.
Rahm is at 7 under and leads Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia by a stroke and has a three-shot lead over Niemann, the Torque GC captain. Since Niemann has to finish ahead of Rahm, it’s essentially a four-shot advantage.
Rahm can still become champion even if he doesn’t win the tournament. But he’d like to leave no doubt.
“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.”
Other season-long races will end on Sunday, including final player status in the Lock, Open and Drop Zones, while team seedings and first-round byes for next week’s Dallas Team Championship will be finalised.
Berth sealed
Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC, winners last year in Chicago, have already clinched one of the three available seeds along with Rahm’s Legion XIII.
The Crushers enter the final round tied for the tournament lead with Cleeks GC at 10 under and would clinch the top seeding with victory. The Cleeks are out of the running for a bye but can move up in the standings with a second team win.
As for Rahm, his performance on Saturday – in front of 15,000-plus fans, the largest single-day attendance number for any LIV Golf tournament held in the US – might turn out to be the decisive round in his battle with Niemann.
Niemann’s one-shot advantage entering the day was erased in their first eight holes. Playing in the same group for the second consecutive day, Rahm was 3 under while Niemann was 2 over a five-shot swing.
The Chilean however 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.
Twin battles
“It’s a championship within a championship,” Rahm said. “It’s a weird combination, but yeah, you’re definitely aware of it every step of the way, especially having played with him 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.”
Several other players could join the party. Garcia, winner earlier this year in front of his Spanish home crowd at Andalucía, shot a 65 and is projected to overtake Rahm’s teammate Tyrrell Hatton and earn the final bonus-paying third place position on the podium.
“It’s something that obviously you’re trying to achieve,” said Garcia, who started the week fourth in points, “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.”
Hatton was on the verge of falling out of contention, opening with a 3 over 73 and then playing the first 11 holes on Saturday at level par.
On the charge
But then he found his game, playing the last seven holes in 5 under – a stretch that included a hole-in-one at the island green sixth hole. It’s 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 is tied for 12th at 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.”
First-round leader Brooks Koepka followed his opening 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.
Niemann is tied for fourth at 4 under with the Cleeks’ Adrian Meronk and Majesticks GC co-captain Ian Poulter, who is in position to make a run for his team’s first trophy of any kind since Henrik Stenson’s win in his LIV Golf debut in 2022 at Bedminster.
“The old man has still got some life left,” said the 48-year-old Poulter. “Let’s see what we can do.”
For now, the tournament – and the season-long championship – is in Rahm’s control. But as Saturday showed, the leaderboard can change quickly at Bolingbrook. At one point, five players shared the lead.
“If we go down 18 and I can’t win the tournament for whatever reason, but I’m still in a fight with Joaco, great,” Rahm said.
“But what’s going to be the best way for me to enjoy the last few holes is if I have a really good Sunday and take a comfortable lead hopefully going into the last few holes so I can smile on that stretch through it.
“It’s going to be a really fun day, no matter what.” (courtesy LIV Golf media)
Round 2 counting scores
T1. Cleeks GC -11 (Meronk 65, Samooja 66, Bland 68; Rd. 2 score: -11)
T1. Crushers GC -10 (DeChambeau 69, Howell 69, Casey 71; Rd. 2 score: -1)
3. Fireballs GC -6 (Garcia 65, Ancer 70, Chacarra 71; Rd. 2 score: -4)
T4. Legion XIII -5 (Rahm 64, Hatton 65, Vincent 69; Rd. 2 score: -12)
T4. Majesticks GC -5 (Poulter 68, Horsfield 69, Stenson 71; Rd. 2 score: -2)
6. Torque GC -4 (Ortiz 67, Niemann 68, Muñoz 70; Rd. 2 score: -5)
7. 4Aces GC -2 (Johnson 69, Varner III 71, Perez 73; Rd. 2 score: +3)
8. Smash GC E (Gooch 70, McDowell 72, Kokrak 73; Rd. 2 score: +5)
T9. Iron Heads GC +2 (Lee 68, Kozuma 70, Na 70; Rd. 2 score: -2)
T9. Stinger GC +2 (Schwartzel 68, Burmester 71, Oosthuizen 73; Rd. 2 score: +2)
11. Ripper GC +3 (Herbert 69, Leishman 70, Jones 72; Rd. 2 score: +1)
12. RangeGoats GC +4 (Pieters 69, Uihlein 72, Wolff 72; Rd. 2 score: +3)
13. HyFlyers GC +10 (Mickelson 68, Steele 70, Ogletree 72; Rd. 2 score: E)
Round 2 stats
Driving accuracy: Richard Bland, 100% (14 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: Bryson DeChambeau, 365.7 yards avg.
Longest drive: Bryson DeChambeau, 386.4 yards, 14th hole
Greens in regulation: Jon Rahm, 83.33% (15 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Kalle Samooja (8 of 8), Sergio Garcia (4 of 4), Jon Rahm (3 of 3), 100%
Putting: Tyrrell Hatton, 1.17 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Jon Rahm (64), Sergio Garcia (65), Kalle Samooja (66)
Also read: LIV Golf Chicago set for more than a few season-ending battles
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