Tyrrell Hatton (second from left) with his Legion XIII teammates after their LIV Golf Andalucia sweep at Valderrama on Sunday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
From a Correspondent
Sotogrande, Spain: Tyrrell Hatton’s daughter Althea was born just a couple of weeks ago but whenever she’s old enough to understand, she’ll hear the story of her daddy’s first start as a first-time father.
She will beam with pride at the storybook finish – an impressive wire-to-wire win at one of Europe’s most iconic and demanding courses.
Hatton survived a tense final round on Sunday at LIV Golf Andalucía, including a challenge from his Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm, to win the individual title by two shots at Real Club Valderrama.
Legion XIII completed the sweep of both trophies by successfully defending the team title by six strokes over 4Aces GC.
Hatton closed with a 1 under 70 to finish at 11 under, with Rahm taking solo second at 9 under after shooting 67, which tied for the lowest score of the day.
Torque GC’s Abraham Ancer was solo third at 8 under, with Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia and teammates David Puig claiming the next two spots.
The win was Hatton’s second on LIV Golf, and his first on any tour in nearly 18 months.
Having taken off from last week’s LIV Golf Korea to be with his wife Emily and new child, the 34-year-old Hatton returned to action this week with an additional source of inspiration.
Driving force
“One of my motivations probably moving forward is when Althea grows up, she will know that I was pretty good at golf sometimes,” Hatton said.
“I would love to continue to be able to win tournaments when she’s old enough to remember that happening. Definitely given me a different kind of motivation.”
If he needed any additional motivation, it came in the form of Rahm, the Spanish star who was seeking his first win at Valderrama.
He started the day five shots behind Hatton but quickly closed the gap with a birdie at the second hole and eagle at the par-5 fourth.
But with all that momentum, Rahm then hit a dry spell, playing the next 10 holes in a birdie-free 1 over before finishing with a couple of birdies, including a near-ace at the 15th hole.
Afterwards, Rahm discussed the range of emotions – a celebration for the team win, happiness for his good friend Hatton but disappointment in not adding his own name to the list of Valderrama champions.
“Tyrrell played incredible golf all week,” Rahm said. “He’s a truly deserving champion. There’s very few people I feel like I’ll be happy for losing to, and he is one of them.
Deserving win
“The other four have a Spanish passport. It wouldn’t be as enjoyable as this moment is right now because he deserves it.
“As far as second places go, finishing second in Spain stings just a little bit more. It’s two years in a row where I’m going on this stretch with a chance and come up a little bit short. So it hurts a little bit more.”
Even so, it was a well-earned victory for Hatton, who led or co-led after each of the four rounds.
He produced several clutch shots, including approaches at holes 9 and 13 to set up two critical birdies during a stretch in which he also suffered a couple of bogeys.
Hatton then rolled in a 16-foot birdie putt at the par-4 16th and followed with an up-and-down birdie at the par-5 17th to maintain his lead over Rahm.
“Jon said to me before he went out today that he was going to make it stressful for me, and unfortunately, he did in the end,” Hatton said.
“Yeah, it was a tricky day. I feel like I hit a lot of good shots on the front nine that didn’t really get rewarded. The wind certainly made my life very stressful, and I’m sure every player today felt the same way.
“Very happy with the back nine in the end, and that finish was great.”
Hatton has now won tournaments on Europe’s most iconic courses – St Andrews, Wentworth and Valderrama.
Add his victory in the U.S. at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill, and his list of notable winning courses gives the Englishman a distinction that few other professional golfers – if any – can match.
“I’ve been very lucky to win at some very special places,” he said. “It’s very hard to win. This one means a lot.”
Niemann’s reward
Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann will compete in next month’s Open Championship after earning the LIV Golf exemption Sunday.
The exemption goes to the highest-placed LIV Golf player after this week in the season-long standings who is not otherwise exempt for The Open.
Niemann, the winner last week in LIV Golf Korea, maintained his third place in the standings behind Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, who are already exempt.
Niemann tied for 24th in Andalucia and has 344.66 points. The next closest player not already exempt was Thomas Detry in sixth place at 323.24 points.
Detry entered Sunday projected to move into third in points, as he started the day in solo second on the tournament leaderboard. But he shot a final-round 74 to finish tied for fifth.
Niemann previously earned a LIV Golf exemption for this month’s US Open thanks to his runner-up finish in the 2025 season-long points race. (courtesy LIV Golf)
Final leaderboards
Individual Top 10
1. (-11) – Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (67-69-67-70)
2. (-9) – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (73-67-68-67)
3. (-8) – Abraham Ancer, Torque (72-69-67-68)
4. (-7) – Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (69-70-68-70)
T5 (-5) – Dustin Johnson, 4Aces (76-68-64-71); Thomas Detry, 4Aces (68-70-67-74); David Puig, Fireballs (69-71-69-70); Cameron Smith, Ripper (69-70-69-71)
9. (-4) – Bubba Watson, RangeGoats (72-70-67-71)
10. (-3) – Anirban Lahiri, Crushers (70-72-69-70)
Team Top 3
1. (-7) – Legion XIII (Hatton 67-69-67-70, Rahm 73-67-68-67, McKibbin 73-72-71-70, Surratt 73-71-77-74)
2. (-1) – 4Aces GC (Detry 68-70-67-74, Johnson 76-68-64-71, Kim 73-68-72-73, Pieters 70-74-70-77)
3. (+1) – Torque GC (Ancer 72-69-67-68, Munoz 73-70-72-73, Niemann 72-74-70-71, Ortiz 76-72-66-72)
Day 4 stats
Driving Distance: Lucas Herbert, 326.4-yard avg.
Longest Drive: Harold Varner III, 368.3 yards (17th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 11 and 17.
Driving Accuracy: Abraham Ancer, Tom McKibbin, 78.57% (11 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Abraham Ancer, Sergio Garcia, Dean Burmester, Laurie Canter, 72.22% (13 of 18)
Scrambling: Ian Poulter (7 of 7), 100%
Fewest Putts: Marc Leishman, 21
Bogey-free rounds: Ian Poulter (69)
Also read: Hatton takes two-shot lead into final round at Valderrama
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.