On Sunday at JCB Golf and Country Club, Jon Rahm won his maiden LIV Golf title at LIV UK. However, his colleague Tyrrell Hatton lost the match.
A “bittersweet” victory marked Jon Rahm’s first on the LIV Golf setup, as the Legion XIII leader profited from Tyrell Hatton’s collapse at LIV UK. After a tight final round at JCB Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Rahm finally won an individual LIV championship at the eleventh attempt, winning by one stroke.
The Spanish player finished the week at 13-under, one shot ahead of Hatton, thanks to a four-under-par 67 in the last round.
With both players matched at 13 under, it appeared as though the Legion XIII pair would play in a playoff as they approached the last hole. But Hatton’s costly mistake at the last end meant that he ended up tied for second place with Joaquin Niemann and Cam Smith.
The Englishman made a three-putt to guarantee that Rahm would be declared the winner after finding the green in regulation. As Rahm won the Staffordshire individual and team titles, it was a time of celebration for him, but his first thoughts were with his upset teammate Hatton. Rahm remarked, “It was bittersweet,” as he celebrated.
“Tyrrell deserves a lot of credit; he’s a great player, and you never want things to end that way.” If only it had happened during the playoffs.” In his post-tournament press conference, Rahm reiterated a similar emotion after raising the trophy high in front of the JCB crowd.
He continued, “Obviously, you always want to win.” “In your selfishness, you constantly want to finish that. However, you wouldn’t want it to occur for me in the form of a good buddy and teammate missing a putt.I don’t think any of us are used to this kind of strange situation.
“Team wins, I win individually, but still, having so much respect for Tyrrell, somebody who’s a good friend and somebody I’ve experienced a lot with — I can’t really celebrate because I still feel for him for finishing like that.” Hatton, on the other hand, was put in the peculiar position of helping Legion XIII win their fourth team title of the 2024 season despite narrowly missing out on the victory.
Even while he was happy to support his colleagues, the personal setback was difficult to accept. “It’s difficult to ignore that,” Hatton remarked as he sat with Rahm, Kieran Vincent, and Caleb Surratt. “Golf is primarily an individual activity; your performance as an individual affects the team.
“I am really happy for the guys and to win a fourth event as a team, but it doesn’t change how I feel about my own performance.” Rahm will now be focused on accomplishing the season double after sealing the clean sweep at JCB. The Spaniard trails Joaquin Niemann in the individual standings, but Legion XIII leads the overall standings for the entire season.
