“LIV is different than any other golf tour out there, but yet it’s closer to any other sport out there,’’
By Len Ziehm
BOLINGBROOK, Illinois – The impact that Jon Rahm brought to the LIV Golf League was underscored when he became the circuit’s 2024 champion. He won on a Chicago area public course that was surprisingly tough for all 54 of the LIV competitors but had never been used for a competition as significant as the LIV Individual Championship.
Dustin Johnson, in 2022, and Talor Gooch, in 2023, were the previous LIV seasonal champions but neither did it the way Rahm did. He showed what a great investment LIV made in signing him.
The PGA Tour was reeling when the LIV Tour signed stars like Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Bubba Watson for its first season in 2022. The most devastating loss came early this year, however, when Rahm jumped ship for a contract worth well over $100 million.
The exact amount that convinced Rahm to make the jump is uncertain, but getting a young star of his stature gave the Saudi-backed LIV circuit a huge boost, and Rahm didn’t disappoint, either.
He wasn’t an immediate hit. He needed 11 tournaments to get his first LIV win, but that victory in the United Kingdom set the stage for Rahm’s rousing climax to the season at Bolingbrook Golf Club. Winning the LIV Individual Championship isn’t as impressive as winning any of golf’s four majors yet, but it was special – and unique.
Not only did Rahm, 29 and a pro golfer since 2016, pick up an $18 million bonus for winning the season-long title, he also captured the LIV/Chicago crown. That meant another $4 million. Rahm’s rookie LIV season produced winnings of $34,754,821 and he can pick up more in the season-ending Team Championship in Dallas.
Where the two-championship day in Chicago fits into the Rahm legacy is to be decided later, but it pads a record of accomplishment that includes the 2023 Masters, the 2021 U.S. Open and DP World Tour wins in 2017, 2019 and 2023.
Rahm’s only opponent for the season-long LIV Individual title was Chile’s Joaquin Niemann. No one else was mathematically eligible after 11 world-wide tournaments. Niemann made birdies on two of his first three holes and battled to the end in the last round. Still, Rahm was three strokes better.
Sergio Garcia, from Spain – just like Rahm – was the main challenger for the LIV/Chicago title. Garcia and Niemann were two shots back and still hopeful until Rahm rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole to seal the deal. With rounds of 69, 64 and 66 Rahm was 11 under par for the 54 holes and had a three-shot victory margin over both rivals.
Rahm also captains the Legion XIII team, and that unit also made the podium – a LIV tradition for its first three finishers in the individual and team events at each tournament. Legion XIII finished second to Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers. They’ll battle again in the season-ending LIV Team Championship Sept. 20-22 in Dallas.
Winning golf tournaments was nothing knew for Rahm, but captaining a four-man team was. Though Rahm didn’t get a win for a few months, Legion XIII won in his first LIV tournament.
“I wasn’t sure how that was going to go,’’ said Rahm, `but it wasn’t that big of an adjustment. It’s been a lot of fun.’’
Rahm caught a flight home to join his family for a few days before heading to Dallas. The arrival of the Rahms’ third child is imminent.
With just the one team tournament left in the season Rahm reflected on his dramatic decision to leave the PGA Tour.
“LIV is different than any other golf tour out there, but yet it’s closer to any other sport out there,’’ he said. “I enjoyed all the places we went to this year. It was fun. I absolutely love being out here. It’s been a fantastic experience for me and my family.’’
It wasn’t by any means an easy season, though. His wife Kelly experienced complications in her pregnancy that was disconcerting. His driver wasn’t working in the early part of the year, and the problem wasn’t solved until he changed shafts at mid-season. Winning – or lack there of – was also frustrating until the dryspell ended.
Though he had 10 top-10 finishes that first win didn’t come until the season was winding down. He got it in the United Kingdom, then one got away at West Virginia’s Greenbrier when he lost in a playoff to Koepka. Those two events led into the visit to Bolingbrook where Rahm made only one bogey in the 54 holes, and none in the weekend rounds.
“During the practice rounds I thought that would be impossible,’’ he said. After that he was a clutch player. On Sunday he not only picked up big money, he also took home two trophies and a dazzling ring.
“This season wasn’t a bumpy road, but it was a windy one,’’ he said. “I wasn’t clutch in the season, but I was here. When I decided to join LIV I felt I could make an impact. I accomplished a goal.’’
Len has been covering golf for over 56 years. He was the golf columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times for 41 years and has been in the same role for the Daily Herald and several regional newspapers since 2009… Len is also a regular contributor to the Chicago District Golfer magazine and his travel pieces are regularly published in Pro Golf Weekly, New England.Golf, eSouthernGolf and the Ohio Golf Journal. His works for all publications are available at LenZiehmOnGolf.com. It is in its 15th year of operation and has been enhanced by the photography provided by his partner Joy Sarver… An inductee into the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame in 2004 (for his reporting and youth coaching, not as a player), Len was also inducted into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in 2019. He is also on the Advisory Board of the International Network of Golf, is a lifetime member of the Golf Writers Association of America and a member of the Golf Travel Writers of America.
Joy Sarver
The bulk of the pictures shown on Len Ziehm on Golf have been taken by Joy Sarver. We have travelled extensively to develop our personal website and Joy’s contribution to the visual side of the story helps to compliment the written word.
