Ben Pawlowski
SPAIN’S Jon Rahm was crowned as the 2024 LIV Golf individual champion on Sunday after winning the controversial Saudi-backed tour’s final event of the year in Chicago.
The 29-year-old finished on 11 under-par to beat his compatriot Sergio Garcia and Mexican Joaquin Niemann by three shots in Illinois, securing enough points to claim the individual title in just his first season and pocket an eye-watering €16 million payday.
The Basque golfer has had a very successful year on the tour, winning two events and failing to finish outside the top 10 on any occasion.
“I wanted to do a good show and get it over the line, I’m really happy”, said the Spaniard afterwards.
Rahm, a two-time major winner including the 2023 Masters, joined the LIV Golf League earlier this year in a deal worth an estimated €500 million.
The tour, bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), has caused a bitter civil war in golf, with the likes of Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickleson, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson leaving the PGA Tour to join the lucrative breakaway league.
Many golfers in the LIV Golf League are currently barred from playing in the four major championships – the Masters, the Open, the US Open and the US PGA Championship.
There also remains uncertainty over Rahm’s participation for Europe in next year’s Ryder Cup, golf’s showpiece tournament which pits a team of golfers from the United States against their European counterparts in a three-day matchplay event.
Rahm was a key cog in Europe’s 2023 win in Italy, but his move to LIV Golf has cast doubt on his involvement.
The Spaniard needs to play three events on the DP World Tour to retain his membership and therefore be eligible for selection.
However, he has publicly refused to pay fines imposed on him for joining the breakaway LIV Golf League, thus preventing him from playing in the events he needs to ensure he can be selected for Europe at Bethpage Black in New York next September.
