Jon Rahm earns first individual LIV Golf win by one shot over Cam Smith, Tyrrell Hatton, Joaquin Niemann

After nine straight top-10 finishes to start his LIV Golf career, Jon Rahm finally captured his first individual title. Carding rounds of 63-70-67, the Spaniard did just enough Sunday at JCB Golf & Country Club to score a one-stroke victory at 13 under to finish ahead of Tyrrell Hatton, Joaquin Niemann and Cameron Smith and win the LIV Golf UK championship.

"It's just emotional, you know, it hasn't been the easiest for our family," Rahm said. "Kelly and I have gone through quite a bit … and to get this one done — she did tell me our son Kepa said to bring a trophy from this stretch of golf. I started to believe it was going to happen at one point today, maybe not in the last 20 minutes, but at least I can look in the camera and say I am bringing one home for them. Finally get one done. You never want to get those feelings to go on for too long and to get over that hump feels quite incredible. It's been a fantastic week and a fantastic year and (I'm) just relieved that it happened."

Despite his string of top-10 results on LIV Golf, Rahm's 2024 has featured decidedly less fireworks compared to his 2023. Without a win since donning the green jacket in April 2023, the former world No. 1 was a nonfactor in his defense before missing the cut at the PGA Championship and withdrawing before the U.S. Open. A quality outing at Royal Troon that produced a T7 finish was overdue and served as an appetizer for this week's main course.

Falling as many as four behind Andy Ogletree who started his round with back-to-back birdies, Rahm kept his head down and got to work. Turning in 2 under, he caught fire in the initial stretch of his back nine with three birdies across the first four holes of the inward half. With Ogletree struggling to stay afloat and contenders like Paul Casey exiting stage left, Rahm remained the last man standing.

However, a three-putt bogey that included a short par miss on the par-3 17th opened the door for his teammate, Hatton, to step through. With Rahm in the clubhouse at 13 under one clear of Niemann and Smith, Hatton was the last man who could usurp the Legion XIII captain. After finding the green in regulation on the difficult par-4 18th, the Englishman faced a putt from 60 feet to win the individual crown. The tables turned immediately when Hatton left himself a 6-footer to force a playoff which he ultimately sent low giving Rahm the title.

It was not all bad news for Hatton and his team, Legion XIII, won the team competition by three strokes over Ripper GC with Rahm, Caleb Surratt and Kieran Vincent all contributing. While Hatton won't be representing Great Britain in the Olympics next week, Rahm will be flying his flag at Le Golf National alongside his countryman and league mate David Puig.

"I think that walk down 18 or down the back nine would have been a little bit harder had I not gotten a win, but getting over the hump and getting it done I think is going to give me a little extra confidence if I put myself in a good position on Sunday," Rahm said. "I'm really looking forward to sharing the week with David [Puig]. It's going to be fantastic, and hopefully one of us can leave with the gold."