Jon Rahm Wins 2024 LIV Golf Chicago For Second Victory in Last Three Competitions

Jon Rahm is a winner, baby!

For the second time in three events, the 29-year-old Spanish professional golfer is a winner, this time at 2024 LIV Golf Chicago at Bolingbrook.

Jon RahmRahm has finished first-second-first in his past three LIV Golf events.

On Sunday at Bolingbrook Golf Club outside of Chicago, Rahm shot 4-under 66 in the final round to finish at 11 under for the week, three shots in front of Joaquin Niemann and Sergio Garcia.

For Rahm, in addition to the $4 million he takes home for his victory, the win also clinched him the season-long individual championship and the $18 million prize.

Only Niemann or Rahm could clinch the individual championship this week, and the Spaniard took it home in his first year with the LIV Golf League.

Rahm didn’t finish worse than T-10 in his 12 events this year. Niemann, who also won twice, shot a bogey-free 66 on Sunday, but Rahm’s brilliance, which included a stellar birdie on the par-3 17th, was enough for the win.

In the team competition, Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC won and clinched the first seed for the LIV Golf Team Championship next week at Maridoe in Dallas.

Crushers GC won the team title last season at Doral in Miami. Rahm’s Legion XIII will be the second seed while Cameron Smith’s Ripper GC is the third team with an opening bye.

IronHeads GC finished last in the team standings, meaning it will be the only team not participating next week.

Jose Luis Ballester Becomes First Spaniard to Win U.S. Amateur

Jose Luis Ballester is celebrating a historic win…

The Spanish golfer, a rising senior at Arizona State University, became the first player from Spain to win the U.S. Amateur, fending off Iowa sophomore Noah Kent and finishing 2 up Sunday at Hazeltine in the 36-hole match on his 21st birthday.

Jose Luis Ballester Ballester, who was the only player in the top 10 of the world amateur ranking to reach the round of 16, took the lead on the second hole and never trailed.

He joined Jon Rahm as the only players from Spain to win a USGA tournament. Rahm, who also played for the Sun Devils, won the U.S. Open in 2021.

“We have many great Spaniards, many great legends,” Ballester said. “Being able to add my name into that history is pretty sweet.”

Both finalists gained exemptions for the Masters and the U.S. Open next year, and Ballester also got a spot in the British Open.

Ballester trailed at some point in his past three matches before taking control in the grueling final. Wearing a red polo, yellow shorts on loan from the Spaniard he beat in the semifinals, Luis Masaveu, and black socks to match his country’s colors, Ballester went 3 up after four holes on two early birdies. He had a 4-up lead at the lunch break on a vintage 82-degree day with a slight late-summer breeze.

Kent, who entered the week as a long shot at No. 560 in the world amateur ranking, refused to fade on the exhausting final day.

“You don’t want to be 4 down going into an 18-hole match, but it’s been done before, and I kept telling myself that. Everybody in my corner kept telling myself that,” Kent said. “I fought like crazy out there.”

He hit a long putt for eagle on No. 25 — the seventh hole on the course — to move within two. Then after falling behind by four with seven holes to go, the player from Naples, Florida, snapped back to win Nos. 31, 32 and 34 and pull within one.

On the 34th hole, Hazeltine’s signature lakeside No. 16, Ballester hit into the thick rough off the tee and, after clipping a tree, landed in worse shape in the reeds. He wound up with a bogey.

But with his lead down to one, Ballester got back on track to par the final two holes. He nailed the shot off the No. 17 tee within striking range on the green.

“I was juiced. I could feel the adrenaline in my veins, in my forearms,” Ballester said.

Kent hit into the bunker off the No. 18 tee, then the rough. His last-chance chip overshot the hole. Once the victory was secured, Ballester began to cry as he thought of friends and family in Spain, including his grandmother who has been ill this summer.

“It was a hard summer back in Spain, so I feel like all those emotions kind of came out,” Ballester said.

Wearing a white polo with a Hawkeyes logo, Kent, 19, was attempting to become the first Iowa player to win the event. He had the clear edge in fan support with dozens in gold Caitlin Clark shirts cheering from the gallery.

“I knew it was going to be like that from yesterday. I kind of liked it a little bit,” Ballester said. “When the other guy is feeling it and he’s kind of grabbing that momentum and you see all the supporters that are going for him, it can be a little depressing. So it’s important to face it with a nice mindset.”

Kent hadn’t trailed since the 12th hole of his second-round match until Ballester took the early lead. Kent beat 17th-ranked amateur and Big Ten rival Jackson Buchanan of Illinois in their 18-hole semifinal match.

Ballester, who won the European Amateur last year, took a congratulatory call from fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia after his semifinal win. He shined with the short game all week.

“I think it’s in the blood,” Ballester said. “It has to be.”

Hazeltine was designed by Robert Trent Jones and opened in 1962 on acres that were mostly farmland. It’s now a suburb filled with cul-de-sacs about 25 miles southwest of Minneapolis and it last hosted the men’s amateur in 2006. Since then, the course has seen the PGA Championship (2009), the Ryder Cup (2016) and the Women’s PGA Championship (2019). The Ryder Cup is due back in 2029.

The event began Monday with 312 players over two courses, the 130th edition of the tournament that has helped launch many greats of golf into a decorated career on the pro tour.

Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are among the dozens of notable names who have won the U.S. Amateur. Jones won the event a record five times. Woods won three. The last European to win the U.S. Amateur was Viktor Hovland of Norway in 2018 at Pebble Beach.

Sergio Garcia Claims First Individual LIV Golf Title with Playoff Win at LIV Golf Andalucia

Sergio Garcia is LIVing large…

The 44-year-old Spanish professional golfer claimed his first individual LIV Golf win on Sunday after beating overnight leader Anirban Lahiri in a playoff for the Andalucia title.

Sergio Garcia García thrilled the home fans with a 5-under 66 to pull level with Lahiri and force the playoff with both players at 5-under overall.

This was the first title for García since he joined the new Saudi-backed LIV circuit in 2022.

Jon Rahm, another home favorite, finished in a tie for 10th in his first event back home since joining LIV Golf.

García’s Fireballs team also won the team title at the tournament in southern Spain after winning a playoff over the Crushers — the first time in a LIV Golf tournament that both the individual and team titles had been decided in a playoff.

García has won nearly 40 international tournaments as a professional, most notably the 2008 Players Championship and the 2017 Masters Tournament.

Carlos Ortiz Wins LIV Golf Houston

Carlos Ortiz is LIVing the dream…

The 33-year-old Mexican professional golfer won LIV Golf Houston on Sunday for his first victory on the Saudi-funded league and second big win in the Houston area.

Carlos OrtizOrtiz closed with a 5-under 67 to beat Adrian Meronk by a stroke at the Golf Club of Houston.

Ortiz previously won the 2020 Houston Open at Memorial Park for his lone PGA Tour title.

“I love playing here,” Ortiz said. “Obviously, Texas treats me well. It’s my adopted home state. I’m just happy to get it done again in Houston.”

Part of a four-way tie for the lead entering the day, the 33-year-old Ortiz finished at 15-under 201.

“It means a lot,” Ortiz said. “I’ve been working really hard, as how you’ve said, I’ve come close a couple times.”

Meronk shot a 68 to help Cleeks GC win the team title. The German joined LIV Golf this year.

Area resident Patrick Reed had a 68 to tie for third at 12 under with Spain’s David Puig (69). Sergio Garcia was fifth at 11 under after a 68.

On Saturday, Jon Rahm withdrew after playing just six holes because of an infected left foot, leaving his status in doubt for the U.S. Open next week at Pinehurst No. 2.

Menu Revealed for Jon Rahm’s Spanish-Style Masters Club Dinner

Jon Rahm’s cultura will be on display at the upcoming Masters Club dinner for champions next month.

The 29-year-old Spanish professional golfer and Masters champion will be serving up Spanish flavor at the ened.

Jon RahmThe cocktail reception will have gernika peppers, grown in a town in the Basque region of Spain when Rahm grew up. There also will be gildas, which he described as an anchovy skewer with peppers and olives.

“A lot of things are not people’s favorites, but it’s something that’s very common in the Basque country,” Rahm said Tuesday during a conference call for the Masters.

Among the appetizers is lentil stew — “Lentejas Estofadas” is how it is listed on the official menu — which came from his grandmother’s recipe.

Rahm, it appears, poured as much effort into the menu as he did for the Masters, where last year he outdueled Brooks Koepka on the final day to win by 4. He became the fourth Masters champion from Spain, joining Seve BallesterosJosé María Olazábal and Sergio Garcia.

The Masters Club, also known as the Champions Dinner, dates to 1952 when Ben Hogan organized a dinner for past champions. The dinner is only for Masters champions, with the club chairman (Fred Ridley) invited as an honorary member.

It’s not unusual for international dinners to bring a flavor from home — Angel Cabrera of Argentina served blood sausage, while Adam Scott served Moreton Bay bugs (lobster) — but Rahm is taking it to another level.

“I wanted to put a little bit of my heritage and my family into this dinner, which is going to make it even more special,” Rahm said. “It should be quite special. And they’re going to try a few things that they maybe haven’t seen before that are really quite tasty.”

The appetizers include acorn-fed Iberian ham and cured pork loin, known as “Ibericos.” There’s also a Spanish omelet with potatoes and “Croquet de Pollo,” which he described as creamy chicken fritters with potatoes. There’s also “Chistorra con Patata,” a spicy chorizo.

And then it’s time for the main course — Chuleton and Rodaballo al Pil-Pil.

Chuleton is a Basque ribeye that is seared and served already cut, with a hot plate that allows guests to cook it to the temperature of their choosing.

“Most people in northern Spain go about as much as medium rare,” Rahm said. “If you go past that, you’re going to get a weird look just because that’s how we are.”

The latter is a Turbot, a white fish popular in his region, served with asparagus.

And if there’s room left for dessert, Rahm is serving “Milhojas de Crema y Nata,” a puff pastry cake with custard and cream that was featured at Rahm’s wedding.

It isn’t always this complicated. The first time Tiger Woods hosted the Masters Club dinner in 1998, he served cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, french fries and milkshakes.

Sergio Garcia Wins Sanderson Farms Championship, Ending Yearlong PGA Tour Title Drought

Sergio Garcia is flying high like a bird(ie)

The 40-year-old Spanish professional golfer, who’d gone a little more than a year without a victory, has won the Sanderson Farms Championship with an 8-iron to 30 inches for birdie on the final hole.

Sergio Garcia

“The perfect ending for an amazing week,” Garcia said.

Garcia, who’d failed to make the FedEx Cup playoffs and fell out of the top 50 in the world for the first time since 2011, hit a 5-wood that barely cleared a bunker and set up an eagle putt from just inside 4 feet to tie for the lead, before hitting the birdie for the win.

Peter Malnati, whose lone PGA Tour victory was at the Country Club of Jackson five years ago, rallied from five shots behind with a career-best 63, punctuated by a 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole.

That set the target, and Garcia needed his two big shots to catch and then beat him. The 5-wood from 260 yards on the 14th hole hit the top collar of the bunker, hopped onto the fringe and rolled out close to the hole.

But it was the 482-yard closing hole into the wind that made him proud.

“I stood up on 18 and I did what I’ve been doing all week. I trusted myself,” Garcia said. “I aimed down the right side of the fairway and just hit a hard draw — really, really nice drive — and it gave me the ability to have an 8-iron into the green instead of having a 6 or something like that.”

It was his first PGA Tour victory since he won the Masters in 2017 with a back-nine rally highlighted by an 8-iron that glanced off the pin on the 15th and set up eagle. He eventually beat Justin Rose in a playoff.

“This time it was an 8-iron on 18, and to almost hit the pain again and hit it close, it was a dream come true,” he said.

Garcia now has won at least once worldwide in each of his last 10 years, a streak he shares with Rose. He won for the 11th time on the PGA Tour, and the 31st time worldwide.

He finished at 19-under 269 and moves to No. 38 in the world.

Garcia heads for Las Vegas, with the Masters just over a month away.

“A boost of confidence, there’s no doubt,” Garcia said. “Every time you play well, even if I would have not won it, it still would have been a massive high for me this week. To be able to do a lot of the things that I did, it meant a lot. It showed me a lot of what I still have and what I still can do.”

Jon Rahm Named the 2019 European Tour Golfer of the Year

Jon Rahm is the man of the hour…

The 25-year-old Spanish professional golfer has been named the 2019 European Tour Golfer of the Year.

Jon Rahm

Rahm finished the year as the No. 1-ranked player on the Euro Tourwith victories at the Irish OpenSpanish Open and the World Tour Championshipin Dubai.

He finished second at the BMW PGA Championship and Andalucia Masters.

In the United States, Rahm finished tied for ninth at The Masters and tied for third at the U.S. Open.

Rahm was selected by a panel of golf media. Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who won The Open, finished second in the voting.

Rahm joins Seve Ballesteros (1986, 88, 91) and Sergio Garcia (2017) as the third Spaniard to receive the European Tour’s Golfer of the Year award.

Sergio Garcia to Play This Year’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Sergio Garcia is headed to Louisiana…

The 38-year-old Spanish professional golfer, defending Masters champion and world No. 11 has committed to play in the PGA Tour‘s Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event in April.

Sergio Garcia

Tournament chief Steve Worthy, who made the announcement, says Garcia’s partner will be fellow Spaniard and Zurich Classic newcomer Rafa Cabrera Bello, who is ranked 21st.

Garcia last played the tournament, held at the TPC Louisiana, in 2010.

Garcia and Cabrera Bello teamed for two matches at the 2016 Ryder Cup, going 1-0-1 in Europe’s losing effort.

Worthy says this year’s field also will include 2011 Zurich Classic winner and two-time former Masters champion Bubba Watson, but with a new partner, Matt Kuchar. Last year, Watson played with J.B. Holmes.

This marks the second year of the team format at the Zurich, won last year by Swede Jonas Blixt and Australian Cameron Smith.

 

The tournament runs from April 26-29.

Sergio Garcia Wins Andalucia Valderrama Masters

Make that a Spanish seis for Sergio Garcia

The 37-year-old Spanish golf star successfully defended his title at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters to claim his sixth victory on home soil.

Sergio Garcia

Garcia, the Masters champion, who won the last staging of the event in 2011, carded a closing 67 to finish 12 under par, a shot ahead of Holland’s Joost Luiten.

England’s Daniel Brooks was four strokes further back in third, a result good enough to secure his European Tour card for next season by moving him from 123rd on the Race to Dubai to inside the top 100.

After seeing his one-shot overnight lead quickly wiped out when Brooks birdied the second, Garcia responded with a birdie on the par-five fourth and ended the front nine in style by using a fairway wood to hole from the fringe for a birdie on the ninth.

Watched by his wife Angela and father Victor, Garcia then holed from 10 feet for birdie on the 10th and three feet on the next to move three clear, only to bogey the 12th after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker.

The gap was down to one when Luiten birdied the 13th and another birdie on the 15th drew the Dutchman level, only for the five-time European Tour winner to three-putt the next.

Both men birdied the par-five 17th and when Luiten’s birdie attempt on the last caught the edge of the hole and stayed out, Garcia had the luxury of two-putting from close range to claim a third win of the season.

Following Dramatic Playoff, Garcia Wins First Major Title at The Masters

Sergio Garcia is seeing green… Finally!

The 37-year-old Spanish golfer finally proved he can win a major, and he now has the iconic green jacket to prove it.

Sergio Garcia

Needing his best golf on just about every shot in the final hour at The Masters, Garcia overcame a two-shot deficit with six holes left to play and beat Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff Sunday for his first major after nearly two decades of heartache.

No one ever played more majors as a pro — 70 — before winning one for the first time.

Garcia was able to get rid of the demons and the doubts with two big moments on the par 5s — one a par, the other an eagle — in closing with a 3-under 69. It was never easy until the end, when Rose sent his drive into the trees on the 18th hole in the playoff, punched out and failed to save par from 15 feet.

That gave Garcia two putts from 12 feet for the victory, and his putt swirled into the cup for a birdie. He crouched in disbelief, and shouted above the loudest roar of the day.

Sergio Garcia

Rose, who also closed with a 69, lovingly patted Garcia’s cheek before they embraced. Rose then tapped Garcia on the heart, which turned out to be a lot bigger than anyone realized.

“Ser-gee-oh! Ser-gee-oh!” the delirious gallery chanted to Garcia, who couldn’t contain his emotion.

Garcia turned with his arms to his side, blew a kiss to the crowd and then crouched again and slammed his fist into the turf of the green.

All that Spanish passion was on display, raw as ever, this time sheer joy.

Garcia became the third Spaniard in a green jacket, winning on what would have been the 60th birthday of the late Seve Ballesteros. And it was Jose Maria Olazabal, who won the Masters in 1994 and 1999, who sent him a text on the eve of the Masters telling Garcia to believe and “to not let things get to me like I’ve done in the past.”

He didn’t get down after missing a 6-foot putt on the 16th hole, or missing a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation.

His chin was up and he battled to the end.

“If there’s anyone to lose to, it’s Sergio. He deserves it,” Rose said. “He’s had his fair share of heartbreak.”

This was shaping up as another, especially after Garcia watched a three-shot lead disappear as quickly as it took Rose to run off three straight birdies on the front nine.

Tied going to the back nine, Garcia immediately fell two shots behind with wild shots into the pine straw bed under the trees. Rose was poised to deliver a knockout on the par-5 13th when Garcia went left beyond the creek and into a bush. He had to take a penalty shot to get out and hit his third shot 89 yards short of the green. Rose was just over the back of the green in two, on the verge of turning a two-shot lead into four.

Everyone figured this was coming, right? Garcia himself had said, in a moment of self-pity, that he didn’t have what it takes to win a major. Four times he was runner-up. This was his third time playing in the final group.

But right when it looked to be over, momentum shifted to Garcia.

He hit wedge to 7 feet and escaped with par. Rose rolled his chip down to 5 feet and missed the birdie putt. The lead stayed at two shots but not for long. Garcia birdied the 14th. His 8-iron into the par-5 15th landed inches in front of the hole and nicked the pin, and he holed the 14-foot eagle putt to tie for the lead.

Rose took the lead with an 8-foot birdie on the 16th and gave it back by missing a 7-foot par putt on the 18th.

Not since 1998 have the last two players on the course gone to the 18th tied for the lead, and both had their chances to win. Rose’s approach hit off the side of the bunker and kicked onto the green, stopping 7 feet away. Garcia answered with a wedge that covered the flag and settled 5 feet away.

Both missed.

The playoff didn’t last long. Rose was in trouble from the start with an errant tee shot, and Garcia didn’t waste the opportunity.