Jon Rahm has claimed his first win since the 2023 Masters after team-mate Tyrrell Hatton bogeyed the final hole of the LIV Golf UK event.
And Australia’s Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann birdied their respective final holes of the day to share second place with Hatton on 12 under.
Rahm had three-putted the 17th to drop back into a tie for the lead with Hatton on 13 under par, only for the Englishman to then three-putt the 18th from long range at JCB Golf and Country Club.
Rahm had finished in the top 10 in all nine LIV tournaments he had completed since joining the Saudi-funded breakaway, but was forced to withdraw from the Houston event with a toe injury which also saw him miss the US Open.
The 29-year-old Spaniard, who finished joint seventh in the Open at Royal Troon, alluded to off-course family issues in a post-round interview broadcast by LIV Golf.
“It’s just emotional, you know,’ Rahm said. “It hasn’t been the easiest year for our family. Kelly [his wife] and I have gone through quite a bit and she has gone through even more, being on bed rest and many other things.
“She did tell me our son Kepa said to bring a trophy home on this stretch of golf and 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 bring one home for them.
“To get over the hump feels quite incredible and it’s just relief that it happened.”
Overnight leader Andy Ogletree looked to be cruising to victory when he birdied the first and second to lead by four and recovered from a double bogey on the eighth with birdies on the 12th and 13th to get back into a tie for the lead.
However, Ogletree then ran up double bogeys on the next two holes to ruin his chances of victory and had to settle for a tie for sixth.
Source Agencies
