Jon Rahm and his Region XIII team quickly secured their first LIV golf tournament win at LIV Mayakoba, the Saudi Tour’s season opener. As a team, they posted a score of 24 under, beating Bryson DeChambeau’s Crusher GC by four strokes.
Rahm finished alone in 3rd place with a score of 10 under par, the highest on the team.
He had a chance to win the individual title, but back-to-back bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes cost him the championship. He had a fit all week on the 17th and 18th, but was only able to make par or better in round two. Rahm also bogeyed both rounds in Friday’s opening round.
The Spaniard’s poor finish meant he was removed from the scheduled three-man play-off, leaving Joaquin Niemann and Sergio Garcia behind. The playoff took four holes, but Niemann made a birdie to win the first LIV golf tournament of 2024.
ram fell Multiple F bombs This week he was featured on Hot Mic and showed his passion for the game. He seems to take his captaincy role seriously and even though it was the first event of the year, it meant a lot to him.
The second best score for Legion XIII was Tyrrell Hutton. In his first LIV golf event, the Brit finished tied for eighth place with seven under, alongside Louis Oosthuizen and Cam Smith.
The third member of Legion XIII, Caleb Surratt, made his professional golf debut this week. At age 19, the former Tennessee Volunteers player decided to turn pro and join a Saudi-backed league. It paid off in his first start, as he tied for 13th place with Sebastian Munoz at 5 under.
The player will earn about $350,000 for the finish and will split another $3 million among his teammates. This salary is not bad for starting a professional career.
The fourth member of the 13th LIV Golf Team, Kieran Vincent, finished T38. He wasn’t as strong all week as his three teammates.
In the first event, Region XIII made quite a statement indicating that the Saudi-backed league was getting a little stronger. With players like Garcia, Niemann, Rahm, Dustin Johnson, and Brooks Koepka in the top five, the competition is pretty stiff.
Rahm may not have won an individual title in his LIV golf debut, but he had a strong performance.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
