Jon Rahm saved his best round of the week for last, firing a 7-under-par 64 Sunday to pull away to win the LIV Golf Mexico City title on Sunday in Naucalpan, Mexico.
Rahm, the tournament’s leader since the second round, finished the week at Club de Golf Chapultepec at 21-under 263, six shots ahead of fellow Spaniard David Puig (66). It was an all-Spanish top three, as Josele Ballester (67) placed third at 14 under.
The two-time major winner continued his streak of six straight top-fives to begin the LIV season, including wins in Hong Kong and Mexico City and three second-place finishes.
“I think a little bit of it is disbelief,” Rahm said. “I’ve performed poorly down the stretch on this course having a chance to win before, so it’s almost like I don’t let myself believe it. If you would have told me last week on Thursday afternoon that I’d be winning by a six-shot margin this week, I would not have believed you because of how bad I played. Hell of an effort, and just what a Sunday.”
Rahm led by two strokes after 54 holes and made sure he was in the driver’s seat early Sunday, going 5 under on a four-hole stretch. Following his first birdie at No. 2, his powerful drive at the 390-yard, par-4 third hole came to rest about 3 feet from the cup for a tap-in eagle.
He made a 13-footer for birdie at the par-3 fourth hole and a 20-footer at the par-4 fifth.
No one would catch him from there. Rahm finished his round with 11 pars and two back-nine birdies.
“You need a lot of fight because even today on the scorecard it might look smooth,” Rahm said, “but the three-putt on 7, had to make a nice 4-footer on 8, the par on 9, the par on 10, that stretch right there could have been very complicated.
“It’s true from then on I played very well and never really stressed, but the that was the key moment of the round.”
It also marked the first time this season that Rahm’s individual success led to a first-place finish for his team, Legion XIII. Rahm’s team won this event for the third consecutive year.
Legion XIII finished 45 under for the week, as two of Rahm’s teammates, Englishman Tyrrell Hatton and Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin, were part of a five-way tie for fifth at 11 under. The fourth team member, Caleb Surratt, was 2 under for the week. Collectively, they finished nine shots better than Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC.
Puig powered the Fireballs’ score this week, carding four birdies and an eagle on his first 10 holes Sunday before petering out as he shot 5-under 66.
“We’re youngsters, but we really are feeling like we really want to win,” Puig said of his teammates and countrymen, Ballester and Luis Masaveu. “We put a lot of hours behind it, and it’s just kind of great to see that it definitely paid off this week.
“But yeah, I didn’t really feel at my best (this week). Today was by far the best day, how I hit it.”
Bryson DeChambeau, who was 2 over par through three rounds, withdrew before the start of the final round citing a wrist injury.
–Field Level Media
