In what may have been the final round of LIV Golf history, 22-year-old rookie Michael La Sasso earned his first professional win at LIV Golf Indianapolis while Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII won its second straight team title Sunday in Westfield, Ind.
The cancellation of the Team Championship in Michigan made this week the final event of LIV Golf’s fifth season. The Saudi Public Investment Fund announced it would stop funding LIV after 2026; LIV Golf has reached an agreement with a new lead investor, but the deal is not yet finalized.
The prospective deal depends greatly on player buy-in, as CEO Scott O’Neil noted this week, so there is no guarantee of a 2027 season.
“There’s been a lot that’s surrounded all of us for pretty much since we joined,” Rahm said Sunday. “At the end of the day, once we step on the golf course, it’s just golf. Everything else goes away, and we just compete. It hasn’t been any harder or easier than it was.”
La Sasso, a former NCAA champion, turned pro in January and joined HyFlyers GC, the team captained by Phil Mickelson. His 10-under-par 60 at The Club at Chatham Hills on Friday pushed him up the leaderboard, and after a 66 on Saturday, La Sasso held a one-shot lead.
He turned in a bogey-free, 5-under 65 Sunday to win at 18 under, one shot better than Rahm. The Spanish star charged into late contention with his best round of the week, a 7-under 63.
“I told our social media guy last night, I said, ‘I’ll be honest, this is going to be the one I win,'” La Sasso said. “I spoke it into existence well before this week. The fact that it’s actually come true, it’s unbelievable, but yeah, I’m at a loss for words.”
Rahm had already wrapped up his third consecutive individual LIV title at LIV Golf New York. Legion XIII won the team championship last year, but in a much different scenario.
This year, because of the Team Championship’s cancellation, the league said the team that finished with the best score in Indianapolis would be crowned the 2026 champion and receive a reduced bonus of $8.4 million.
Rahm’s 17-under score for the week led the way, bolstered by his three teammates: Tom McKibbin of Northern Ireland (11 under), Tyrrell Hatton of England (8 under) and Caleb Surratt (8 under). That made for a combined score of 44 under par, six shots better than HyFlyers GC.
“If there’s ever a format change that would benefit this team, it’s that one. Giving us four stroke-play days where all the scores count, I think it benefits us the way we play,” Rahm said. “I think we’re very consistent tee to green, and that plays to our advantage.”
Bryson DeChambeau (64) and Spaniard Sergio Garcia (65) tied for third at 16 under, two back of La Sasso. While Rahm’s future with the league is rumored to be in doubt, DeChambeau is viewed as the player most loyal to LIV and continuing the league in some form.
“As much as we’re transitioning from LIV 1.0 to 2.0, I have great thoughts about what could happen next year. I wish I could be more up front about it,” DeChambeau said. “But ultimately, I’m proud of the fact of what we’ve done, the good and some of the bad that we’ve unfortunately had, things that have occurred. I’m going to be real with it; not everything was perfect. But for the most part we’ve done a solid job. If there’s one thing that I could say, it’s we did something different in the game of golf, and I’m proud of that.”
–Field Level Media
