Jon Rahm clinched his third consecutive LIV Golf Individual Championship on Sunday at LIV Golf New York even after a closing 5-over 76 left him tied for 41st. Joaquin Niemann won the event by three shots with a 2-under 69, but the season title was already Rahm's.
That finish gave Rahm a rare ugly final round in a season he controlled for months. He won twice and added four second-place finishes, and the poor week at Trump National Bedminster did not change the standings. He said it was a great year, though the low point left a sour taste because of how badly he played in the final event.
Niemann's closing charge gave the crowd the day’s sharpest swing. Harold Varner III was tied with him through 11 holes before his first bogey of the day at the 12th, then Niemann rolled in a 58-foot birdie putt at the 13th and later dropped an eagle putt at the par-5 15th to seal the win. He called the long birdie a surprise and said he was happy to just pick the ball up and run, because it was a big moment.
The team race turned even more dramatically. Bryson DeChambeau's Crushers GC began the final round eight strokes behind Torque, then shot a cumulative 1 under while Torque finished at 9 over to win the team title. The result made the Crushers the winningest team in league history with 11 regular-season tournament titles, and they did it with a 6-over winning score, the highest ever by a winning team in LIV Golf history.
Rahm’s third straight individual crown now stands beside a season that included two wins and four runner-up finishes, a level of consistency that no Sunday stumble could undo. His tied-for-41st finish was his lowest in any of his 36 LIV Golf starts, but the title was settled by the body of work before that final round, not by the one that ended it.
The closing picture at LIV Golf New York was simple enough: Niemann won the day, Rahm won the year, and the Crushers won the team race. What remains is how far Rahm can push that run, now that three straight titles have put him in a lane of his own.
