COVERAGE: Rahm Puts Chicago Choke Hold on LIV Individual Crown

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. — The whole premise of the LIV Golf League is based upon keeping two thoughts in your head at once.

In each event — except the season-ending team championship — there is both an individual and a team leaderboard. And as last year’s result in Chicago aptly illustrated, sometimes that can make for deliciously conflicted Sunday scenarios.

Buy in the case of this weekend’s Midwest get-together, there’s a different conflict layered on top of the usual stroke play. There’s the golf tournament at hand, and then there’s the season-long individual points race.

Jon Rahm must believe in simplicity, because he’s trying to take care of both at once.

After shooting a bogey-free 6-under 64 on Saturday at Bolingbrook Golf Club, the prize of LIV’s past offseason is poised to deliver on the hype. The 29-year-old two-time major champion holds a one-stroke lead over Spanish countryman Sergio Garcia and a three-shot edge on the only man who can take the 2024 individual title from him, Chilean star Joaquin Niemann.

Because Rahm entered the tournament with a narrow lead over Niemann in the points race, all Rahm has to do is finish even with Niemann this weekend to clinch the $14 million bonus and the knowledge he was the best on the star-laden tour this year.

“Played very, very well,” said Rahm, who started the day seven shots behind 18-hole leader Brooks Koepka. “Hit it very long off the tee, and that’s what facilitated me having so many chances, and then took advantage of some of the ones that I had.

“It’s funny, earlier this week I was asked what was my best round of the year … and today is probably, if not tied for first it’s a close second. I felt like I did everything I needed to do. Committed to the shots and executed really, really well.”

Rahm, who started on the fourth hole, made birdies at a steady pace, drawing circles on 5, 8, 11, 14 and 17 to push past Koepka and several other big names for the lead. His 2 on the water-fronted par-3 17th was particularly dramatic, as he drained a 40-plus-foot bomb after leaving a couple of earlier birdie bids inches short.

Then, after a tidy up-and-down for par on the first, Rahm did the same out of deep greenside rough on the par-5 third, tapping in for a final birdie. He said having his short game tuned late was critical to not spoiling a round in which he hit 15 greens in regulation.

Jon Rahm chips close on his 16th hole, saving par. He has a choke hold on the season-long @livgolf_league individual title after two rounds in Chicago pic.twitter.com/oWw008cYIe

— Matt Gajtka (GITE-kah) (@MattGajtka) September 14, 2024

“You have small undulated greens where it’s very easy to run off the green by just a little bit,” Rahm said. “That can be side slopes or even downhill from maybe five yards off the pin. They’re very tricky, because you need to be aggressive and get a good strike to get through the ball, but the ball can’t run out. The lies aren’t easy.”

The course in general has been a bear. This is the third straight year the fledgling tour has stopped in Chicago in September, but after two years at the bucolic, private Rich Harvest Farms, the LIV powers-that-be chose the No. 1 public course in Illinois, located in the southwest suburbs.

Just 17 of 54 players are under par after 36 holes, as the firm fairways are pairing with the hard-to-hold greens and the unseasonably hot conditions to create an almost links-like feel.

“You have to be very, very precise,” said the 44-year-old Garcia, who also avoided any bogeys en route to a 5-under 65. “Small targets, kind of a little bit like Valderrama. … That’s probably why it’s not easy to go bogey-free. But I’m very happy that I was able to do that.

“I’ve always enjoyed those conditions. Hopefully I can let my ball-striking do the work.”

Garcia’s mention of Valderrama isn’t a coincidence — he ended his LIV win drought there in his native Spain this summer. Now he’s hoping to play spoiler for Rahm, as well as potentially move into third place on the season-long individual standings with a high finish.

Garcia said staying competitive against younger elite players has been energizing and motivating.

“Just keep working, keep working hard, not only on the game but mentally, keep believing in yourself,” he said. “Sometimes it’s simpler said than done. But that’s what it comes down to. Obviously you’re going to have some doubts here and there.

“I still feel like I’ve got a lot of game in me. I’m very fortunate with my body. My body has been very good to me. … If you take care of your body, I might not be the strongest guy out there, but I’m probably one of the fittest because I very rarely miss any weeks. I think that obviously means a lot, and I’m very proud of that.”

While Rahm holds the slight edge over his childhood idol and a nice buffer over Niemann for the yearlong title, it could’ve been an even wider gulf in the latter category if not for Niemann — who played in Rahm’s group for the second straight day — birdieing three of his last four holes.

Although Niemann, 25, left an eagle putt on 3 just outside the hole, he’s certainly still in the ballgame after his 10th consecutive round in the 60s. He also started the season hot, winning two of 2024’s first three events.

“I mean, it’s a championship within a championship,” Rahm said. “It’s a weird combination, but yeah, you’re definitely aware of it every step of the way, especially having played with (Niemann) the first two rounds.

“I figured that even if he didn’t finish as strong as he did today, let’s say he finishes at even par, I knew he would come out and probably have a good day. Almost have to play the long game, and it’s kind of what I’ve been saying, that I try to keep reminding myself to stay within the tournament, because if I do well in the tournament, everything else takes care of itself.”

Rahm said despite the ever-present scoreboards around the course displaying every tiny change in the season-long points race, he embraces the extra information whenever he can get it.

He might not be playing with Niemann on Sunday, but rest assured he’ll be up to date on his status.

“It’s really in my nature, and even from when I was a young kid, to want to know where I stand on the golf course,” Rahm said. “Even as when we were young and maybe we didn’t have all the info, I would try to ask the people that knew, either to draw inspiration from maybe being behind or to just have clarity of where things stand.”

Boots on the ground in Bolingbrook!

Our @MattGajtka is live in Illinois for coverage of @livgolf_league’s third-annual Chicago stop. pic.twitter.com/5PONJvAsDA

— Pittsburgh Golf Now (@pghgolfnow) September 14, 2024

Further down the leaderboard, Koepka still remains viable for his third LIV win of the year, just two strokes back after a 3-over 73. Then there’s a three-way tie for fourth involving Niemann, Poland’s Adrian Meronk and 48-year-old Englishman Ian Poulter, who entered the week in 46th place — just three spots ahead of the Drop Zone, which would mean relegation.

Poulter has put together consecutive 2-under rounds after finishing in the bottom half of the leaderboard for eight straight events. His lone top-20 finish this year was back in March, in Hong Kong.

“I feel like I’m swinging it probably the best I’ve swung it in a very long time,” Poulter said. “The putter feels good, and that’s a great feeling, to hole putts week in, week out. It doesn’t always happen.

“Look, I feel good about my game. I feel good (about) the work I’ve done. It’s just nice to be up this end of the leaderboard. It’s nice to compete and have the adrenaline going, and tomorrow will be another one of those great days.”

It’s natural for the team competition this week to take a bit of a backseat, with the team championship in Dallas lurking next week, but it’s been more of the same in that area, with Crushers GC sitting in a first-place tie with Cleeks GC on 10 under.

Crushers have been in the first-place position for most of the year and have already locked up a bye and the top seed for next weekend. Bryson DeChambeau and Paul Casey lead the way for the skull and crossbones, tied for seventh at 3 under. Anirban Lahiri is close behind at 2 under.

Cleeks will be gunning for their second win of the season, paced by Meronk and relegation-fearful Kalle Samooja (2 under). But Garcia’s Fireballs GC, Poulter’s Majesticks GC and Rahm’s Legion XIII are all lurking within range with all four scores set to count on Sunday.

Majesticks, also featuring proud fortysomethings Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood, hasn’t posted a podium finish in two years.

“In amongst a year where we’ve been kind of propping up the rear end of that league, it’s great to see us up at the front,” Poulter said. “It really is. I think everyone should be pretty proud of where we are right now.”

No offense to the boys in blue, but most eyes Sunday will be on Rahm to see if he can pull it off. In a year in which he’s disappointed in majors and squandered a back-nine lead at the Olympics, he’s got a chance for some measure of competitive redemption.

“The overall standing is a complete correlation to what you do on the golf course,” Rahm said. “It’s a straight consequence of how you perform. That’s what I’ve got to remind myself and keep remembering, we’re here to win a championship.

“I want to get my second individual win of the year, and if I play well and accomplish that, I’ll leave no room for error.”