A golf tourney’s never over until the last putt drops, and that won’t happen in the LIV Individual Championship until late Sunday.
After Saturday’s second round at Bolingbrook Golf Course, however, a couple things seem likely:
Jon Rahm figures to win the $18 million bonus for his play through the 13-event regular season, which concludes with the 54-man shootout at Bolingbrook. Only Joaquin Niemann can beat him, and he must overcome a three-shot deficit in the final round. Rahm goes into it with 235.17 points to Niemann’s 208.20.
Rahm started the tournament with a slight lead in the standings. Niemann passed him after shooting one stroke better in Friday’s first round and Rahm answered with a bogey-free 64 on Saturday to Niemann’s 69.
That means Rahm is in prime position to win both the LIV Individual Championship as well as the third playing of LIV/Chicago. The first two LIV/Chicago champions – Cam Smith and Bryson DeChambeau — were crowned at Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove. Bolingbrook, hosting the biggest competition in its 22-year history, has proven to be tougher than expected.
Rahm is at 7-under-par 133 as the 36-hole leader and he has a one-shot lead over Sergio Garcia, who posted a 65 on Saturday. They’ll play together in Sunday’s final round with Brooks Koepka, the first round leader who followed his opening 62 with a 73 and is in third place.
Those three will start at No. 1 in the LIV’s shotgun format that has all players starting their rounds at the same time. Sunday’s start is at 12:05 and Niemann will start his round off No. 1, too, but in the second group with Adrian Meronk and Ian Poulter as his partners.
“It’s going to be a fun day, no matter what,’’ said Rahm. “It’s a weird combination – a championship within a championship. It’d be nice to play with (Niemann) so I can see what’s going on. I’m looking forward to it, but at the end of the day it’s what we work for all year.’’
Rahm jumped from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-backed circuit at the start of this season. His departure was a huge blow to the PGA Tour, and LIV was a challenge for him. He won only one tournament in 11 starts but was top-10 in the others. His long-awaited first win came in the United Kingdom two starts ago. He lost to Koepka in a playoff in Greenbrier, in West Virginia, leading into the Bolingbrook stop.
Garcia and Rahm, both from Spain, have won the Masters. Garcia, 44, did it in 2017 and Rahm, 29, in 2023. Rahm also has a big win in Chicago, capturing the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields in 2020. That was a pandemic year and the tournament was played with no fans in attendance. Rahm’s win was dramatic, coming when he rolled in a 65-foot putt to beat Dustin Johnson in a playoff.
Like Rahm, Garcia has only one win on the LIV circuit. It came this year at Valderrama, the world-famous course in Spain. Garcia, who has played all three LIV seasons, sees similaries between Valderrama and Bolingbrook.
“(Bolingbrook) isn’t playing easy,’’ said Garcia. “It’s been a combination of a bit of wind with small, hard greens. You have to be very precise, and I appreciate all the opportunities I get with LIV and in the majors. At my age I still feel I’ve got some game in me.’’
Only 18 of the 54 players are under par for the first 36 holes. That impressed Rahm, who has played two rounds without making a bogey.
“I didn’t see scores being that high at all,’’ he said. “On paper the course should be fairly easy, but the chips can be tricky. That makes it a bit complicated.’’
Saturday’s round featured a hole-in-one by England’s Tyrrell Hatton on the No. 6 hole. LIV said attendance was “more than 15,000 and reported it was the biggest LIV crowd for a tournament at a United States venue.
The team title in the tournament will also be decided on Sunday, with the defending champion Crushers and Cleeks tied for the lead.