Breakfast Ball #30: Rahm Returns to the Winner's Circle

Best of luck to all the European competitors in the Olympics this week! If the crowds are anything like the 2018 Ryder Cup it should be a fun tournament to watch.

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Jon Rahm Wins his First LIV Golf Title at LIV UK

It has not been an easy year for Jon Rahm since his move to LIV Golf. Winless since his Masters victory in April of last year, Rahm entered this week after his best major finish of 2024 in a tie for seventh at Royal Troon. That is not good enough for a golfer of his talent, and he knew it: “It’s my first win since the Masters last year, so a little bit longer than I would have liked, especially because I feel like I've put myself in position many times during that year.” Rahm had finished in the top ten of all LIV events he played in this year, except for one withdrawal due to injury.

The tournament came down to the final hole where Rahm’s Legion XIII teammate Tyrell Hatton was in a tie for the lead with one to play. Hatton had a five foot putt for par to bring the tournament to a playoff, but the putt fell sharply to the right to give Rahm the win. Due to their performances Legion XIII took home the team title, but that was little consolation for Hatton: “It sucks to bogey the last in front of your home crowd to effectively miss out on a playoff. That's unfortunately the reality of my situation at the moment.”

Rahm and Hatton now sit second and third respectively in the season-long LIV Golf standings. While some may have doubted if the move would be good for their golf game, they are getting used to life on LIV and will be key members of the European Ryder Cup team next year. Hatton has organized his remaining schedule to play in the minimum amount of DP World Tour events required to keep his membership and be eligible for selection on the team. We are currently in the midst of US domination in the majors, so any win for any European is welcome. This one for Rahm is welcome more than most.

The Olympic Golf Tournament Takes Centre Stage at Le Golf National

Golf made its debut at the Olympic Games in 1900 in Paris, where both men’s and women’s stroke play events were held to determine a winner. 22 golfers from four countries participated in the men’s event, with Charles Sands of the US taking home the gold medal. Four years later in St. Louis, 77 golfers played in the tournament, but they only represented two countries: Canada and the US. A tournament was planned for the 1908 games in London, but disagreements about the format led to British golfers boycotting the event and it was canceled.

It took another 108 years for golf to return to the Olympics in Rio, where Justin Rose took home the gold medal for Great Britain. Xander Schauffele won the gold for the US three years ago in Tokyo, and will be back to defend his title in Paris this week. The Men’s tournament kicks off this Thursday at Le Golf National outside Paris. The course hosted the Ryder Cup in 2018, when Europe had a comfortable 17.5-10.5 victory.

Five members of that European Ryder Cup team will be flying the flag for their country at the event including Rory McIlroy for Ireland, Alex Noren for Sweden, Jon Rahm for Spain, Thorbjørn Olesen for Denmark, and Tommy Fleetwood for Great Britain. Fleetwood took four points from five when he played here in 2018 and will be eager to return to form after a disappointing performance at The Open.

Other Results:

• Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela won the 3M Open on the PGA Tour by one shot with a birdie on the final hole

  • 🇸🇪 Henrik Norlander and 🇩🇪 Matti Schmid were the best of the Europeans in T12, six shots behind the winner

• KJ Choi won the Senior Open at Carnoustie by two strokes ahead of Englishman Paul Broadhurst

  • Broadhurst had a significant error when he tried to tap in a putt with one arm and missed the ball - this resulted in a counted stroke as he attempted to play the ball but missed and ended up losing by two

  • 🇮🇪 Padraig Harrington, 🇩🇪 Bernhard Langer, and 🇩🇰 Thomas Bjørn finished tied for fifth

Coming up this week on Tour

• The Olympic Golf Tournament at Le Golf National

  • All other tours are on hold as the gold, silver, and bronze are up for grabs

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