Jon Rahm wins first LIV Golf Tournament after 539 | Golf News

Jon Rahm went 539 days without an particular person victory on LIV Golf, but the previous Masters champion ended the drought in Hong Kong and has no intention of slowing down. The victory got here during controversy between Rahm and the DP World Tour, as the two-time major champion was not among eight LIV golfers to signal conditional standing with the European circuit and his Ryder Cup eligibility stays unsure.

Rahm fired a six-under 64 for a three-stroke triumph after two straight runner-up performances, and indicated he plans to preserve momentum as the Masters approaches on the calendar. Meanwhile in the golf world, Rory McIlroy addressed the state of affairs after a back injury compelled him to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational moments before his tee time.

“It’s funny enough, I wish you could have seen my driving exhibition on the first round range warmup,” said Rahm on when we’ll see his best golf.

“I walked off to that 3rd tee with no clue how I was going to hit it off the tee, and somehow managed to keep it in play and each day got a little bit better. I was not comfortable whatsoever.”

“There was a lot going on this week, and I think there was still a little bit of tension in me on that first day. But each day — a friend of mine, his name is David Novak, he says, each day get better, and each day got a little bit better, and today, coming down the stretch, the swings from 13 through 16 were absolutely perfect swings. I think those holes is pretty much peak Jon Rahm that we can see.

“Can it get better? I hope so, but I’ve been taking part in fairly good golf.” Rahm exuded confidence on the course following his defeat to Anthony Kim in Australia, who secured his first victory in more than a decade.

“No,” Rahm responded when asked if his internal dialogue differed during the final round. “Compared to Adelaide, I might say I got here in with a mindset of just attempting to be more dedicated to each shot – I believe I used to be a little tentative on that day – and be aggressive. That’s why on that back 9, once I made that putt on 13, my mindset was to birdie them all coming in. Even Adam said it after birdieing 15.

“Played really good all day. Even though I shot 6-under, what could have been with quite a few short putts missed and an errant shot on 18. It was incredible. But I just tried to stay very patient and committed to each shot, knowing that I was doing everything right and things were going to happen.

“I believe that was the theme just about every spherical this week. There was always a stretch of 5 holes where it is easy to assume you are leaving a couple on the market, and then once one putt goes in, I get going and rifle off about three or 4 in a row. Just had to occur again today.”