Rahm, Legion XIII sweep titles at LIV Golf Mexico City

MEXICO CITY – In case any of his pursuers had their sights on the LIV Golf Mexico City 2026 individual title, Jon Rahm delivered a quick and decisive message Sunday with a four-hole stretch that included three birdies and a tap-in eagle. 

The Legion XIII captain then stayed aggressive the rest of the way at Club de Golf Chapultepec, producing the final round’s lowest score, a bogey-free 7-under 64 that resulted in a comfortable six-shot victory over young Fireballs GC star David Puig. 

RELATED: Final leaderboard 

It’s the most decisive of Rahm’s four individual wins since joining LIV Golf prior to the 2024 season – and it also helped make him the league’s winningest player across all competitions. With his Legion XIII team also claiming the team trophy Sunday by nine shots, Rahm has now celebrated 16 different LIV Golf trophies, putting him one ahead of Crushers GC’s Bryson DeChambeau, despite playing two less seasons. 

“A little bit of disbelief,” said Rahm, who finished at 21 under just a week after a disappointing tie for 38th at the Masters. “If you would have told me last week on Thursday afternoon that I'd be winning by a six-shot margin this week, I would not have believed you because of how bad I played. Hell of an effort, and just what a Sunday.” 

Entering the day with a two-stroke lead, Rahm opened with a par, then drove the 318-yard par-4 second, where he two-putted from 66 feet for birdie. He followed by driving the green again, this time at the 390-yard par-4 third, his brilliant tee shot finishing inside 3 feet for eagle. Birdie putts from 14 feet and 20 feet on the next two holes extended his lead to six shots.

Meanwhile, his Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton, who started the day just two shots behind and playing in the final group with Rahm, suffered a double bogey at the drivable second hole and never really got untracked. 

“Jon obviously played amazing today,” said Hatton, who shot a 1-over 72 to tie for fifth. “He got off to just a perfect start, and yeah, unfortunately for me it ended up being a difficult day.” 

Puig, however, kept the heat on with his own hot start that included birdies in three of his first four holes as well as an eagle at the par-5 seventh. When Puig birdied the 10th, Rahm’s lead was down to three. 

“I still think I had my chances, right, even with how good he started,” Puig said. 

But Rahm followed a key par save at the 10th – he rolled in a 15-foot putt after a wayward drive forced him to scramble – with a birdie at the par-5 12th while Puig bogeyed the par-4 13th and 15th holes. 

That gave Rahm ample breathing room down the stretch, allowing him the opportunity to enjoy the walk from tee to green at the par-3 18th, with fans reaching out to congratulate him on the well-received victory. 

“That putt on the 10th hole was massive,” Rahm said. “It's just a moment that the scorecard doesn't show. That six-shot lead could have been three fast and maybe one or two coming down the stretch.” 

Meanwhile, Legion XIII was never really threatened on the team side, even if their LIV Golf-record 19-shot lead through 36 holes was reduced in half by the surging Fireballs. The team victory is the ninth in the regular season for Legion XIII, tying them with the Crushers for most of any team. 

Legion XIII entered the final round with a chance to sweep the individual podium, with Rahm, Hatton and Tom McKibbin starting in the top three. As it turned out, Rahm shared the podium with his fellow Spaniards – and former Arizona State players – Puig and Josele Ballester of Fireballs. 

“Seeing those two names up there, two friends, makes me want to beat them even more,” Rahm said of the young stars, “but also be cautious because I know exactly what they're capable of.” 

For now, though, it’s the rest of the league that knows what Rahm is capable of – two wins, three solo seconds and a solo fifth in the first six tournaments this season as he marches to a third consecutive Individual Championship.

FINAL LEADERBOARDS 

Individual Top 10 

1 (-21) – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (65-67-67-64)

2 (-15) – David Puig, Fireballs GC (69-72-62-66)

3 (-14) – Josele Ballester, Fireballs GC (71-67-65-67)

4 (-12) – Scott Vincent, HyFlyers GC (67-71-65-69)

T5 (-11) – Branden Grace, Southern Guards GC (71-66-65-71); Thomas Detry, 4Aces GC (67-73-66-67); Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (69-66-66-72); Tom McKibbin, Legion XIII (68-65-69-71); Matthew Wolff, RangeGoats GC (68-65-70-70)

T10 (-10) – Cameron Tringale, HyFlyers GC (74-68-66-66); Marc Leishman, Ripper GC (74-64-67-69)

Team Top 3

1 (-45) – Legion XIII (Rahm 65-67-67-64, Hatton 69-66-66-72, McKibbin 68-65-69-71, Surratt 73-70-69-70; Rd. 4 score: -7)

2 (-36) – Fireballs GC (Puig 69-72-62-66, Ballester 71-67-65-67, Masaveu 69-65-70-71, Garcia 75-74-70-67; Rd. 4 score: -13)

3 (-26) – Southern Guards GC (Grace 71-66-65-71, Burmester 68-73-65-70, Oosthuizen 73-68-68-66, Schwartzel 71-77-68-70; Rd. 4 score: -7) 

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ROUND 4 NOTES 

SPANISH PODIUM SWEEP: Spaniards Jon Rahm, David Puig and Josele Ballester swept the podium in Mexico City in a showcase of the current and future golf stars from that country. 

For the 24-year-old Puig, the runner-up finish is his best result in LIV Golf. He and Rahm spend plenty of practice time together back home in Arizona where they live in the U.S. 

“It's just amazing to see us three in the top three,” Puig said. “Obviously we're really good friends, all of us, and we see each other every week. Josele is kind of starting to get in that boat a little bit. But me and Jon, we spend, like, at least four or five days a week when we're playing together and working out. It's obviously great for me to have him around because he teaches me a lot of stuff.” 

Said Rahm: “I think I spend more time with him than I do with my wife or my kids. Not surprised to see him up there.” 

Ballester’s solo third is his second career podium finish; he tied for second last year in Chicago. The 22-year-old Ballester was 3-over through his first nine holes in Thursday’s opening round before moving up the leaderboard. 

“I didn't feel that comfortable today, but I'm a great competitor, and I kind of kept it going and kept it interesting towards the end,” he said. “Just didn't execute, didn't feel that comfortable. Maybe right now it's a lot of negatives, but yeah, it's been a great week overall.” 

Said Rahm: “Josele, he is the one person that isn't lacking in all kinds of firepower. Somebody so explosive yet so collected personality-wise is rare.” 

MOST TROPHIES: By winning the individual trophy at LIV Golf Mexico City and leading his Legion XIII to the team title, Jon Rahm has now won 16 trophies since joining the league prior to the 2024 season. That’s the most of any player, as he passed Bryson DeChambeau with the trophy sweep at Club de Golf Chapultepec. 

The top three players who have celebrated the most LIV Golf trophies:

• Jon Rahm, 16 (4 tournament titles, 2 Individual Championships, 9 team tournament titles, 1 Team Championship)

• Bryson DeChambeau, 15 (5 tournament titles, 9 team tournament titles, 1 Team Championship)

• Talor Gooch, 13 (4 tournament titles, 1 Individual Championship, 7 team tournament titles, 1 Team Championship)

400-YARD DRIVES: Six 400-yard drives were recorded Sunday at the high-altitude Club de Golf Chapultepec, raising the final total to 21 drives of 400-plus yards for the four rounds. 

Ripper GC’s Elvis Smylie launched a 435.5-yard drive at the 13th hole Sunday for the longest drive of the week. Smylie also had a drive of 402.7 yards on the 11th hole.  RangeGoats GC’s Matthew Wolff also had two 400-yard drives in the final round.

The six 400-yard drives on Sunday:

• 435.5 yards – Elvis Smylie (13th hole)

• 420.3 yards – Matthew Wolff (11th hole)

• 420.2 yards – Dustin Johnson (11th hole)

• 405.8 yards – Matthew Wolff (3rd hole)

• 403.2 yards – Byeong Hun An (11th hole)

• 402.7 yards – Elvis Smylie (11th hole)

FOUR OR MORE: With his victory Sunday, Jon Rahm becomes the fifth LIV Golf player to win four or more tournaments, joining Joaquin Niemann (7 wins), Bryson DeChambeau (5), Brooks Koepka (5) and Talor Gooch (4). 

DETRY LEADS U.S. OPEN CHASE: First-year LIV Golf player Thomas Detry of 4Aces GC is in pole position to claim the U.S. Open exemption that will be determined after the next LIV Golf tournament in Virginia on May 7-10. 

The U.S. Open exemption goes to the top player who is not otherwise exempt and in the top 3 of the season-long Individual standings as of May 18. 

Thanks to his tie for 5th in Mexico City, Detry moved up two spots in the points standings and is now in third place behind Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. Since those two players already are exempt into the U.S. Open, Detry would get the exemption. 

The next 10 players behind Detry also are not exempt and still have a mathematical chance to move into the top 3. That list includes David Puig, the runner-up to Rahm on Sunday who is now sixth in the standings; and third-place finisher Josele Ballester, who is now 10th in points. 

Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann claimed the other U.S. Open exemption awarded to LIV Golf by finishing second in the final 2025 Individual standings. 

MEXICO’S FAVORITES: Torque GC teammates and home favorites Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer, who have represented Mexico in the last two Olympics, each rallied from disappointing starts to the week to finish inside the top 25 on the individual leaderboard. 

Ortiz shot his lowest round of the week, a 3-under 68, to finish at 7 under and tied for 17th. Ancer shot a 2-under 69 to finish at 5 under and tied for 22nd. 

Both players were grateful for the hometown support. 

“When things are not going your way, it's tough to embrace it and really be happy, and you're obviously just a little bit upset inside,” Ancer said. “But the crowd was phenomenal, and it was really good to see the amount of kids that came out, so that was really cool. I can't wait for next year.” 

BALLESTER’S WALK-UP SONG: Fireballs GC adopted Legion XIII’s routine of having teammates select each other’s walk-up songs, resulting in some unconventional and funny choices. 

Josele Ballester got the taste of it this week as teammate Luis Masaveu chose the song “Dancing Queen.” However, it wasn’t the version by ABBA but by Wing, the China-based artist who performs operatic covers of pop hits. 

Ballester was tied for second when he reached the par-3 18th, where walk-up songs also are played. But he teed off to another song. 

“It was actually pretty nice on the final shot of the tournament that I didn't have it,” Ballester said with a smile. “I think the DJ or whoever was in charge, it was kind of nice, he just put something different because it was atrocious, it was terrible.” 

DECHAMBEAU’S STREAK ENDS WITH WD: Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau, who entered this week seeking to become the first LIV Golf player to win three consecutive tournaments, was forced to withdraw prior to the final round due to a wrist injury. 

DeChambeau won the previous two LIV Golf tournaments via playoffs over Richard T. Lee in Singapore and Jon Rahm in South Africa. He played the first three rounds in Mexico City at 2 over. 

DeChambeau experienced discomfort in his wrist in Saturday’s third round and did not want to risk further injury. “I’m going to take a few days to get evaluated and hope to be ready for LIV Golf Virginia,” DeChambeau noted in a social media post. 

Reserve player Luis Carrera of Mexico filled DeChambeau’s spot in the Crushers’ lineup Sunday, shooting a 1-over 72.

NOTES & NUGGETS 

• Club de Golf Chapultepec produced the second-highest scoring average (70.26) of any LIV Golf event this season, with the course yielded the most bogeys (636), most double bogeys (83), and the second-most eagles

• Average driving distance was roughly 30 yards longer than any other tournament this season, while fairway accuracy dropped to a season-low 48.9%

• Legion XIII’s victory is their ninth in LIV Golf, tying Crushers GC for the most all-time; they also dominated the par 4s, playing them in 33-under — their best mark in a tournament

• Fireballs GC placed two players on the individual podium but did not win the team title; that’s the eighth time that has happened in LIV Golf history

• Fireballs GC gained 9.77 strokes on the field Sunday and recorded 23 holes under par, the most of any team in the final round, earning their first podium finish of the season

• Seven teams recorded their highest average driving distance of the season this week: Fireballs GC, Smash GC, HyFlyers GC, Ripper GC, Cleeks Golf Club, Majesticks Golf Club and Korean Golf Club

• Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson each gained 1.52 strokes off the tee on the 390-yard par-4 3rd hole — the two most valuable tee shots on a par 4 or 5 this season; Rahm hit his drive to 2.2 feet, while Johnson finished at 1.94 feet

• Rahm’s final-round 7-under 64 is his lowest closing round when leading entering Sunday; He also played the par 4s in 15-under, tied for the third-best mark in LIV Golf tournament history

• David Puig recorded the best Strokes Gained average of his LIV Golf career (+3.01 per round) and finished solo second — his best result on LIV Golf (previous: T3, Houston 2024)

• Josele Ballester gained 8.1 strokes off the tee — his best performance in a LIV Golf event — and led the field in par-3 scoring at 5-under; that marks his second career podium finish (previous: T2, Chicago 2025)

• Scott Vincent, playing this week for HyFlyers GC, recorded his third fourth-place finish on LIV Golf and first since 2023 (Jeddah, Singapore); he led the field in scrambling (80%) and fairways in regulation (62.5%)

• Thomas Detry has now posted four top-10 finishes in six LIV starts and produced the best driving week of his LIV career (+1.10 strokes gained off the tee)

• Matthew Wolff led the field in sand saves (83.3%, 5-for-6) and in Strokes Gained Off the Tee in the final round (+3.40); He also recorded his second top-5 finish of the season

• Tom McKibbin averaged +2.01 strokes gained per round — the fourth-best mark of his LIV Golf career — and secured his third career top-5 finish

• Branden Grace led the field in approach play from 225+ yards (+3.56) and recorded back-to-back podium finishes for the first time since 2023 (Tulsa, DC)

• Grace’s par-5 par-or-better streak (66) and par-5 GIR streak (52) ended with a bogey on the 7th hole

STATS LEADERS 

Round 4 

Driving Distance: Matthew Wolff, 381.0-yard avg. Official measured drives taken only on two holes per round.

Longest Drive: David Puig, 388.7 (7th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 7 & 12.

Driving Accuracy: Charles Howell III, 78.57% (11 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Victor Perez, 94.44% (17 of 18)

Scrambling: 7 players at 100%, led by Thomas Detry (6 of 6)

Fewest Putts: Cameron Tringale, Miguel Tabuena, 24

Bogey-free rounds: Jon Rahm (64), Joaquin Niemann (67)

Cumulative 

Driving Distance: Josele Ballester, 370.3-yard avg. Official measured drives taken only on two holes per round.

Driving Accuracy: Jon Rahm, Scott Vincent, Victor Perez, 62.50% (35 of 56)

Greens in Regulation: Martin Kaymer, 84.72% (61 of 72)

Scrambling: Scott Vincent (12 of 15), 80% 

Fewest Putts: Louis Oosthuizen, Minkyu Kim, Danny Lee, 110

Most birdies: Jon Rahm (25)