WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Virginia: Jon Rahm has been pursuing LIV Golf individual points leader Joaquin Niemann all season.
The Legion XIII captain is now 18 holes away from catching him.
Rahm climbed atop the LIV Golf Greenbrier leaderboard Saturday after a second-round 8-under 62. At 14 under, he leads by two shots entering the final round of what promises to be a shootout in favorable scoring conditions at The Old White course.
The all-Australian Ripper GC took the team lead by shooting 20 under, thanks to 63s by Cameron Smith and Lucas Herbert and a 64 by Marc Leishman. At 36 under, they lead Smash GC by one shot and Legion XIII by six in chase of their third victory of the season.
Rahm’s Legion XIII won four team titles this year, but Rahm didn’t post his first individual victory until the most recent LIV Golf tournament in the UK.
If Rahm posts a second consecutive victory Sunday, it will guarantee that the individual championship will be decided next month at LIV Golf Chicago in the regular season finale.
“It would be pretty special,” said Rahm, who entered the week in second place in the standings, 24 points behind Niemann. “I’ve been playing good all year, and Joaquin has been playing fantastic golf all year. To give him a run for his money is good, but hopefully I can get the job done tomorrow and we have a nice little tight race going into Chicago.”
Even if Rahm doesn’t win, he’s played well enough that Niemann likely will not be able to clinch in Greenbrier without a miracle result. The Torque captain is tied for 20th at 6 under.
Rahm’s primary focus on Sunday will be simply to hold off all the challengers on a course that gives up low scores. Last year, Bryson DeChambeau won by shooting 58 in the final round. So far, there have been eight rounds of 63 or lower shot this week, with Rahm’s 62 the lowest.
“I wouldn’t be expecting somebody to shoot in the 50s every single competitive year we have,” said Rahm, who has now shot 8-under rounds five times since joining LIV Golf in the offseason.
“It’s almost happened the last three, four years, but I wouldn’t be expecting it as often as we’ve had it the last few years. I think we’ve been very spoiled in that sense.
“With that said, I hope that someone is me. If I were to do it tomorrow, it would be very nice, do it in Bryson fashion and get a W with a round in the 50s.”
Joining Rahm in the final group is the Smash duo of captain Brooks Koepka, the only four-time LIV Golf winner, and Talor Gooch, the 2023 individual champion.
Both players are at 12 under. Herbert and Cleeks GC’s Richard Bland, who won two senior majors this season, are also at 12 under. Four other players are tied for six at 11 under — Smith, Leishman, Smash’s Jason Kokrak and Torque’s Sebastián Muñoz.
DeChambeau won last year at 23 under, and Bland thinks the target score on Sunday is 20 under. That means a lot of players will be firing at a lot of pins.
“I was pretty much in this position, I think, last year, come from behind going into Sunday and Bryson goes and shoots 58,” Bland said. “I think I shot 65, and you’re just picking up his scraps. But all you can do is go out and shoot the best score you can, and hopefully, the last four or five holes you’ve got a say in the tournament. That’s all you can ask for.”
Said Rahm: “I’m going to need a low one. No lead is safe.”
TEAM COUNTING SCORES
Standings and counting scores for Saturday’s second round:
1. RIPPER GC -36 (Herbert 63, Smith 63, Leishman 64; Rd. 2 score: -20)
2. SMASH GC -35 (Koepka 64, Gooch 65, Kokrak 66; Rd. 2 score: -15)
3. LEGION XIII -30 (Rahm 62, Hatton 67, Surratt 67; Rd. 2 score: -14)
4. TORQUE GC -28 (Ortiz 65, Pereira 65, Muñoz 66; Rd. 2 score: -14)
5. FIREBALLS GC -27 (Garcia 63, Ancer 64, Puig 65; Rd. 2 score: -18)
6. IRON HEADS GC -20 (Lee 66, Kozuma 67, Vincent 68; Rd. 2 score: -9)
T7. CRUSHERS GC -19 (Howell III 64, DeChambeau 65, Casey 66; Rd. 2 score: -15)
T7. HYFLYERS GC -19 (Ogletree 66, Steele 66, Tringale 67; Rd. 2 score: -11)
9. RANGEGOATS GC -18 (Watson 63, Pieters 65, Uihlein 67; Rd. 2 score: -15)
10. CLEEKS GC -16 (Bland 64, Kaymer 70, Samooja 72; Rd. 2 score: -4)
11. STINGER GC -13 (Oosthuizen 66, Schwartzel 67, Burmester 68; Rd. 2 score: -9)
12. 4ACES GC -10 (Reed 66, Johnson 67, Perez 69; Rd. 2 score: -8)
13. MAJESTICKS GC -9 (Campbell 65, Stenson 68, Westwood 72; Rd. 2 score: -5)
