‘Hasn’t been the easiest’: Jon Rahm posts emotional first LIV individual victory in U.K.

In his 11th career start, Jon Rahm has captured his first LIV Golf individual title.

Rahm, who had been a part of three previous team titles with his Legion XIII since joining the third-year league last November, wiped away a few tears off JCB Golf and Country Club’s 18th green on Sunday evening in Rocester, England, as he watched the lead group finish play. Teammate Tyrrell Hatton’s bogey on the par-4 finishing hole was enough to hand the one-shot victory to Rahm, who birdied his final hole to shoot 4-under 67 and finish LIV Golf United Kingdom at 13 under.

“You never want to see it end like that,” Rahm said. “I almost wish we would have got it done in the playoff.”

Added Hatton, who tied for second with Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann: “It’s obviously still pretty raw for me as an individual. It’s kind of hard to put that to one side. … It sucks to bogey the last in front of your home crowd to effectively miss out on a playoff.”

The consolation for Hatton: Legion XIII won for the fourth time this season.

And for once, Rahm got to celebrate two wins.

“Finally got one done,” Rahm added. “You never want to get those feelings to go on for too long, and to get over the hump feels great incredible. It’s been a fantastic week and a fantastic year, and just relieved that it happened.”

It’s been a challenging year for Rahm, who has slipped from third to No. 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He mostly struggled in the majors, tying for 45th at the Masters, missing the cut at the PGA, withdrawing from the U.S. Open with a foot infection and finally posting a top-10 with a T-7 at The Open. Off the golf course, Rahm announced in March that he and his wife, Kelley, were expecting a third child, a baby girl. The pregnancy, Rahm has since revealed, has had its complications with Kelley being on bedrest.

All that explained Rahm’s emotional moment after finally getting into LIV’s winner’s circle.

“It hasn’t been the easiest year for our family,” Rahm said. “Kelley and I have gone through quite a bit, and she has gone through even more, being on bedrest among many other things. To get this one done – she did tell me, our son Kepa said to bring a trophy home in this stretch of golf, and I started to believe it was going to happen at one point today. Maybe not in the last 20 minutes. But at least I can look at them and say I’m bringing one home for them.”

Rahm could add an Olympic medal to that haul, as he now heads to Paris for his second Olympics appearance representing Spain.