The usual Jon Rahm wins again outside of LIV Golf: incontestable title in Abu Dhabi

Jon Rahm has made a tremendous comeback with victory in the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, the penultimate tournament of the season on the DP World Tour. On the 18th hole, still with the putter in his hand, Rahm looked at the sky, closing his eyes. They were just a few seconds of emotion that summarize a three-year journey in the opulent Saudi desert. Rahm, in December 2023, signed for LIV Golf, turning his back on his principles. "I have never played golf for economic reasons, I play for the love of the game," he said in the run-up to the 2022 US Open. Today, after a three-year hiatus and nearly $400 million earned between contract and prizes, Rahm returns to win a regular tournament just three days later since LIV Golf announced the cessation of its activities. Maybe it's just a mere coincidence. He did it with a golf recital from the first to the last shot. As if he had never left, as if this were a continuity to the 2023 Augusta Masters, his last title outside of LIV, with the illusion in the eyes of the boy from Barrika who was coming to take on the world.

The Spaniard closed with 67 strokes (-5) an impeccable Sunday, where he never jeopardized his eleventh title in Europe. His Legion XIII compadre Tyrrell Hatton finished second at -21 and Rory McIlroy was third at -19.

Nothing could make us suspect that behind this victory there were seven weeks of inactivity. "I've gone from last to first," the protagonist himself joked after the victory, alluding to his last tournament on the DP World Tour, the BMW Championship, where he finished in last position. Then all the alarms went off, Rahm retired to be a father for the fourth time. Little Begoña wanted to protect her father and was born much later than expected. Meanwhile, the Spanish Open was played and the LIV collapsed. After welcoming the little girl into the world, Jon was able to return "without the noise" in his head that had interfered so much with the two-time Major winner's winning spirit.

Upon his return this week to Abu Dhabi, Rahm expressed his intention to play in Europe in 2027 and wait for an amnesty from the PGA Tour that will allow him to rejoin as soon as possible. While the American circuit is weighing the options, Rahm has put forward the most powerful argument he can put on the negotiating table: his talent.

Sunday began with the birdie on hole one after three perfect shots. It was the most complicated day of the entire week with some spicy flags on the impressive Yas Links route. The first and only bogey of the day came on the 4th, after hitting his iron on the slope of the bunker. He reacted quickly with a birdie on the 5th hole, the Italian Francesco Laporta and Tyrrell Hatton were pressing and Rory left mystical glimpses, like a drive on the 1st hole directly to the green covering almost 340 meters of flight. The longest putt of the day came for Rahm on the 6th hole, making his birdie from eight meters. Although the key and definitive moment of the day would come on the 12th hole, Rahm made an academic birdie while Laporta punctured with a bogey and, ahead, Rory McIlroy was unable to take advantage of any of his birdie opportunities.

The tournament then decided on the Spanish side, Laporta jumped into the air with a triple bogey on the 13th and only Hatton was able to propose a serious alternative, although putting was not exactly his ally.

The victory represents the sixth in Rolex Series tournaments (the most notable on the DP World Tour calendar) and Rahm becomes the player in history with the most stars in his record, surpassing Hatton, who also had five. In addition, the title causes Rahm to rise to sixth place in the Race to Dubai and be eligible for the title next week, for this he would have to win and Eugenio Chacarra or Rory McIlroy stumble.

Another consequence of the Spanish victory is that Chacarra, who finished the week with -11 in 22nd place, can maintain his leadership in the Race and fight to be the third Spaniard in history to lift the season-long regularity trophy. Eugenio also has his PGA Tour card guaranteed. A leap that Ángel Ayora continues to pursue and today, thanks to an explosive weekend of 65 and 67 shots, he has put himself within reach. He finished tied for fifth and climbed four positions, to seventeenth place. He will play everything next week.

The good news for Spanish golf does not end here, since David Puig closed a solid week finishing fifth with -16.

On Thursday, Dubai will be the scene of the final chapter of the season in Europe with one of the most open and vibrant endings in recent years. For the first time, two Spaniards choose to win the Race to Dubai and Rahm has a new reason to celebrate: on Wednesday he will turn 33 years old. Golf has recovered an immense player.