Jon Rahm won his first event since leaving LIV – seeing off Rory McIlroy in the process – and then admitted being part of the breakaway circuit’s demise had affected him.
The Spaniard’s victory at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Sunday was his first non-LIV title for more than three years – since the Masters in 2023 – and his remarkable comeback triumph was achieved in some style.
On a high-quality DP World Tour leaderboard, Rahm had to pull out all the stops and shots to fire a five-under-par 67 in the final round to deny Ryder Cup partner Tyrrell Hatton – who shot a 68 to finish in second – by two shots. McIlroy shot a final-round 69 end a further two shots back in third.
What made Rahm’s 23-under total yet more commendable was the fact that in his last event – the BMW PGA Championship two months ago – he finished dead last. However, at Wentworth he still had the spectre of LIV hanging over him – as well as the birth of his fourth child – and this time, after quitting the renegade circuit, he was unburdened.
“From last to first is a pretty good feeling,” Rahm said. “After everything that’s gone on, and some poor play and some battles mentally with a lot of noise, to come back out after a bit of rest and being with the family, it’s quite special.
“Whether you like to admit it or not, there was a lot of extra noise going on in general, and that was still not the most important part of my life. In the sense of the impending birth of our daughter was something that was weighing heavily on me at Wentworth, I’m not going to lie, I didn’t want to miss it.
“It was a little bit more difficult to perhaps play and think throughout the golf course when it felt a little bit cloudy.”
Rahm collected £1.15m for his display at Yas Links and although that windfall will not seem so huge to the 31-year-old after amassing on-course earnings of more than £80m in his three seasons on LIV, it did come with some added benefits.
As well as taking Rahm back into the world’s top 10, he now has a chance of lifting the Tour’s order of merit title next Sunday in Dubai. To claim the Race to Dubai prize, Rahm will need to win and for the points leader, Eugenio Chacarra, to finish outside the top eight and for McIlroy not to come in the first two.
That is a carrot Rahm did not expect and the sponsors will be delighted at the scenario. Indeed, with Rahm and Hatton both expecting one-year bans until they can rejoin the PGA Tour, this gripping Sunday could be a taste of things to come for the European circuit. Bryson DeChambeau might also sign up for the Tour as he waits for his own US suspension to expire, and with others such as Joaquín Niemann and Bubba Watson also likely to appear, the DP World Tour could enjoy a bumper 2027.
McIlroy will, of course, play a major part in that, but for now the Northern Irishman is concentrating on equalling Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight order of merit titles. The world No 2 had his opportunities in the final round after birdieing the first and eagling the second, but as he said: “I just couldn’t keep my momentum going.”
However, McIlroy halved Chacarra’s lead in the Race To Dubai and now knows that should he prevail at the Earth Course next week he will capture the season-long honour.
“That’s where I wanted to be and that was the goal coming into these two weeks to try to catch Eugenio and win the Race to Dubai again,” he said. “I’m right in there with a great chance.”