CHICAGO (AFP) — Spain's Jon Rahm captured his second consecutive LIV Golf season crown on Sunday, shooting an 11-under par 60 before losing a playoff to Colombia's Sebastian Munoz at LIV Golf Indianapolis.
Munoz birdied the first playoff hole to beat Rahm for the Indy title after both finished on 22-under 191 through all 54 holes at Chatham Hills in the Saudi-backed series' last individual event of the year.
"First time I've ever beat him, so really proud of that and happy I got to go home with the trophy," Munoz said.
But Rahm's result, a second playoff loss in as many weeks, was enough to edge Chile's Joaquin Niemann in the season points chase for the second year in a row, delivering heartbreak on the campaign's last day as he did in 2024.
"Still slightly bittersweet," Rahm said.
"I know I'm supposed to be happy. It's a great moment. But it just doesn't feel great to finish the year losing two playoffs.”
"I'm sure over time I'll get over that and I really appreciate what I've done this year."
Rahm won the season title without winning any LIV event, while Niemann took titles this year in Adelaide, Singapore, Mexico City, Virginia and Britain.
"It sucks," Niemann said.
"I started playing my best golf on the back nine, which I'm proud of, but at the end of the day, the putts didn't drop, and it wasn't enough. It's kind of hard to swallow."
Rahm, a Masters and US Open champion, wasn't overjoyed about a season crown without a win all year.
"To be able to win the season without actually winning a tournament, I know eventually I'll be proud of that. Right now, it's slightly more something I'm going to suffer over a little bit more, and it may never be replicated," Rahm said.
"You need a lot of coincidences to go on exactly with the year Joaquín had. He's won five times. He has played incredible golf. One could argue that he was probably the more deserving guy to win this. But we have the points system we have, and somehow, I don't know how I managed to pull through and get it done."