Legion XIII continues without Jon Rahm

The Legion XIII team, without captain Jon Rahm due to the flu, qualified for the LIV Golf team finals in Dallas (USA) this Saturday. However, the Fireballs team, captained by Castellón-born Sergio García, was left out of the finals, losing in the semi-finals.

Legion XIII, results

The organization announced Saturday that Rahm is suffering from a severe flu and will be absent from the team final of the Saudi circuit this weekend. The Basque player had won the individual title of LIV Golf last week, which earned him 18 million dollars.

He also pocketed four million for winning the final tournament in Chicago. Without the Barrika player at the helm, the Legion XIII won 2-1 in their semi-final against the HyFlyers led by American Phil Mickelson.

However, Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs, which also includes Spaniards Eugenio Lopez Chacarra and David Puig and Mexican Abraham Ancer, lost 2-1 to the Ripper, led by Australian Cameron Smith. The other two teams in this Sunday’s final are the 4Aces and the Iron Heads, led by Americans Dustin Johnson and Kevin Na respectively.

Sunday’s winning team in the LIV Golf team final will take home $14 million. LIV Golf is a men’s professional golf circuit that was founded in 2021 and whose first edition was held in 2022. The creation of this international circuit aims to restore the image of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of Mohammed bin Salman through sports that have been called “sportswashing” and “soft power”.

This closed circuit is funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), of which Yasir Al-Rumayyan is director, and former Australian golfer Greg Norman is the circuit’s general manager. The circuit selects its players on annual contracts and profiles itself as a separate competition from the PGA Tour and other circuits, poaching many players from the world’s top 100.

The season is played over fourteen events played over three days instead of four days in a 54-hole format without cut, with a team ranking. Among the players who have joined this closed competition are many Grand Slam tournament winners such as Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, Henrik Stenson, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Martin Kaymer, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio García, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Louis Oosthuizen and Jon Rahm.

This leads to a confrontation between the loyal PGA Tour players, such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, and the dissident players.