Jon Rahm’s Legion, Looking for the Cherry on the Cake

With the individual championship trophy under his arm, Jon Rahm will lead his Legion XIII for the last time this season from Friday to Sunday (18:15, Movistar Golf) as the LIV concludes next year with the team final, which will be held at Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas.

A format that has no equal in the classic circuits, where the 13 franchises compete against each other in a series of elimination rounds with, of course, a juicy prize pool at stake: 50 million dollars (44.7 million euros).

Jon Rahm, Results

Rahm’s team, a marvel of consistency with four wins (more than any other team) and two other podium finishes, sits second overall, surpassed only by Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers, with fewer wins (three) but more podium finishes (four).

Both teams and Cam Smith’s Rippers, third, save themselves thanks to these results from the first round, from which they are exempted. The other 10, including the Fireballs of Sergio García, Eugenio Chacarra and David Puig, sixth, play the quarterfinals on Friday.

Numbers four through eight will choose their opponent from the remaining five. The five teams that advance will compete in the semi-finals on Saturday against the three teams on the podium. These first two days are in matchplay format, with two individual duels and a foursomes per match.

On Sunday, the last four survivors will compete in the usual format, stroke play, to determine the champion. The outcome of each structure is based on the individual cards of each of the four members. The winner will receive 14 (12.5 euros) of the 50 ‘kilos’ at stake, of which 60% must go to operational costs and the remaining 40%, 1.4 million (1.2), to the pockets of each player.

The second will take 8 and the third 6. It could be the last time Jon has Kieran Vincent under his command, who finished the season in the Drop Zone and must play the circuit school to maintain his membership, and Caleb Surratt, who is in the Open Zone, with the freedom to continue in Legion XIII or find a new destiny.

It remains to be seen whether Bubba Watson will have to do the same, in relegation positions but ultimately captain of a team, the Range Goats. The circuit finds itself in a tricky situation, deciding whether to bank on the meritocracy that has been established this year or to skip it at the first opportunity in order to retain one of its most popular names, and one who cost a million to sign, as the visible face of one of its franchises.