After a superb event in Chicago, LIV Golf heads to Indianapolis this week for the finale to the regular season with plenty to be decided at both ends of the table.
There is hope that LIV Golf will actually take relegation seriously this year. LIV have reportedly informed players that those in the drop zone will indeed lose their place for 2026. And everything said on commentary at Bolingbrook suggests that they are ready to be ruthless – at long last.
There is also the battle on for the individual title for the season. Few will be surprised to see Joaquín Niemann take a lead into Indianapolis. The Chilean has won five times this year.
But what may take more casual followers of LIV by surprise is the fact that Jon Rahm still has a very good chance of catching him and retaining his crown. Rahm has not won an event this season, but finds himself less than 13 points adrift.
Dan Rapaport says what could happen at LIV Golf Indianapolis does not make sense
Rahm will win the title if he wins this week while Niemann is not second. And speaking on Dan on Golf, Dan Rapaport has admitted that he cannot understand how that is still possible given that Niemann has won nearly half of the events so far.
“I’ve got a note about LIV Golf, this is their last week this week, it’s LIV Indianapolis, it’s their last regular season event before they do their year-end championship. Jon Rahm can still win the individual crown, and I understand you get a certain amount of points for a certain amount of finishes. I’m not a math guy, but Joaquín Niemann has won five out of the 12 LIV events this year. Jon Rahm has won zero. If Rahm wins the tournament and Niemann finishes third, Rahm wins the individual crown. Again, not a scientist, but if a guy wins five out of 12 tournaments, a guy who has won zero tournaments probably should not beat him in the season-long race,” he said.
“And that’s not even an anti-LIV thing, that’s reporting on LIV as golf. I would say the same thing for the PGA Tour. If this is a season-long points list, it would be like someone having a chance to win the FedEx Cup before the playoffs, the regular season through the Wyndham, despite Scottie winning four times and the other guy winning once. It doesn’t make any sense.”
What Jon Rahm said about Joaquín Niemann after his most recent LIV Golf victory
In 1982, Keke Rosberg won the Formula One Drivers’ Championship after winning just one race all season. However, unlike this year on LIV, no other driver won more than two races that season.
Niemann’s dominance has been so impressive that he really deserves to be remembered as the best player. Given that Rahm has achieved so much, it is hard to imagine that he will be anything other than slightly embarrassed if he beats him to the line.
Rahm himself labelled Niemann ‘severely underrated’ after his win at LIV Golf UK. He insisted that he is comfortably a top 10 player in the world right now.
“I’ve seen all those strokes gained rankings. I still don’t understand. He’s won five times here. How is he behind so many of us? I don’t know the numbers. I don’t know. My guess is obviously it’s majors, events outside of LIV that may be pushing him back. It’s not a true reflection. He is undoubtedly a top 10 player in the world right now. I’m saying that conservatively,” he said.
In fairness, Rahm’s consistency should not be overlooked. The fact that his worst ever result in a LIV event is a tied 11th finish is unbelievable – regardless of what you think of the league’s depth.
LIV also deserve some leeway because they have delivered a title race which is going down to the wire. Had Niemann received more points for his victories and wrapped up the title a lot sooner, there would be a lot less interest in Indianapolis.
But this year should perhaps prompt a change to the scoring to ensure that the player with five more wins than his rival cannot be caught with one event to go.
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