Jon Rahm described as being in ‘one of the biggest stories’ of 2025 on LIV with Ryan Lavner shocked by what’s happened

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Jon Rahm has given himself a real opportunity to retain his individual title on LIV Golf after finishing tied for second in Chicago on Sunday.

With one event to go, Jon Rahm finds himself less than 13 points behind Joaquín Niemann in the season standings on LIV Golf. Of course, Niemann has managed to win five times across the year.

Rahm threatened to move even closer to the Chilean at LIV Golf Chicago. After what appeared to be an extremely frustrating day for the two-time major champion, he ended up in a playoff with Josele Ballester and Dean Burmester.

Ultimately, it was Burmester who won with a birdie on the first additional hole. Rahm paid the price for a wayward drive that ended up in the thick rough. He did superbly to find the green with his approach, but his birdie putt slid agonisingly past the hole.

Many left baffled by Jon Rahm as LIV Golf title race goes down to the wire

In many ways, that has been the story of Rahm’s season. His worst finish on LIV is 11th place, while he has finished second on three occasions.

Rahm had an underwhelming year in the majors. And remarkably, he has not managed to win on LIV in 2025. It could end up being the first year since 2016 in which Rahm has not won a professional event.

His consistency has been incredible. But speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner admitted that they are baffled by the fact that the Spaniard has not won a single event on LIV this year.

“I can’t explain Jon Rahm not winning on LIV Golf. That makes absolutely no sense to me,” Hoggard said.

“To be fair to Jon Rahm, he has given himself plenty of opportunities. He has played better in the major championships this year than he did last year, when he had his share of criticism when everyone thought that is exactly what is going to happen when you go to LIV Golf. I did not think that was a fair take. He was still a world class player when he went and he still is now.

“But it is stunning to me to the extreme, not just because of the level of competition, there are plenty of good players on LIV Golf but we know Jon Rahm. He is a proven commodity. And the fact he had an opportunity today to do it again and lost in a playoff shocked me.”

“Joaquin Niemann is the player who I thought Jon Rahm was going to be on LIV Golf. A player who consistently wins three, four or five times and absolutely dominates his competition, even on the weeks he doesn’t win he is up there,” Lavner added.

“The fact that he hasn’t won is shocking and one of the biggest stories in my opinion in 2025. The way that he lost in LIV Chicago on Sunday was also sort of an indictment of Jon Rahm.

“Standing up on the tee trying to hit the big peeler fade he hits, he ended up hitting it dead straight into the junk and did well just to make par.

“Where it has gone wrong is probably going to require a little bit of soul searching. He is just not sharp enough at this point. It’s incredible to say that Joaquin Niemann has surpassed him as a player, at least on LIV, the major championships is another story.”

Why the LIV Golf format may hurt Jon Rahm more than any other player

Pat Perez believes Rahm will win the individual title next week – and may do so without actually winning a single event this season.

It would be no surprise if the LIV format hurts Rahm more than most players in the league. Ultimately, over the course of a 72-hole tournament, it is impossible for anyone to fluke a victory.

Of course, it is almost as difficult across 54 holes. But there is less time for the field to space out. Paul Casey had a chance late on Sunday to make it a five-way tie at the top of the leaderboard with Carlos Ortiz also in contention.

You would have to think that Rahm’s superiority would shine through more often if his competitors had to maintain that form over a fourth round.

That may help explain why Rahm wanted LIV to look at playing 72-hole events. There is surely no way that he would still be awaiting his first victory of the year if each event was played across four days.