Joaquin Niemann has been the stand-out performer of the LIV Golf 2025 season, but one man could stand in his way of the $18million individual title.
Jon Rahm still has a golden opportunity to secure the grand prize and take back-to-back LIV Golf individual titles after pipping the Chilean in 2024.
Niemann currently tops the standings with 206.80 thanks to a dominant stretch that includes five wins in 2025 – Adelaide, Singapore, Mexico City, Virginia and the UK.
Despite his 37-point cushion, the two-time Major champion is hot on his heels as they move into the home straight.
Just two individual events remain in the season, and it is Niemann who will field the Spaniard breathing down his neck.
This weekend, the duo will battle it out at LIV Chicago, where Rahm can add to his 169.16 points and take the fight to the individual season finale in Indianapolis.
But this weekend’s event at The Club at Chatham Hills will need to go the 2024 champions’ way if he wants to disappoint Niemann for the second straight year.
How can Jon Rahm take the battle with Joaquin Niemann to the final LIV event?
It’s a simple equation for Rahm, but that does not make the tall task any shorter.
If Rahm wins in Chicago and Niemann finishes outside the top 18, Rahm would leapfrog him in the standings.
This would see the ultimate showdown at the final event of the season in Indianapolis later in August.
On the other hand, if Niemann manages to outscore Rahm by just 2.37 points this weekend, the Chilean will win the title, avenging his 2024 defeat to Rahm, joining him, Talor Gooch and Dustin Johnson as LIV champions.
A win in Chicago collects 40 valuable points, meaning Rahm could jump to 209.16 if he finds some Major-winning form to win.
And if Niemann then struggles, taking three points or fewer, Rahm would travel to the final event with the upper hand.
The high-stakes permutations are reminiscent of LIV Golf 2024’s finish – only in reverse.
In 2024, Rahm stormed to the title with two wins and a second place across the season’s final three events.
Despite Niemann closing with two runners-up berths and a T15, he had to settle for second place on the podium.
Now, it is Rahm who will need the heroic finish if he wants to become the first man to go back-to-back in LIV’s young history.
Jon Rahm is winless in 2025
Rahm’s 2025 LIV Golf campaign has been impressively consistent but notably winless.
Leading his team, Legion XIII, to four titles in Riyadh, Adelaide and the UK, he has helped his squad top the team standings by a landslide.
Individually, he’s posted nine top 10 finishes in 11 starts, including second places in Riyadh and Andalucia.
Despite this, the individual trophy has remained out of reach, and he will need to return to winning ways to mount a late charge in 2025.
Even in the Major tournaments, it’s been a case of so close, yet so far with a T7 finish at the U.S. Open and T8 at the PGA, while struggling at Portrush and Augusta National.
Will LIV Chicago be his first individual title of 2025? Joaquin Niemann hopes not…
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Article Link: LIV Golf Chicago: How Niemann can win $18m jackpot - and how Rahm can stop it