<p>Jon Rahm of Legion XIII. Photo by Pedro Salado/LIV Golf</p>
LIV Golf ended a tumultuous week with a six-shot win for Jon Rahm as Tom McKibbin expressed his desire to help Legion XIII win LIV Mexico City for the fourth year in a row next year.
With the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia announcing last week that it’ll be tightening its investments, and reports that, after spending over $5 billion on LIV, the rebel tour must now seek new backers, the players continued to speak as if nothing had happened.
“Yeah, three in a row has a nice ring to it,” McKibbin said after closing with a level par 71 to finish ten shots behind Rahm in joint fifth and pocket $615,000. “So four in a row would be even better.”
Rahm shot a bogey-free, seven-under 64 to win by six shots on 21-under from David Puig and pocket $4m as Legion XIII won the team title by nine strokes from the Fireballs on 45-under.
“Yeah, it feels good,” McKibbin said of the team win. “To get the first win of the season has been nice. We sort of have been close all year and to get over the line today was very nice.”
McKibbin, who will return to play on the DP World Tour at the Turkish Airlines Open later this month, believes playing alongside the likes of Rahm helps his game.
“I think getting to play with Jon pretty much every week we play and just to see how good he is, he's a hard guy to beat, so if you're up there or close to him, it means you're playing well, and it's definitely something that we can all sort of strive for,” he said.
“It's good to be around. You see pretty quickly what you need to do to get better, and it's great to be a part of the last sort of year and a half.”
It was a far more significant week for England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, who won for the second time in three starts on the PGA TOUR when he beat world number one Scottie Scheffler with a birdie at the first tie hole to win the RBC Heritage for the second time.
The Sheffield native had a three-shot lead with four holes to go, but Scheffler birdied the 15th and 16th and took advantage of Fitzpatrick’s bogey at the 72nd hole to take it to a playoff.
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<p>Matt Fitzpatrick was all smiles after his win at the RBC Heritage</p>
Despite chants of USA-USA and close-to-the-line behaviour from the partisan crowd at Harbour Town, Fitzpatrick hit a stellar four-iron to 13 feet and, after Scheffler failed to pitch in, rolled in the putt to win his fourth PGA TOUR title and move up from seventh to third in the world.
“It didn’t get out of line in terms of no one was shouting on backswings or anything like that,” Fitzpatrick said of the crowd after his win.
“Which was great. I’m all for it. I love the people -- they’re supporting Scottie; that’s great. You want golf to have an atmosphere in my opinion.
He added, “I grew up watching football. I’m paid so much money to be out there in front of those crowds, having them chanting at you every week, it’s a great feeling.”
He lost out to Cameron Young at The Players amid similar scenes, but after bouncing back to win the Valspar Championship, he enjoyed his win over Scheffler in front of a partisan crowd.
“It’s kind of winning away against your biggest rival,” he said. “Nothing to do with Scottie or the players; it’s the fans that have sort of spurred me on there.
“It was nice to obviously win, but it never crossed the line. It was just loud. Just loud.”
Shane Lowry tied for 42nd on six under after a closing 72 and now partners Brooks Koepka in this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans as Rory McIlroy continues to celebrate his Masters win.
Pádraig Harrington, meanwhile, had to settle for tied eighth in the Senior PGA Championship at the Concession Golf Club in Florida, 12 strokes behind Stewart Cink.
The Dubliner started the final day just five shots behind South African Keith Horne, but after getting to within four shots of the lead with six holes to play, he double-bogeyed the 13th and 15th.
Birdies at the 16th and 17th saw him sign for a one-under 71 that left him on seven-under as Cink made an eagle and seven birdies in a sensational 63 to win by six shots from Ben Crane on 19-under.
Article Link: McKibbin enjoys $615,000 LIV pay day as Fitzpatrick silences US crowd at RBC Heritage - News - Irish Golf Desk