Adrian Meronk secured his first ever win on LIV Golf League winning by two shots in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after a tense final round in which he opened the door for the likes of Sebastian Munoz and Jon Rahm.
On the other hand, Rahm’s Legion XIII spent the final round mostly in cruise control, their substantial lead never seriously threatened on the team leaderboard.
In the end, both Meronk and Legion XIII emerged as wire-to-wire champions in LIV Golf’s first tournament under the lights at Riyadh Golf Club.
The 31-year-old from Poland won his first individual title since joining LIV Golf League prior to last season, shooting a 1-under 71 to finish at 17 under, two strokes ahead of Rahm and Torque GC’s Munoz. Dean Burmester (Stinger GC) and Lucas Herbert (Ripper GC) tied for fourth at 14 under.
“Super special,” said Meronk, a former DP World Tour Player of the Year. “I was nervous all day. I played quite good in the beginning, then it was a fight at the end. But super happy that I crossed the line. It was very satisfying, definitely.”
However, the main headline coming from the event was the performance of Rahm’s Legion XIII team who strolled to the team title in Saudi Arabia.
They were seven shots ahead of any other team after the first round, and that gap just got wider after day two, with all four of their players in contention for the individual title with 18 holes to play. Legion XIII team posted a whopping 50 under par for the tournament, to win by 11 shots from Ripper GC and RangeGoats GC.
Legion arguably made the biggest player signing over the winter, with Tom McKibbin turning down a PGA Tour card to join Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Caleb Surratt. And they managed to send out a real message to the rest of the league with their performance in Riyadh.
Rahm, the defending LIV Golf Individual Champion was six shots back to start the day. He produced five birdies in a six-hole stretch early in his round and spent the back nine threatening to join the leaders. But he missed a 3-foot birdie putt at 15 that could’ve moved him to within a shot.
“I think I played good enough to win,” he said. “Obviously it just maybe wasn’t my week.” It was definitely his team’s week, though. Their dominance under the lights left no doubt.
