Ballester, who made a valiant effort as a 21-year-old facing two of the best players on LIV Golf, shot a 2-under 69 in the final group, showing tremendous resilience. After the round, Ballester reflected on his outstanding effort.
“It was pretty special,” Ballester said. “I would have definitely signed up for that when the day started. I had a good opportunity the last few holes to maybe close it, but I couldn’t do it, and I’ll learn from it. When you lose in a playoff to a birdie, there’s not much you can do. I think I hit a great second shot. I executed a great putt. It could have gone in. Hopefully next time it does.”
Rahm shot a 2-under 69 to get into the playoff but was clearly dissapointed to not come away from LIV Golf Chicago with a win. The T2 finish got Rahm 26 points closer to Niemann and now trails him by only 12 points heading into the season’s individual finale.
Torque GC’s Mito Pereira was in a dangerous position entering the week and sat in 53rd in the individual standings. Pereira made birdie in four of his final five holes to climb to T13 for the week. The performance was Pereira’s best finish of the season and moved him up four spots in the season standings to 49th. Although he still has work to do to avoid relegation, the Chilean now has a much better chance to climb into the Open Zone next week in Indianapolis.
Rd. 3 played the easiest of the three rounds to an average of –0.78.