{"id":824044,"date":"2026-08-24T09:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T09:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/824044\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T09:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T09:10:15","slug":"la-sasso-holds-off-rahm-becomes-liv-golfs-youngest-winner-legion-xiii-successfully-defends-team-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/824044\/","title":{"rendered":"La Sasso holds off Rahm, becomes LIV Golf\u2019s youngest winner; Legion XIII successfully defends Team Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">WESTFIELD, Ind. \u2013 The 2026 LIV Golf season ended Sunday with a familiar foursome atop the team leaderboard, and a bright young star declaring his future greatness as the individual champion of LIV Golf Indianapolis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Jon Rahm\u2019s Legion XIII won its second consecutive LIV Golf Team Championship and the 12th team trophy of any kind, an impressive run of success in its three seasons as the league\u2019s first expansion team. The quartet of Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Caleb Surratt and Tom McKibbin shot a cumulative 10 under in the final round at The Club of Chatham Hills to win by six strokes over HyFlyers GC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Rahm, the three-time season-long Individual Champion, pressed hard for the individual tournament trophy with a 7-under 63 but came up one stroke short to the HyFlyers\u2019 Michael La Sasso, who at 22 becomes the youngest winner in LIV Golf\u2019s first five seasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Despite the pressure of being chased by major winners Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Sergio Garcia, La Sasso was unflappable on Sunday. Entering the day with a one-shot lead, he finished with a bogey-free 65 to finish at 18 under, clinching the tournament title with a clutch up-and-down birdie at the par-5 18th.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">\u201cI\u2019m completely speechless,\u201d said La Sasso, the 2025 NCAA Individual Champion who turned pro to join the HyFlyers this season. \u201c\u2026 I knew coming into this week that something special might happen, and kind of shooting 1-over the first round and looking back at the leaderboard, I didn\u2019t really think I\u2019d be standing here right now. But I was able to putt it off. It\u2019s pretty unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Rahm was his primary pursuer, and the two were tied for a large portion of the back nine. Rahm, who started his final round on the second hole, birdied the 18th to take a one-shot lead but finished with a bogey at the par-4 first hole after missing an 11-foot par putt. That dropped him into a tie with La Sasso, giving the youngster an opening to win the tournament on the last hole.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">\u201cMy mistake opening the door,\u201d said Rahm, the league\u2019s dominant performer since joining in 2024. \u201cMichael made a great up-and-down on 18 to win. He earned it, and as frustrating as it is for me, I\u2019m happy about all the good things I did this week to give myself a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Said La Sasso: \u201cI definitely saw the names starting to rise up on the leaderboard, especially early. I know we teed off a little bit later, so I knew I had some holes coming in to kind of shake them off a little bit. I knew as soon as I saw this last hole, I was like, this is my time to strike. It all worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">La Sasso has struggled for results this season, but his second-round 10-under 60 on Friday put him in position to make his move on the weekend. On Sunday, he played steady golf all day, hitting every green in regulation \u2013 just the fifth time that\u2019s happened for any player this season \u2013\u00a0and then finishing with three birdies in his last six holes. He\u2019s 50 days younger than former LIV Golf player Eugenio Chacarra, the previous youngest winner at age 22 at LIV Golf Bangkok in the inaugural 2022 season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">\u201cThat was impressive,\u201d said Majesticks Golf Club\u2019s Laurie Canter, who played with La Sasso in the final group Sunday. \u201cI knew he was a good player, but he\u2019s had no form. He\u2019s a killer, isn\u2019t he? He knows where it\u2019s going. I love it. I think it\u2019s great. I think he\u2019s going to be great for golf.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Legion XIII has been great for three seasons. The combination of Rahm and Hatton have been complemented by youngsters Surratt and McKibbin during their final two championship years. They started the day with a one-stroke lead but it only took approximately 90 minutes to build the lead to 10 shots, with all four players getting off to quick starts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">A year ago, they won the title under the previous format of match-play and stroke play. With all stroke play for ths week, Rahm wasn\u2019t surprised his team repeated as champions. \u201cGiving us four stroke-play days where all the scores count, I think it benefits us the way we play,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we\u2019re very consistent tee to green, and that plays to our advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Addeed Hatton: \u201cAs a team we\u2019ve done incredibly well. Winning last year was special. Obviously, this time around it\u2019s a little bit different, but it\u2019s nice to defend the title.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">As for La Sasso, the future is bright. This week\u2019s tournament was just his 13th as a professional. Pressured by some of the best golfers in the world, he stood strong, unflappable, never showing any nerves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">\u201cSeeing those names on the leaderboard, those are guys I grew up watching and admiring,\u201d La Sasso said. \u201cKnowing I was able to hold [Rahm] off, that\u2019s even more special, to be honest. I think it just kind of set the scene for it. It was a perfect day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>LIV Golf Indianapolis Final Round Full Highlights<\/p>\n<p>TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Individual Top 10<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">1 (-18) \u2013 Michael La Sasso, HyFlyers (71-60-66-65)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">2 (-17) \u2013 Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (67-67-66-63)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">T3 (-16) \u2013 Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (65-68-67-64); Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (64-69-66-65)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">T5 (-15) \u2013 Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (66-68-66-65); Laurie Canter, Majesticks (62-68-68-67); Richard T. Lee, Wild Card (63-66-73-63)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">8 (-14) \u2013 Dean Burmester, Southern Guards (64-68-68-66)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">9 (-13) \u2013 Richard Bland, Cleeks (66-67-65-69<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">T10 (-12) \u2013 Thomas Detry, 4Aces (66-64-68-70); Marc Leishman, Ripper (66-67-68-67)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Team Top 3<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">1 (-44) \u2013 Legion XIII (Hatton 67-67-68-70, McKibbin 67-69-66-67, Rahm 67-67-66-63, Surratt 64-69-69-70); Rd. 4 score: -10)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">2 (-38) \u2013 HyFlyers GC (La Sasso 71-60-66-65, Steele 64-68-69-72, Vincent 66-68-66-65, Tringale 68-70-7-73; Rd. 4 score: -5)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">3 (-36) \u2013 Ripper GC (Herbert 66-69-71-64, Leishman 66-67-68-67, Smith 63-68-67-72, Smyth 70-66-68-72; Rd. 4 score: -5)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livgolf.com\/leaderboard\/2026\/indianapolis-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"text-fg-medium underline\">Click here for full leaderboard<\/a><\/p>\n<p>ROUND 4 NOTES<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">HYFLYERS REACTION: In addition to Michael La Sasso\u2019s victory, the HyFlyers finished second on the team leaderboard, the club\u2019s best-ever finish. La Sasso\u2019s individual title is the second in team history after Brendan Steele\u2019s win in Adelaide in 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">\u201cThat was really cool,\u201d Steele said of Sunday\u2019s success. \u201cObviously, it hasn\u2019t been the best year for our team, hasn\u2019t been the best year for Michael, so to finish like we did as a team plus him winning is incredible. We know that this is a level that he can play and the team can play at, but we just haven\u2019t done it. It\u2019s nice to finally do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">The addition of Scott Vincent in recent weeks had raised the team\u2019s performance in the absence of captain Phil Mickelson, who made just one start this season. The combination of La Sasso&#8217;s win and Vincent\u2019s T5 result provided the bulk of the scoring.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">\u201cThe team has been playing amazing the last few weeks,\u201d said Cameron Tringale. \u201cThe difference was at the bottom of the lineup, going from mediocre, bad weeks to winning. It does a lot for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">La Sasso said Mickelson sent the team a text of encouragement on Saturday night. \u201c I know he was watching, said it was the most fun he\u2019s had,\u201d La Sasso said. \u201cI\u2019m sure he was looking at us, and I\u2019m thankful for everything he\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">LA SASSO\u2019S WINNING UP-AND-DOWN: La Sasso needed birdie on the final hole, the par-5 18th, but his second shot from 229 yards finished off the green, 20 yards from the pin. That left him with a chip shot in hopes of setting up a birdie putt \u2013\u00a0and he delivered when his chip rolled to within a foot of the pin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">\u201cI just wanted to hit it as soon as I could,\u201d La Sasso said. \u201cI saw exactly where I wanted to land it and kind of just drew it up perfectly, and it just kind of rolled out to be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">RAHM\u2019S 19 TROPHIES: In his first three seasons in LIV Golf, Jon Rahm has won three season-long individual championships, four individual tournament titles, two team championships and 10 regular-season team titles. That\u2019s a total of 19 trophies, making him the winningest golfer in LIV Golf history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">\u201cBoth team and individual aspects, missing accomplished,\u201d Rahm said. \u201c I feel like we\u2019ve done a phenomenal job. All of them individually felt very different, but I\u2019m happy to come back after not having won last season with the great year that I\u2019ve had, and if anything answer those questions with another good season and actually getting it done without a doubt. It\u2019s a pretty good feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">DeCHAMBEAU\u2019S DAY: Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau made a push to win the individual tournament title, but his 6-under 64 left him at 16 under and in solo third, two shots behind La Sasso. Even so, it secured DeChambeau his best-ever season-long individual ranking, as he finished second behind champion Jon Rahm to earn one of the three bonus-paying podium results. Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann took third in the season-long points race to claim the other bonus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">\u201cI was proud of the way I fought,\u201d DeChambeau said. \u201cI started to catch some momentum on the back nine. Just the putts didn\u2019t drop today, and that\u2019s golf. It\u2019s a game of inches. Unfortunately, today just didn\u2019t go my way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>STATS LEADERS<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Round 4<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Driving Distance: Matthew Wolff, 328.5-yard avg.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Longest Drive: Matthew Wolff, 354.1 yards (8th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 8 and 18.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Driving Accuracy: Laurie Canter, Tom McKibbin, Abraham Ancer, 100% (14 of 14)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Greens in Regulation: Michael La Sasso, 100% (18 of 18)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Scrambling: Scott Vincent (6 of 6), Marc Leishman (5 of 5), Lucas Herbert (5 of 5), Tom McKibbin (4 of 4), Bryson DeChambeau (3 of 3), Martin Kaymer (3 of 3), Richard T. Lee (2 of 2), 100%<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Fewest Putts: Younghan Song, 24<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Bogey-free rounds: Richard T. Lee (63), Bryson DeChambeau (64), Lucas Herbert (64), Michael La Sasso (65), Scott Vincent (65), Martin Kaymer (67), Tom McKibbin (67)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Cumulative<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Driving Distance: David Puig, 322.5-yard avg.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Driving Accuracy: Louis Oosthuizen, 92.86% (52 of 56)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Greens in Regulation: Michael La Sasso, Richard T. Lee, Charles Howell III, Paul Casey, 77.78% (56 of 72)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Scrambling: Marc Leishman, 85.71% (18 of 21)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Fewest Putts: Cameron Smith, 102<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-article-body text-fg-low \">Low rounds: Rd. 1 \u2013 Laurie Canter (62). Rd. 2 \u2013 Michael La Sasso (60). Rd. 3 \u2013 Richard Bland, Younghan Song, Josele Ballester, Charl Schwartzel (65). Rd. 4 \u2013 Jon Rahm, Richard T. Lee, Charles Howell III (63)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WESTFIELD, Ind. \u2013 The 2026 LIV Golf season ended Sunday with a familiar foursome atop the team leaderboard,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-824044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}