Solheim, Rahm, Tiger & poor Rory (oh my)
U.S. snaps drought, Rahm wins LIV title, Tiger has surgery and Rory gets pipped again
Team USA celebrates its first Solheim Cup since 2017 (Mark Runnacles/LET)
GAINESVILLE, Va. (LPGA) — Five months ago, Lilia Vu withdrew from her title defense at the Chevron Championship with a back injury that put her out of commission for a couple of months, unsure of what the future held.
Little did Vu know that five months later, she would be earning the clinching half point that won the U.S. its first Solheim Cup since 2017.
Some would say it couldn’t have been written better in Hollywood. But really, there are just two words to describe Sunday afternoon’s final result at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
Finished. Business.
The U.S. Team had an incredibly tall order this week in Virginia. Europe had claimed the last three Solheim Cups and would make history if they retained, as no team in the history of the biennial team competition has ever captured more than three consecutive Cups.
After the 14-14 tie in Spain last year, one that left the the Euros once again holding the trophy, U.S. captain Stacy Lewis told her team that they had some “unfinished business” to tend to this week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, challenging them to turn the tide.
And the 12 Americans more than rose to the challenge.
It all started on Friday morning, when the U.S. once again dominated the opening foursomes matches, 3-1, and grabbed three more points in the afternoon four-ball session on day one, leaving the Euros trailing 6-2 — the largest day-one deficit in event history.
Saturday was a perfect split. The foursomes session ended in a 2-2 tie, highlighted by Alisen Corpuz and Nelly Korda keeping their undefeated alternate-shot streak alive and native Virginian Lauren Coughlin winning her third point in three matches.
The Saturday four-ball saw each side earn two more points, with Alison Lee and Megan Khang’s caddies going viral on social media after taking their shirts off in celebration of Lee’s eagle hole out on the par-4 second hole, a moment that will life in infamy.
The Europeans trailed 10-6 heading into Sunday singles, but a spirited fightback made things interesting.
Lewis chose to send world No. 1 Korda off first after she went undefeated in team play, but England’s Charley Hull took her down quickly, 6 and 4.
Khang then leveled the score, capturing the Americans’ 11th point with a 6 and 5 win over Emily Pedersen to go 3-0-0 for the week, but Georgia Hall added another tally to the European column when she took down Alison Lee 4 and 3.
Rose Zhang routed Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, closing out her match 6 and 4 to post the 12th U.S. point. Zhang finished the week 4-0, joining Coughling (3.5 points) Khang (3) and Lee (2.5) as undefeated Americans. Corpuz took down playing vice-captain Anna Nordqvist 4 and 3 to put the U.S. within a point and a half of the victory.
A critical half point from Lee, who tied with Esther Henseleit, got the Americans to 13.5, now just one point from winning the Cup. But Europe, trailing by five with 8.5 points, started landing some punches late to put the pressure on the final few matches.
Celine Boutier came back from a 3-down deficit and birdied the last to beat Lexi Thompson 1 up on the 18th green, moving the Euros to 9.5 points with five matches still on the course. Leona Maguire then grabbed another point with a 4 and 3 victory over Ally Ewing, bringing the tally to 13.5-10.5.
Virginia resident and home-state hero Lauren Coughlin ultimately had a birdie putt to win the Cup on the 18th hole during her match with Maja Stark, but it didn’t fall, handing each side another half point and at the very least guaranteeing the Americans another tie with the Europeans. But that’s as good as a loss.
Lilia Vu clinched the winning half point with a stuffed approach on 18 (Mark Runnacles/LET)
With three matches left on the golf course, the U.S. Team desperately needed another half-point from either Vu, Sarah Schmelzel or Jennifer Kupcho to wrap things up.
Vu was one down to Albane Valenzuela, who hit her approach to the front of the 18th green, leaving herself a lengthy birdie putt to win the match outright. Vu bombed her drive and stepped up to her second shot, needing to be a hero.
The 26-year-old stuck her approach inside two feet, and after the Swiss left her birdie try short, Vu tapped in for birdie and for the clinching half point.
“This week was kind of hard for me,” said Vu. “I felt like I wasn’t physically 100 percent, and I almost felt guilty taking that spot from someone else and felt like I was trying to find something out here on the golf course. Luckily, I have the best team around me and was able to find my game today. I’m pretty grateful to even be playing golf.”
It was a huge moment for the U.S. team in the Solheim Cup that Europe has held a firm grip on since 2019.
“From the moment this team was together, they were together,” said Lewis. “I'm just so proud of them. I’m proud that they get this moment where they get to celebrate tonight and win this Cup.”
Jon Rahm LIV individual title is toasted by teammate Tyrrell Hatton (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf)
Rahm claims LIV’s season crown
Nobody was going to feel sorry for Jon Rahm this year, not when he signed a huge contract with LIV Golf, believed to be in excess of $200 million, and helped controversially disrupt the game perhaps more than any other player.
When Rahm had a poor Masters followed by a missed cut at the PGA Championship, there were whispers that he wasn’t enjoying himself, that the competition wasn’t enough for him, that he regretted his decision.
Although it’s unlikely we will ever know for sure, it’s difficult to envision him being upset now.
Rahm won the LIV Golf Chicago event on Sunday for his second victory of the year and in the process captured the season-long individual title and its $18 million bonus.
He came into the tournament with a slim lead over Joaquin Niemann, who also won twice this year, and ended up edging him by three strokes.
“It’s a different accomplishment because it’s not just one week,” Rahm said of winning the overall title. “Can’t really compare anything to majors in the sport that we live in, but being able to win the season-long race in two out of the three big leagues (he also won the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai in 2019) and having almost done it on the PGA Tour, as well, it’s a different feeling.
“Just being able to culminate all the good golf all season, and especially doing it by winning individually today I think is what makes it so much more special, knowing that I had to win and getting it done is something to really be proud of and something to reflect on.”
Rahm won $16,754,821 in LIV prize money plus the $18 million bonus. Niemann had to “settle” for an $8 milion bonus on top of the $16 million-plus he earned.
For Rahm, it completed an individual season that saw him never finish outside of the top 10 in 12 LIV starts, with two victories and a playoff defeat. He tied for 45th in his Masters defense and then missed the cut at the PGA, sparking the talk about a “poor” year. And when he withdrew from the U.S. Open with a foot infection, it appeared to be a lost season for him.
But after the foot issues, Rahm began to find his game. He won the LIV Golf UK event in between contending in the British Open and at the Olympics, where he led with eight holes to go before falling out of contention. He suffered a playoff loss to Brooks Koepka at the LIV Greenbrier event before winning Sunday.
“I wouldn’t say bumpy road, but definitely winding,” Rahm said. “Made the decision to join LIV Golf, fully confident that I can make an impact, and you deal with the emotions of that decision, the impact of the media, good and bad, and then going out to the season trying to win, trying to get a team together, a message of the team across, and then get those winning moments and start the year off great.”
Next up is LIV Golf’s team event this week at Maridoe in Dallas, where Rahm’s Legion XIII will have a first-day bye.
Rahm’s wife, Kelly, is also expecting the couple’s third child and next week he’s off to Spain to play the Spanish Open on the DP World Tour, one of the events he needs to play in order to full membership requirements so he can play in next year’s Ryder Cup for Europe.
Another back surgery for Tiger
Tiger Woods has now had a back procedure six times. The latest occurred on Friday when he had microdecompression surgery of the lumbar spine for nerve impingement in the lower back.
Woods, 48, had the surgery performed in West Palm Beach, Florida, and said that he had issues with back spasms during his limited 2024 golf.
“The surgery went smoothly, and I’m hopeful this will help alleviate the back spasms and pain I was experiencing throughout most of the 2024 season,” Woods said in a statement. “I look forward to tackling the rehab and preparing myself to get back to normal life activities, including golf.”
According to Woods’ statement, the surgery was performed by Dr. Sheeraz Qereshi of Hospital for Special Surgery.
Woods played in just five tournaments this year, withdrawing after one round due to illness at the Genesis Invitational, making the cut for a record 24th consecutive time at the Masters but finishing 60th and then missing the cut at the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and British Open.
The 15-time major champion, who also continues to deal with issues in his lower right leg due to a serious car crash in February of 2021, played just 11 official rounds this year.
Woods has had a microdiscectomy procedure to alleviate disk issues in his lower back in 2014, twice in 2015 and again in 2020, just a few months prior to the car crash.
In April of 2017, Woods had a spinal fusion, thought to possibly be career ending, which fused his lower spine. Less than a year later, he returned to competitive golf, winning the Tour Championship in 2018, followed by the 2019 Masters for his 15th major. Later that year, he won the Zozo Championship, for his 82nd PGA Tour title, tying a record held by Sam Snead.
Woods took part earlier this week in activities at the Nexus Cup, an event held at Liberty National in New Jersey in conjunction with his TGR Foundation.
He said following his last round at Royal Troon this summer that he did not expect to play any competitive golf again this year until the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in early December, an event that benefits his foundation. He typically plays the PNC Championship after that with his son, Charlie.
Next January, Woods and Rory McIlroy launch the TGL — a simulated golf team competition featuring PGA Tour stars.
Rory McIlroy doubles over in anguish as another chance slips by on 18 (Peter Morrison/PA Images via Getty Images)
Rory’s lament: ‘I’m getting used to this’
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Rory McIlroy was poised to win something special … and then he didn’t.
With a Irish Open on the world’s greatest golf course just down the road from his hometown with a Northern Ireland crowd eager to lift up their local hero, McIlroy made two late bogeys and missed a 10-foot chance for eagle on the last. This time it was Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard who stuck the knife in Rory’s heart with four birdies in the last five holes to win by one shot at Royal County Down — a rally that included pitching in from on top of a dune on the 10th hole and from a bunker on the 17th.
“Unfortunately I’m getting used to it this year,” said McIlroy, who suffered a similar fate in the U.S. Open when his mistakes coupled by Bryson DeChambeau’s brilliant bunker shot to finish off McIlroy’s agony. “Hopefully the tide is going to turn pretty soon, and I can turn all these close calls into victories.”
McIlroy said he intends to use the pain of his latest near-miss at the immortal County Down to end his 11-year major drought at Royal Portrush when the Open Championship returns to Northern Ireland in 2025.
McIlroy held a one-shot lead entering the final round in Newcastle that grew to three early on and at one point five shots ahead of Højgaard. But his closing 69 was eclipsed by Højgaard’s stunning 65.
After a sloppy three-putt bogey at 17 dropped McIlroy two behind the Dane, he needed an eagle on the par-5 finisher to force a playoff. A perfect drive split the narrow fairway and his approach settled to 10 feet — the closest of anyone in the field on Sunday. But with his fellow Ulstermen holding their collective breaths and waiting to erupt, his putt shaved the edge of the cup without falling.
“That roar when I hit that second shot on 18 was pretty cool,” McIlroy said. “The support I got out there this week was absolutely amazing. I’ve had a great time being home. It’s been too long. Need to keep coming back more often.
“But from where I was at the start of the week and what I wanted to do, it’s a step in the right direction. You know, if anything, it just whets my appetite even more for Portrush next year.”
Højgaard had Irish luck on his side, chipping in twice on the back nine but McIlroy missed gettable birdies around the turn and dropped loose shots after that. A terrible putt on 17 that blew by the hole and cost him a bogey was the most obvious example.
“I felt like I was in control of the tournament for most of the day,” said McIlroy who won the Irish Open in 2016 but has rarely featured late on the Sunday afternoon at his home championship other than that.
“I felt like I was playing really solid, doing what I needed to do, making a lot of pars, making the odd birdie. Then obviously the two bogeys on 15 and 17 opened the door for someone to have a good finish like what Rasmus did there on the last few holes.
“I played well this week. Missing the green right on 15 was the place that you can’t go. And just misjudged the speed with the first putt on 17. Overall, really disappointed that I didn’t win but I’ll try to take the positives and move on next week to Wentworth.”
McIlroy has won three times in 2024 and continues to rack up prize money with a consistently good brand of golf, but the tournaments that matter most continue to elude him with his latest majors still standing as the British/PGA combo in 2014.
Losing this year’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst to DeChambeau by one shot, after carding three bogeys in the last four holes including two short missed putts, will stand as the primary regret of the season, but Sunday’s heartbreak was all too familiar a story on home turf.