Jon Rahm Wins Abu Dhabi in His First Start Since Leaving LIV Golf, Then Jumps to No. 6

Jon Rahm won the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship on Sunday at 23 under, beating Tyrrell Hatton by two shots in his first start since LIV Golf collapsed and the birth of his fourth child. Tuesday’s world ranking update then moved him nine places to No. 6, the biggest jump in the top 50. It was his first DP World Tour win since the 2023 Masters, and a record sixth Rolex Series title.

How did Rahm win in Abu Dhabi?

By closing with a five-under 67 that held off two Ryder Cup teammates at once. Rahm took a one-shot lead into the final day at Yas Links, briefly lost it as Hatton, McIlroy and Francesco Laporta all led at various points on an eventful Sunday, then steadied himself on the back nine. He mixed six birdies with a lone bogey, matched Hatton’s birdie at the 15th to stay two clear, and made pars over the closing three holes to finish at 23 under.

The numbers tell the rest. Rahm carded four rounds in the 60s for a 23-under total and the $1.5 million winner’s check. Hatton finished second at 21 under and McIlroy third at 19 under, after the Northern Irishman had birdied the 10th and 11th to tie for the lead and then missed good chances on the 12th and 13th. Laporta’s challenge ended with a triple bogey at the par-three 13th. McIlroy had already made the week his own kind of story, answering a two-shot penalty with a 63 and a record 11 birdies, and he finished the week chasing the same two men he was chasing on Sunday.

Why is this win different from his other titles?

Because of what came before it. Rahm joined LIV Golf in 2023 and spent more than three years away from the tour’s regular schedule while the breakaway league divided the sport. He rejected any LIV 2.0 relaunch in a bankruptcy court hearing last month, and the league then folded this week after a last-ditch financing deal fell through. Yahoo Sports reported that his exit meant walking away from as much as $100 million left on his LIV contract and giving up his equity in his Legion XIII team.

The win also came after a seven-week layoff and the birth of his second daughter, the couple’s fourth child, during the break. It was his first start in seven weeks, his first time playing the event, and his first regular DP World Tour title since the 2022 DP World Tour Championship, the Associated Press reported. He had not won on the DP World Tour since the 2023 Masters, and he had never won a DP World Tour event in his three LIV seasons. The wider LIV story has been tracked all year, from the $300 million lifeline that bought the league a few more months to the court hearings that ended it, and Rahm’s win is the first on-course answer to it.

How far did the win lift him in the world ranking?

Nine places, from 15th to sixth. The Official World Golf Ranking update published on Tuesday gave Rahm the biggest jump in the top 50, and it came from a single tournament win. Hatton climbed five places to No. 23 after finishing second, while Scottie Scheffler held a massive lead at No. 1 and Rory McIlroy stayed second.

The ranking jump matters because of how the system works. Points are awarded over a rolling two-year period and hold their full value for 13 weeks, so a Rolex Series win on the DP World Tour carries real weight. Rahm played 40 events in the ranking period, and one win moved him past Chris Gotterup, Tommy Fleetwood and Xander Schauffele in a single week. It is the kind of move that usually takes a season of steady results, and Rahm made it in four rounds.

What did Rahm say about the comeback?

He did not pretend it was routine. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve played good in a DP World Tour event,” Rahm said after the win. “As far as I’m concerned, except the shot on 17, I played a pretty flawless back nine.” Then he put the win in the context of the year behind him. “After everything that’s gone on, and some poor play, and some battles mentally, with a lot of noise, to come back out [and win] after a little bit of rest after having a new baby, it’s quite special.”

The quote is the honest version of the story. Rahm’s last two years were defined by a contract, a court case and a league collapsing around him, and his return to the DP World Tour was shadowed by questions about where he belonged. The tour itself has spent the autumn drawing lines, telling LIV 2.0 players they must choose between membership and the Ryder Cup, and Rahm still has DP World Tour status, which keeps his Ryder Cup eligibility alive.

What does the win mean for the Race to Dubai?

It keeps Rahm alive for a title that looked gone a week ago. He began the week 51st in the season-long standings and seemingly out of contention for the Harry Vardon Trophy, and his two-shot victory moved him to sixth, with the season ending next week at the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Only the top 50 available players in the standings are eligible, and Rahm is in the field.

McIlroy is the other man with a live interest. He moved above Patrick Reed into second and became Eugenio Chacarra’s closest challenger, within 534 points of the lead, and he is chasing a record-equalling eighth Order of Merit title. Chacarra ended tied-22nd in Abu Dhabi and Patrick Reed tied-43rd, which is what let McIlroy close the gap. The tour has been split over Rahm’s return all year, with Schauffele saying the players are divided four ways on it, and the Dubai finale will now settle the argument on the course, with Rahm in it.

What happens next for Rahm?

Dubai, then the reckoning with what his ranking means. The DP World Tour Championship starts on Thursday at Jumeirah Golf Estates, and Rahm needs to win it to have a realistic chance of taking the Race to Dubai for the second time, having first won it in 2019. He has won at Jumeirah before, and the course suits him, but Chacarra and McIlroy are both ahead of him and both in form.

Beyond Dubai, the win changes Rahm’s standing in a different way. The top ten in the Race to Dubai standings earn PGA Tour cards, but the Tour’s current policy is a one-year ban from a player’s last LIV appearance, which would lift in August 2027, and Rahm says he has yet to have a discussion with the Tour about a path back. The $100 million he walked away from is gone, but the ranking, the trophy and the Race to Dubai place are his, and they were won in four rounds of golf rather than in a courtroom. He did it in the week he turns 32, his birthday falling on Tuesday.