Rahm wins Abu Dhabi on return from LIV Golf

Jon Rahm won the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship on Sunday, closing with a five-under-par 67 at Yas Links to finish at 23 under and beat Tyrrell Hatton by two shots in his first tournament since leaving LIV Golf.

The victory was Rahm's 11th on the DP World Tour and his sixth Rolex Series title, a record, and his first win on the tour since the 2023 Masters. It came a month after the Spaniard announced he was leaving LIV Golf, the breakaway circuit he joined in 2023, which folded this week.

Rahm, 31, carded four rounds in the 60s — 65, 67, 66 and 67 — for a 265 total and the $1,530,000 winner's share of the $9,000,000 purse. Hatton closed with a 68 for 21 under, while Rory McIlroy finished third at 19 under after a final-round 69.

A crowded leaderboard on the back nine

The final round was a four-way fight for much of the afternoon. Rahm, Hatton, Francesco Laporta and McIlroy were briefly tied at 20 under on the back nine, with Laporta leading at one stage after birdies at the first and third holes.

Rahm reclaimed the lead with back-to-back birdies from the fifth hole, and the decisive swing came at the 12th, where Laporta found trouble and could not save par while Rahm holed a short birdie putt to move to 22 under. Laporta's challenge ended at the 13th, where a triple bogey left him five shots behind.

The shot of the year at the 15th

Rahm sealed the title with the shot he later called a contender for his shot of the year. From 184 yards at the 15th, he struck a six-iron that landed beside the pin and stopped two feet from the hole, setting up a tap-in birdie that gave him a stranglehold on the tournament.

Hatton birdied the same hole to stay two shots behind, but Rahm closed with three straight pars to complete a flawless week of scoring. McIlroy, who had opened with a birdie at the first and holed a huge eagle putt from the fairway at the second, could not sustain his early charge and settled for third.

"It means a lot," Rahm said. "Still almost not letting myself believe it. It's been quite a while since I've played good in a DP World Tour event. In my last showing, if you don't count the withdrawals, I think I finished last. So, from last to first is a pretty good feeling."

A new beginning after LIV Golf

The win closes a turbulent chapter for the two-time major winner. 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. His return to the tour's traditional schedule, at a course he had never played competitively before, could hardly have gone better.

Rahm said the victory felt special after a difficult period on and off the course. "After everything that's gone on and some poor play and some battles, mentally, with a lot of the noise, to come back out after a little bit of rest and having a new addition to the family, it's quite special," he said. He welcomed his fourth child with his wife Kelley Cahill last month and said he wished his family had been in Abu Dhabi to celebrate with him.

What the win means for Dubai

The result reshaped the Race to Dubai standings before next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Rahm moved to sixth in the standings, while McIlroy climbed to second in his bid for a record-equalling eighth Harry Vardon Trophy. Eugenio Chacarra leads McIlroy by 500 points heading into the finale, which runs from 12 to 15 November.

Rahm and Hatton also moved into the top 10 players not already exempt who will earn PGA Tour cards after next week's DP World Tour Championship. However, the PGA Tour still bans former LIV Golf players for a year after their last competition, so neither player is expected to be eligible for those cards unless the rule changes. For now, Rahm's focus is simpler: a debut win, a record sixth Rolex Series crown, and a return to winning ways on the tour where he made his name.

Francesco Laporta finished fourth at 17 under after a closing 72, two shots clear of a group at 16 under that included Angel Ayora, David Puig and Bernd Wiesberger. For Rahm, though, the numbers matter less than the feeling. "One can say that," he said when asked whether the week marked a new beginning. "After everything that's gone on, to come back out after a bit of rest and being with the family, it's quite special."