LIV Golf’s biggest stars went toe-to-toe on Sunday in South Africa, but it was Bryson DeChambeau who came out on top with his second straight event win, outlasting Jon Rahm in a playoff. DeChambeau and Rahm both finished at 26 under after 72 holes of a low-scoring week at The Club at Steyn City, ensuring a two-man sweep of the three LIV Golf events in March.
DeChambeau hit the shot of the day with his second on the par-5 18th, as he took a lash with a 3 wood from the muddy rough from 285 yards out, carrying the bunker short of the green and running his ball all the way back to hole-high, setting up a great look at eagle.
While he was unable to convert the putt, a birdie was enough to win, and DeChambeau was overcome with emotion after tapping in for his second straight victory.
“I wish I could tell you,” said DeChambeau when asked why he was so emotional. “A lot has happened in the past week. I’m just so grateful for my team, the Crushers, everybody supporting me.
“It’s so funny; golf is a fickle game, and you work so hard at it your whole, entire life, and you realize that golf is just golf and there’s a lot more to life than just golf. I had some things happen in the off time during this week, and I was just praying all day, praying to give me the perseverance to move forward and keep looking forward. I’ve just got to say I love everybody. Thank you for supporting. South Africa was unbelievable. Got to be the best LIV event we’ve ever had.”
After outlasting Richard Lee in a playoff last week to win in Singapore, DeChambeau picked up his second win of the year by taking down LIV’s other top dog in Rahm, who won the prior event in Hong Kong.
On the team side, DeChambeau’s Crushers narrowly beat out the South African team, the Southern Guards, by one stroke — 76 under to 75 under — giving DeChambeau the double of the individual and team titles. With the win, the Crushers became the winningest team in LIV Golf’s young history.
LIV Golf will now take a break until the week after the Masters, as Rahm, DeChambeau and other top players will have time to prepare for the challenge at Augusta National Golf Club. DeChambeau hopes his recent form can carry over in two weeks at the Masters. Last time out, he was in the final group on Sunday but struggled and finished four shots back of eventual champion Rory McIlroy.