COLLEGE GROVE (AP) — Tyrrell Hatton won the inaugural LIV Golf Nashville event Sunday, easily holding off Jon Rahm and two-time U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau for the Englishman's first victory since January 2021 at Abu Dhabi.
Hatton took a three-stroke lead into the round, and shot a 6-under 65 to polish off a six-stroke win at The Grove. Hatton had eight birdies and two bogeys to finish at 19-under 194 trying to avoid looking at a leaderboard until the 17th green.
"It was nice to play the last few holes and it not be super tight," said Hatton, who shot a 77 and tied for 26th at the U.S. Open last week. "I guess having not won for three and a half years ... you wonder if you'll be able to do it in some ways. So I was happy I was able to prove it to myself."
This was Hatton's ninth event since joining LIV Golf, and a tie for fourth had been his best finish. His lone PGA victory was the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational. With captain Rahm shooting a 68, Hatton helped Legion XIII also win its third team title.
Rahm played his first event since an infection on his left foot kept him out of the U.S. Open after withdrawing from LIV Golf Houston during the second round. Nobody could chase Hatton down on a steamy Tennessee afternoon.
Fellow Englishman Sam Horsfield made his own late run with five birdies over his final nine holes for a 65 and finished 13 under.
DeChambeau (68) and Rahm tied Joaquin Niemann (62) and Lee Westwood (66) at 12 under.
Rahm birdied three of his first four holes to pull within two of Hatton. Then the Spaniard hooked his tee shot into the water on the par-4 sixth. He made clear a drone used for TV coverage affected his backswing, and he salvaged a double bogey.
DeChambeau hit the pin on the par-3 15th and watched his birdie putt dribble away from the hole. He watched, then fell to the green and rolled onto his back.
A sudden downpour suspended play with five holes left for 22 minutes before the sun popped back out to conclude the final five holes.
UP NEXT:
LIV Golf's next event is July 12-14 at Real Club Valderrama in Andalucia, Spain.
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