Jon Rahm. Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jon Rahm's $18 million payday highlights flawed system

By Jack Dougherty | Last updated Aug 18, 2025 3:18 PM ET

Jon Rahm captured the season-long LIV Golf individual championship to cash in on an $18 million bonus, and he has the league's nonsensical point system to thank.

It's hard to argue that Rahm deserves the most lucrative season-long prize on the LIV Golf League in 2025. The Spaniard didn't win a single event in 13 LIV starts this year. He did finish runner-up four times, but was edged out in those tournaments by Adrian Meronk, Talor Gooch, Dean Burmester and Sebastian Munoz. Rahm had golden opportunities to win the last two events in Chicago and Indianapolis, but he fell short in a playoff both times.

Despite going winless in 2025, Rahm still earned more points than Joaquin Niemann, who won five times and finished T4 at the final individual event in Indianapolis. No other player on LIV Golf won more than once this season. Somehow, winning nearly 40 percent of the league's tournaments this season wasn't enough to earn Niemann the individual championship. Instead, Rahm walked away with the top spot and an $18 million bonus, while Niemann took home the $8 million prize for second place.

Back-to-back champ, Jon Rahm #LIVGolfIndy pic.twitter.com/VMmU9T4xQQ
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) August 17, 2025

This highlights a major flaw in LIV's season-long individual competition. Rahm shouldn't have even had a chance to surpass Niemann in the standings with no wins on his resume. Wins need to matter more.

For reference, Scottie Scheffler has also won five times this season, giving him 7,456 FedEx Cup points heading into the Tour Championship. Rory McIlroy, the next-closest player to Scheffler, has only 3,687. If the PGA Tour crowned a season-long champion based on points, which is how LIV Golf operates, no one would be able to come close to Scheffler at the season finale. Considering how much he dominated the PGA Tour this season, that would be a just conclusion that rewards the best player.

Niemann was the best player on LIV Golf in 2025, but he lost out on $10 million due to the league's unfair point system.

If all Rahm cares about is money, he sure made the right decision to ditch the PGA Tour for LIV Golf. The 30-year-old didn't win a tournament all year and still banked $31.6 million in prize money from LIV Golf alone. Last year, he made $34.8 million in the rival league.

Jack Dougherty

Jack Dougherty has been writing professionally since 2015, contributing to publications such as GoPSUSports. com, Centre Daily Times, Associated Press, and Sportscasting. com

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