������Ƶ

Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz birdied the final two holes of regulation and won a one-hole playoff over Spain’s Jon Rahm to win the LIV Golf Indianapolis event Sunday in Westfield, Indiana
Rahm, who surged up the leaderboard in the third round by shooting an 11-under-par 60, lost the event but narrowly won his second consecutive LIV Golf Individual Championship over Chile’s Joaquin Niemann.
Munoz entered the day tied with Dustin Johnson atop the leaderboard at 16 under. A bogey on the par-4 15th hole dropped him to 20 under for the tournament while Rahm ended his round on a run, shooting his final six holes at 5 under to get into the clubhouse at 22 under.
After a par on the 16th hole, Munoz rallied with back-to-back birdies on the final two holes to force a playoff and birdied the 18th hole once again to end the playoff after Rahm’s birdie putt drifted just left of the hole.
It was Munoz’s first career LIV victory after he previously had six top-five finishes and 13 top-10 finishes over his three years on the tour.
“There’s no words to describe it right now. I’m proud of myself,” Munoz said. “It’s been a long time coming, six years since my last win, and it’s awesome right now being able to take it in with my daughter, my family, everyone here, it’s great.”
Rahm, who entered the day tied for ninth at 11-under, was sensational throughout the final individual round of the 2025 LIV season. He finished a bogey-free front nine with five birdies. On the back nine, he scored an eagle on the Par-5 13th, and then birdied the final four holes after a bogey on the par-3 14th.
Rahm won the individual title despite not winning a single event this season. He stormed past Niemann at the wire with three second-place finishes in the last four LIV events.
But he admitted the feelings weren’t all joy because he lost a playoff for the second straight tournament.
“Slightly bittersweet. Like I know I’m supposed to be happy. It’s a great moment. But it just doesn’t feel great to finish the year losing two playoffs,” Rahm said. “That part doesn’t feel great, so I’m sure over time I’ll get over that, and I really appreciate what I’ve done this year. To be able to win the season without actually winning a tournament, I know eventually I’ll be proud of that.”
Niemann entered the week No. 1 in the individual championship standings, with five wins in the first 12 events of the season. He finished tied for fourth in Indianapolis to total 223.66 points in the individual standings, just behind Rahm’s 226.16.
“We all know how good of a player he is, and yeah, he played amazing,” Niemann said. “I feel like he didn’t miss many shots, made a lot of putts, left his ball close to the hole pretty much every time. I played good. I started playing my best golf on the back nine, which I’m proud of it, but at the end of the day, the putts didn’t drop, and it wasn’t enough.”
Niemann and Munoz are teammates on Torque GC, which won the team title at Indianapolis with a team score of 64 under, 10 strokes clear of second-place Legion XIII (54 under).
England’s Ian Poulter entered the day in the relegation zone, but he birdied four of his final holes to finish 48th in the LIV individual standings, the final secure spot for the 2026 season.
Henrik Stenson of Sweden, Andy Ogletree, Chile’s Mito Pereira, Yubin Jang of South Korea, Anthony Kim and Denmark’s Frederik Kjettrup are the six players who finished in the relegation zone (49th through 54th in the individual standings). They will have to play their way back onto the tour by winning the International Series or through LIV Golf Promotions.
The 2025 LIV season comes to an end Aug. 22 through 24 with the Team Championship event at The Cardinal at St. John’s in Plymouth, Michigan-Field Level Media.

CINCINNATI: Iga Swiatek reached the final of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open for the first time on Sunday, surging past Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-3 in a match played in sweltering summer conditions.
Poland’s Swiatek, the reigning Wimbledon champion, recovered an early break in the opening set and powered away to beat 2022 All England winner Rybakina — who had swept past world number one and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals.
Swiatek, a former world number one now ranked third, had twice stalled at the semifinal stage at the pre-US Open event, but booked her title chance on her third opportunity.
She will vie for the title on Monday against either seventh-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini or Veronika Kudermetova.
“It was a tough match,” Swiatek said. “At the beginning it was crazy, so hot and we were playing so fast.”
The six-time Grand Slam champion recovered from 3-5 down in the opening set, sweeping the last four games.
Swiatek jumped to a 4-1 lad in the second, sandwiching a pair of love service games around a break of Rybakina’s serve.
But Kazakhstan’s Rybakina made her work for it, fending off three break points in the sixth game and saving a pair of match points in the eighth before Swiatek closed it out a game later.
“I was playing with intensity and quality,” Swiatek said. “I feel good about my game right now and would not change anything.”
Swiatek said she was prepared for a tough final, no matter who she faces.
“Anyone who is there will have been playing well,” she said. “Each of them play completely different tennis. I’ll have to figure out my tactics. I’ve progressed well at this tournament and I want to continue that.”
Before her 6-0, 6-0 Wimbledon final win over Amanda Anisimova last month, Swiatek had been in a trophy drought with her last prior title coming in June 2024 at Roland Garros.
Another victory on Monday would be a strong springboard into the US Open, where first-round play starts on August 24.