Redemption in the Fragrant Harbour: Rahm Finally Raises a Trophy
4Aces Find Their 2022/2023 Form
LIV Golf Hong Kong 2026 — Top 10 (Individual)
Pos Player Team R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
1 Jon Rahm Legion XIII -4 -8 -5 -6 -23
2 Thomas Detry 4Aces GC -6 -7 -4 -3 -20
3 Thomas Pieters 4Aces GC -2 -4 -9 -4 -19
4 Harold Varner III Smash GC -4 -6 -7 -1 -18
5 Matthew Wolff RangeGoats GC -5 -6 -1 -5 -17
6 Carlos Ortiz Torque GC -10 -4 -1 -1 -16
7 Dean Burmester Southern Guards GC -8 -6 -1 E -15
T8 Lucas Herbert Ripper GC -4 -5 -5 E -14
T8 Sergio Garcia Fireballs GC -7 -1 -5 -1 -14
T8 Louis Oosthuizen Southern Guards GC +1 -5 -5 -5 -14Redemption in the Fragrant Harbour: Rahm Rises as 4Aces Find Their Form
Jon Rahm stood on the 18th green at Fanling’s Hong Kong Golf Club, his arms raised not in triumph but in something closer to relief. The six-under 64 he’d just carded—the lowest final round of the week, had delivered his first LIV Golf victory, but more importantly, it had exorcised the ghost of Adelaide.
Two weeks prior, Rahm had watched a tournament slip through his fingers as Anthony Kim authored one of the most improbable comebacks in LIV Golf history, firing a final-round 63 to Rahm’s pedestrian 71. The Spaniard had been visibly devastated, his usual composure cracking under the weight of what felt like a squandered opportunity. Hong Kong, then, represented more than just another tournament, it was a test of character, a chance to prove that Adelaide was an aberration rather than a harbinger of things to come.
The week began inauspiciously. While Rahm was arranging emergency flights for players stranded by escalating Middle East conflict, a gesture of generosity that spoke volumes about his leadership within the league, his own preparation suffered considerably. His Wednesday warm-up session was, by his own admission, a disaster. Yet when the tournament began, Rahm found the clarity that had eluded him in Adelaide’s final round. He extended his streak of rounds under par to 21, matching his own LIV Golf record, and when Sunday arrived, he delivered precisely when it mattered most.
But Rahm’s individual triumph was only half the story. The 4Aces GC, golf’s most scrutinised team, finally clicked with their reconfigured roster. Dustin Johnson’s squad, now featuring the resurgent Anthony Kim alongside Belgian stalwarts Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry, claimed their first team victory of the season by a commanding six strokes over Smash GC.
Kim’s inclusion in the 4Aces lineup was itself a narrative arc. After years away from competitive golf, he’d returned as a Wild Card, an independent player testing the waters. His Adelaide heroics proved he still possessed the magic, and the 4Aces moved quickly to secure his services. In Hong Kong, Kim demonstrated he could adapt to team golf’s unique demands, contributing solid rounds whilst his team-mates flourished around him.
And flourish they did. Thomas Pieters finally broke through to the podium with a solo third-place finish, ending a frustrating streak of eight top-10 finishes without cracking the top three. His consistency had long been evident; what had been missing was the killer instinct on Sunday. In Hong Kong, he found it.
Even more impressive was Thomas Detry’s seamless transition to LIV Golf. The Belgian, making just his second start after debuting in Riyadh, posted back-to-back runner-up finishes, a feat that announced his arrival as a genuine contender. That Detry was amongst the players stranded by travel chaos, and that Rahm had personally helped arrange his flight to Hong Kong, added a layer of poetic justice to the week’s outcome. The two men who’d navigated logistical nightmares together finished first and second.
Detry’s immediate impact underscored a broader theme emerging in LIV Golf’s 2026 season: the league’s depth is genuine and growing. Matthew Wolff’s return to top-five form offered another compelling data point. After well-documented struggles with his mental health and game, Wolff showed the maturity and resilience that had always seemed within reach but rarely materialised. His performance suggested not just technical improvement but genuine personal growth.
The statistics from Hong Kong painted a picture of exceptional scoring conditions. Only one player, Sam Horsfield, finished over par for the week, a testament to both Fanling’s accessibility and the field’s quality. Harold Varner III’s 24 birdies represented a career-best for LIV events, even if his overall position didn’t reflect the brilliance of his best moments.
Throughout the week, there was a palpable sense of relief amongst the players. The travel chaos, flights cancelled, routes rerouted, players arriving exhausted, could have derailed the tournament’s competitive integrity. Instead, it seemed to galvanise the field. Stories circulated of players helping players, of shared frustrations transforming into shared purpose. Rahm’s role in coordinating alternative travel became emblematic of LIV Golf’s evolving culture: less about individual brands, more about collective experience and mutual support.
As the season progresses, Hong Kong will be remembered as a genuine turning point. Rahm proved his Adelaide collapse was indeed an anomaly. The 4Aces demonstrated that their star-studded roster could function as an actual team. Detry announced himself as a force. Pieters broke his podium drought. Wolff showed signs of sustained resurgence.
The individual competition appears wide open, with multiple players capable of winning on any given week. Team chemistry, long dismissed as a marketing gimmick, is beginning to matter in tangible ways. And perhaps most importantly, there’s a renewed energy coursing through LIV Golf, a sense that the league has moved beyond its tumultuous birth and into something resembling sporting maturity.
Updated P&L — HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong 2026 (from our Preview)
Tips (from preview): Rahm 7/2, García 22/1. (8 places E/W market per preview – Betfair.)
Finishes: Rahm 1st, García T8.
Returns
Jon Rahm 7/2 — £1 Win — WON
Returned: £4.50 | P/L: +£3.50
Sergio García 22/1 — £1 E/W — T8 (placed)
(Place terms used: 8 places, 1/5 odds.)
Returned: £5.40 | P/L: +£2.40
Totals
Total staked: £3.00
Total returned: £9.90
Net P/L: +£6.90
Carry-over / Running season P&L update
Using the last published running total (after Adelaide): -£4.7
This week (Hong Kong): +£6.90
Season total: +£2.20