LIV GOLF MEXICO CITY

April 27, 2025

Jon Rahm

Tyrrell Hatton

Caleb Surratt

Tom McKibbin

Club de Golf Chapultepec

Legion XIII

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome the team champions of LIV Golf Mexico City 2025, Legion XIII. We are joined by Tom McKibbin, our captain Mr. Jon Rahm, Caleb Surratt and Tyrrell Hatton. It was a tough day out there; you guys shot 28-under. You upped Ripper by two shots. Everybody here shot under par today. Tell us a little bit about the fight today.

JON RAHM: Well, it's never easy really playing here. Narrow course, small targets, altitude, trying to figure out the numbers, and then if you add the wind we had today, it's about as windy as I've ever seen it, so it's difficult to trust how much the wind is going to affect the ball in this air density.

But proud of everybody here. To hear that all four of us shot under par is not easy. It's a hard golf course. It's easy to get a couple bad breaks and almost not give up but forget that every shot matters. Really proud of Tom and Caleb for their finishing birdies, which obviously is what made the difference.

Q. Tyrrell, you had a really consistent week. You shot 4-under, 4-under, 3-under. Tell us about your week and your reaction to the golf course.

TYRRELL HATTON: Yeah, it was nice to be higher up the leaderboard again for me as the last few events haven't been much fun hanging around 30th place. Yeah, golf was a little bit better this week, and enjoyed playing in front of a decent crowd.

I'm always going to be frustrated we're not finishing higher. Obviously it would have been nice to even hole that putt on the last. But ultimately it's been a good week individually and as a team, and the last time we had a LIV event in Mexico we won as a team, as well.

It's nice that we've kept the 100 percent record going there.

Q. Last time you guys won was in Riyadh, Tom, you came in hot to the scene, you guys have been playing well, but how does it feel to be back in the winner's circle?

TOM McKIBBIN: Yeah, it feels pretty good. Obviously a tough week for me, but today sort of having something to play for and try and help get a team win was pretty cool, and to be up there again was a lot of fun. Hopefully we can do that a lot more.

Q. Caleb, you tied the low round yesterday at 7-under, fired off a 2-under today. Tell us a little bit about your week.

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, it was up and down. I shot 2-over in round 1, but I actually felt like I played really, really well and tried to go out there and almost accomplish the same exact thing on Saturday, and sure enough, golf is a funny game, and nine shots better, feeling like I was executing the same.

Then I was playing nicely today and hit some adversity on the back nine, but proud of the finish and proud of the team for finishing very well and obviously picking up our sixth win. It's awesome and very fun to be a part of.

Q. We're officially at the halfway point of the season now. What's the strategy for Legion XIII heading into the back half of the year so you can secure that No. 1 seed?

JON RAHM: John if there's a strategy to it, obviously. We have to continue playing well, and I would say as a team, we played good in Riyadh and I still don't think it was our best, and this week I think we were still not at our best, right, with Tom and Caleb having rough first rounds.

I think we're looking really good, and hopefully if you can just slowly keep improving each part of the season and get the No. 1 spot, obviously it opens up a few of those come the Team Championship, so obviously looking forward to being in that spot again.

But at the end of the day, it's clinching that top 3 is what's important. So far we've put ourselves in a good position.

Q. Caleb, can you just take us through your round? Really a roller coaster round. You went through that stretch of four bogeys but you were able to bounce back and made the two birdies that counted.

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, I was proud of the way that I handled myself all week. Unlike maybe the other three guys here, I still feel like I have something to prove, and I knew going into today that a good round could do just that.

To be honest with you, I was in a really good spot all day. I was 4-under, bogey-free through about nine holes, and then I'm suffering a little bit of stomach sickness so kind of faced a little bit of that adversity, unfortunately, on the back nine, and it's not an excuse, but made a few bogeys in a row and tried to gut up for the last three for the team. Was very proud of that, and definitely something to show for it, and going to keep that momentum going.

Q. Did you know on the last two holes that that was going to be the difference maker?

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, it was tough because kind of like Tom just said in the interview, we were kind of 5 or 6 up, no big deal, and then I made four bogeys in a row, and I guess somebody else made a bogey or two, and the next thing you know, we were, like, tied, and I was like, oh, my gosh, it's my fault. Like it is all my fault.

Definitely I knew going down to the last hole at least that a birdie would secure a win. I didn't quite know on my second to last hole. But yeah, I had a four-footer, and I was quite nervous over it. It's a lot to play for, and I think it's hard to explain what we're fighting for. I was really proud of that.

Q. Jon, Tyrrell, can you take us through your round playing together, seeing that leaderboard just go back and forth? It was so close. I didn't see a lot of smiles out of either of you during the day. I don't know if you felt frustrated or -- how did you evaluate your own rounds? Obviously a lot of smiles afterwards.

TYRRELL HATTON: Well, I think for me personally, I got off to a great start being 3-under through 4, and yeah, just hit a couple of loose shots and you sort of lose a little bit of momentum. It's quite easy to make mistakes around here without really doing too much wrong, and yeah, just didn't really get any momentum from -- well, honestly from probably when I made bogey on 8, which ended up being a good bogey. Yeah, just sort of my round kind of just tailed off, and that's frustrating individually, and yeah, you see it getting close in the team event, and I felt like my putt on the last, it would have been nice individually and also for the team maybe having a little bit of breathing space there.

But I guess you kind of want to hole it a little bit more in that sense, but it didn't work out. That being said, I think it's my best finish of the season on LIV, which is not anything to get excited about if I'm honest, finishing fifth, but I would love to be competing for wins, and yeah, for me, that's not been the case so far this season. But we'll give it our best next week in South Korea.

JON RAHM: I would say it might not be shown on the broadcast, but both Tyrrell and I smile a lot more than I think we're given credit for, to be honest. Honestly, if we made a couple mistakes on a couple bad holes, there's nothing to smile about. But I can remember three or four instances vividly where we were laughing.

It may be about anything funny that we did, about misfortune on the golf course, whatever it may be, but there's definitely stretches of golf where you get a little bit more frustrated. You don't need to do much wrong out here for something to go wrong. It's a tricky golf course.

As it goes to my play, I've played solid all week. I ended up four back with Joaquín's birdie on the last, but I missed three very short putts inside three feet this week, which is unusual, and none of them really felt like it was a bad stroke. The pins were in tricky positions on tricky slopes and I wish I could take that back. We always wish we could take shots back. But that's definitely easily two, three -- should be three shots that I left out there. Besides the first day, I didn't see a lot go in. I hit some good putts, but it's just golf. It is what it is. But those three errors is something that shouldn't happen or I should clean up better.

Q. You shot 61 here five years ago. Lucas shot 61 today. What kind of performance is that to shoot 61 on this golf course?

JON RAHM: I have to give him credit because I think today the golf course was harder than when I did it. When I did it, there was zero wind. Actually the first four editions of any event here, we played a little earlier in the year and I don't remember a breath of wind ever being a factor, to be honest. Today was unusual.

You know, the same way that things can go wrong, sometimes things do go right, and it's a golf course that if you just keep putting it in play off the tee, you're never going to have long iron into any par-4. You can reach the 2nd, the 3rd, 13 you get close, and if you're brave enough to hit driver on 1 and maybe on 17 and a couple others, you get really close, and 10, as well. Birdie options are out there. It's just the mistakes happen very quickly, and it's penal if you miss the greens or fairways.

As easy as it is to shoot a 71, sometimes it feels like it's not so easy to get off to a good start and get going, and that's what I did when I shot my 61. Obviously a little bit of luck with it, like Lucas, because I think we both had a hole-out, which you do need a little bit of that luck to shoot low here.

Q. How crucial or important was it for you to play together in the same group, pulling together for the team? And was there a special moment down the stretch in the final holes that you suddenly realized that you had taken the lead and you were running away with the championship?

JON RAHM: It's always fun to play with Tyrrell. I feel like we have a similar thought process on the golf course, somewhat similar reactions, as well, when things go good and bad. It's always fun to play with him because I relate a lot to him, obviously, and he's a fantastic player. I think most of the times we've been paired together we've both played good and shot a good score and finished up there.

I forget what hole I realized we were on the lead. I think it was around our 13th hole. Tyrrell and I both birdied it, and I think at that point we had a decent lead. It's crazy how things can go.

I don't usually get too caught up in the team aspect of things until I get to the end because in two, three holes there can be a big margin of difference. You can make up six, seven shots very easily, so I didn't think about it until 17 where I knew we were tied for the lead, and I had the four-footer for par, and I knew that could make a difference.

I was a little bit more nervous than otherwise I would have been on that putt, and then obviously on 18 it was an unusual situation because Matt Jones playing for Ripper had a birdie putt and then both Tyrrell and I had a birdie putt.

Unfortunately none of us made it, but it's one of those things where we're not competing individually but it still mattered for the team and made us want to make it more. I certainly thought I made mine and Tyrrell thought he made his, so it's unfortunate that we didn't. But it's the element that it's added to the event. It's elevated intensity and a little bit more fun when you actually get it done.

Q. What's your opinion about the unification between PGA and LIV, if it's beneficial for the players?

JON RAHM: It's a tricky situation. Obviously we're in a situation where it's a bit unknown how it could affect the world of golf long-term and the environment we have right now, and I do believe, yeah, if there was some kind of agreement reached, it would be better for everybody. There's enough love for the game worldwide for all of us to have a place to play, and I think there's a solution out there.

Now, none of us sitting up here are in charge and we don't know what that looks like because we're not lawyers and there's a lot of things going on, but I do believe there's an opportunity, and I've said this many times, to create something special. I think we're in a spot where there's more attention into golf than in the past from other parts of the world and different people, and I think with the right attitude and the right minds put together, something really cool and something really special could happen that would be beneficial for everybody.