WESTFIELD – Michael La Sasso’s smile never left his face.
Drenched in champagne, wide-eyed and soaked in the celebratory atmosphere around the 18th hole green at The Club at Chatham Hills on Sunday night, the youngest golfer to ever win a LIV Golf event didn’t let the moment change him.
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He just kept smiling.
After opening LIV Golf Indianapolis in Westfield at 1-over on Thursday, the 22-year-old La Sasso knew his time was coming despite not placing higher than 12th this season – his first as a professional with HyFlyers Golf Club.
The former NCAA champion turned a difficult opening 18 holes into a record-tying 10-under the next round and owned the leaderboard with a 4-under on Saturday before fending off a pack of veteran golfers to shoot a bogey-free 5-under 65 on the final day at 18-under overall to win.
“This is it right here. It doesn’t get much better than this, especially last event of the year to kind of cap it off with a bang,” La Sasso said following LIV Golf’s season finale. “I mean, this is what you dream of right here. Fortunate enough, it came true today.”
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Confident and composed, La Sasso’s steadiness proved more than character traits. It was necessary, as Legion XIII’s Jon Rahm began chipping away with nine birdies and seven pars to climb from 10th to potential spoiler.
Rahm, the 2026 LIV Golf individual champion, played ahead of La Sasso, and the three-time league winner challenged, taking leads multiple times before finishing tied for second at 17-under.
“I definitely saw the names starting to rise up on the leaderboard, especially early. I knew we teed off a little bit later, so I knew I had some holes coming to kind of shake them off a little bit, and I knew as soon as I saw this last hole, I was like, this is my time to strike,” La Sasso said.
Rahm, Crusher GC’s Bryson DeChambeau (16-under) and 46-year-old Sergio Garcia of Fireballs GC (16-under) each applied the pressure on La Sasso, who was paired with the event’s oldest competitor, Cleeks GC’s Richard Bland, 53.
Michael La Sasso hits onto the 18th green Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026, during the final round of LIV Golf Indianapolis at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield.
At 17-under with the 18th hole left, La Sasso kept his focus just as steady as his pulse.
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Rahm had a chance to separate himself on the 17th hole, but a potential birdie putt rolled slightly right for par. A birdie on 18 followed by a bogey on one – just his second compared to nine birdies on the day – set the stage for La Sasso.
La Sasso shot par 13 times, including three consecutive on the 15th through 17th holes, which left him with a shot to win it all on 18.
Last year, Rahm surged on the final day to force a playoff with Sebastian Munoz but came up short while still winning the individual league crown. Much like 2025, Rahm’s Legion XIII team also won the LIV Golf team championship at 44-under.
“It was a fantastic round of golf. Being able to go low twice on Sunday when I needed to here,” Rahm said. “I’ve been feeling good all week, made the first few, made the long one on eight and obviously, confidence was at an all-time high. Unfortunately, the only one that didn’t go was the last one.”
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La Sasso’s final two shots for birdie on 18 didn’t miss.
“I hit some unbelievable shots kind of through the middle of the round and couldn’t really capitalize,” said La Sasso, who had five birdies on Sunday. “I thought my time will come. Just have patience, as hard as it seems in the moment. I knew I had a couple scoring holes to come in at the end and was able to cap it off. I knew this was the hole to do it on.”
Prior to the final day, La Sasso joked that his approach would be the same as the first, though it was rumored he mentioned to his social media this could be a special day.
Like his NCAA title run, he carried the lead, and he didn’t let it get away.
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On the 18th with the sun setting, La Sasso etched his name in history as the youngest event champion since Eugenio Chacarra in 2022.
“To see the tee shot was definitely tricky with the sun kind of setting right in our eyes, so I kind of just stepped up, hit it, and kind of kept my fingers crossed,” La Sasso said. “It all worked out.”
A tee shot into the rough led to a chip shot that dropped just feet from the cup. The gallery chanted, “USA! USA!” in the distance in support of La Sasso, a North Carolina native.
A few minutes later, La Sasso sealed it, while fending off former majors champions and officially arriving as a professional with a birdie putt.
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“I definitely wasn’t nervous coming into today. It’s just another normal day, at least that’s what I tried to make it seem,” La Sasso said. “I think I tricked myself into kind of believing that throughout the day, even when I saw him start to chase me down a little bit. I just kind of wanted to stay in my own lane and do my best.”
In only his 13th tournament in his professional career, La Sasso lifted his first tournament trophy and couldn’t stop smiling.
“Seeing those names on the leaderboard, those are guys that I kind of grew up watching and admiring,” La Sasso said. “To know I was able to kind of hold them of is, I mean, that’s even more special, to be honest.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: La Sasso fights off challenge from Rahm, becomes youngest to win LIV Golf event
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