Adrian Meronk held off Jon Rahm to win LIV Golf’s season opener in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The 31-year-old Cleeks player, who jumpstarted his tournament with a 10-under 62 on Thursday, closed in 71 under the lights to finish at 17 under, two shots ahead of Legion XIII’s Rahm (67) and Torque’s Sebastian Munoz (71). The victory is Meronk’s first since joining LIV prior to last season, which Meronk capped by finishing 17th on the points list.

“It’s super special,” Meronk said. “I was nervous all day. I played quite good in the beginning, then it was a fight at the end. But super happy that I crossed the line, and it was very satisfying, definitely, winning that tournament.”

Legion XIII won the team title at 50 under, 11 shots clear of Ripper and RangeGoats, in the first tournament since the team format switched to counting all four players’ scores every round.

This is the second straight season opener that Legion XIII has captured.

“I’ve always said the mission is clear; we compete to win,” Rahm said. “I think we’re all that way individually, and as a team it shows, and with the addition of Tom [McKibbin], he’s a world-class player, it’s just people haven’t seen it yet. It’s really made us stronger, and with the new format, like I’ve been saying all week, I think it’s to our benefit.

“Luckily we had a nice cushion going into today and we could afford to not have our best day as a team, but still, it was a decisive win and very happy we got to start the year again like this.”

Rahm birdied five of his first seven holes but couldn’t get within fewer than two shots of Meronk, who shrugged off back-to-back bogeys, at Nos. 10 and 11, to birdie the par-3 16th. Munoz, though, tied Meronk with a birdie at the par-4 15th before a bogey at the par-3 17th ended his threat.

Stinger’s Dean Burmester and Ripper’s Lucas Herbert tie for fourth at 14 under. Another shot back, Legion XIII’s Tyrrell Hatton tied for sixth with Crushers’ Bryson DeChambeau, Ripper’s Marc Leishman, and Fireballs teammates Sergio Garcia and David Puig.

LIV’s next event is Feb. 14-16 in Adelaide, Australia.