Defending LIV Golf Mexico City team champions Legion XIII has delivered a historic performance through two rounds at Club de Golf Chapultepec, building the largest lead after any round in LIV Golf history.
Powered by captain and 36-hole individual leader Jon Rahm and a pair of low rounds from Tyrrell Hatton and Tom McKibbin, Legion XIII surged to 25 under at the halfway stage at LIV Golf Mexico City, opening a commanding 19-shot advantage over Fireballs GC entering the weekend.
Korean Golf Club and Cleeks Golf Club are tied for third at 3-under, with Torque GC another shot back.
Prior to Friday, the biggest lead by either an individual or team in league history was the 14-stroke win by Southern Guards GC – then called Stinger GC – in LIV Golf’s inaugural tournament in London in 2022.
“Anytime you have to count and do some math to realize how many ahead you are, it’s an amazing thing,” Rahm said. “… I’m hoping we all keep playing to the same level, and come Sunday, the last few holes is not even a contest, and we have a 20-something, 30-something-shot lead. That would be amazing.
“But you have to expect other teams are going to come in swinging and play good, so we still need to do what we’ve been doing and play really good golf.”
Individually, Rahm is back in a familiar position atop the leaderboard, backing up his opening 6-under 65 with a 4-under 67, moving to 10 under for a one-shot lead.
Rahm leads a trio tied for second at 9 under, including McKibbin, RangeGoats GC’s Matthew Wolff and Smash GC’s Harold Varner III. Fireballs GC’s Luis Masaveu sits alone in fifth at 8 under.
First-round leader Victor Perez slipped into a tie for sixth after a 2-over 73, now three shots off the pace alongside Hatton and Wild Card player Richard T. Lee.
Rahm, the league’s current points leader and reigning two-time Individual Champion, once again showed his ability to stay steady — even if Friday wasn’t as smooth as the scorecard suggested.
“Today was a bit of a frustrating day,” he said. “I think whether it was the wind or the altitude, there was quite a few shots that were on a really good line and were very far off … there [are] issues that may occur, nevertheless it doesn’t make it any simpler.”
Regardless of that, Rahm continues to present himself possibilities as he chases his second win of the yr and fourth of his LIV Golf profession. The outright lead Friday is the sixteenth (solo or tied) since becoming a member of the league previous to the 2024 season.
“I’m clearly taking part in ok, I simply must make the most of the alternatives I’ve been giving myself,” he stated. “Pretty much as good as I’m taking part in, I nonetheless really feel prefer it may very well be higher.”
Wolff delivered one of many rounds of the week to date with a bogey-free 6-under 65, which isn’t any small feat given how he described his ball-striking.
“I instructed my caddie after I completed up, I stated, I’d have by no means guessed that that spherical can be bogey-free,” Wolff stated. “I really feel actually good with the putter, so I believe that helped so much.”
Regardless of the clear card, Wolff admitted it was removed from stress-free. A prolonged par save from 36 ft on the twelfth gap highlighted his resilience.
“Yeah, extraordinarily,” he stated when requested if the spherical was mentally draining. “It’s simply disturbing … it was sort of the other at the moment. I used to be scrambling so much.”
Wolff additionally credited the power of the Mexico Metropolis crowd whereas noting the added bodily problem of altitude. “All the children and the followers are shouting ‘Wolff’… it’s nice,” he stated. “Altitude is difficult, although… I used to be so out of breath.”
McKibbin matched Wolff’s 65 to present Legion XIII two gamers inside the highest three, whereas Varner stayed firmly in competition with a 5-under spherical.
Masaveu continued his spectacular week with a second consecutive 6-under spherical, protecting himself inside putting distance getting into the weekend.
Additional down the leaderboard, Marc Leishman produced the low spherical of the day, a 7-under 64, vaulting right into a tie for eleventh after opening with a 3-over 74.
TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS
Particular person High 10
- 1 (-10) – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (65-67)
- T2 (-9) – Matthew Wolff, RangeGoats GC (68-65), Tom McKibbin, Legion XIII (68-65), Harold Varner III, Smash GC (67-66)
- 5 (-8) – Luis Masaveu, Fireballs GC (69-65)
- T6 (-7) – Richard T. Lee, Wild Card (68-67), Victor Perez, Cleeks GC (63-73), Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (69-66)
- 9 (-6) – Minkyu Kim, Korean Golf Club (67-69)
- 10 (-5) – Branden Grace, Southern Guards GC (71-66)
Workforce High 3
- 1 (-25) – Legion XIII (Rahm 65-67, McKibbin 68-65, Hatton 69-66, Surratt 73-70; Rd. 2 score: -16)
- 2 (-6) – Fireballs GC (Masaveu 69-65, Puig 69-72, Ballester 71-67, Garcia 75-74; Rd. 2 score: -6)
- T3 (-3) – Korean Golf Club (Kim 67-69, An 70-69, Song 67-74, Lee 78-71; Rd. 2 score: -1)
- T3 (-3) – Cleeks Golf Club (Perez 63-73, Kaymer 69-69, Bland 74-73, Meronk 75-70; Rd. 2 score: +1)
This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.
