Event leader Jon Rahm of Legion XIII makes a chip during the second round of LIV Golf Mexico City on Friday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
From a Correspondent
Mexico City: Defending LIV Golf Mexico City team champions Legion XIII held a historic 36-hole advantage on Friday, building the largest lead after any round in LIV Golf history.
Powered by captain and 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.
It gave them a commanding 19-shot advantage over Fireballs GC (6 under) entering the weekend at Club de Golf Chapultepec.
Korean Golf Club and Cleeks Golf Club were 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 realise 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.”
Familiar spot
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 led a trio tied for second at 9 under, including McKibbin, RangeGoat’ Matthew Wolff and Smash’s Harold Varner III. Fireballs’ Luis Masaveu was 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’s things that can happen, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”
Despite that, Rahm continues to give himself chances as he chases his second win of the year and fourth in LIV Golf. The outright lead Friday is the 16th (solo or tied) since joining the league prior to the 2024 season.
“I’m clearly playing good enough, I just need to take advantage of the opportunities I’ve been giving myself,” he said. “As good as I’m playing, I still feel like it could be better.”
Wolff delivered one of the rounds of the week so far with a bogey-free 6 under 65, which is no small feat given how he described his ball-striking.
Hot putter
“I told my caddie after I finished up, I said, I would have never guessed that that round would be bogey-free,” Wolff said. “I feel really good with the putter, so I think that helped a lot.”
Despite the clean card, Wolff admitted it was far from stress-free. A lengthy par save from 36 feet on the 12th hole highlighted his resilience.
“Yeah, extremely,” he said when asked if the round was mentally draining. “It’s just stressful … it was kind of the opposite today. I was scrambling a lot.”
Wolff also credited the energy of the Mexico City crowd while noting the added physical challenge of altitude.
“All the kids and the fans are shouting ‘Wolff’… it’s great,” he said. “Altitude is hard, though… I was so out of breath.”
McKibbin matched Wolff’s 65 to give Legion XIII two players inside the top three, while Varner stayed firmly in contention with a 5-under round.
Masaveu continued his impressive week with a second consecutive 6-under round, keeping himself within striking distance entering the weekend.
Further down the leaderboard, Marc Leishman produced the low round of the day, a 7 under 64, vaulting into a tie for 11th after opening with a 3 over 74. (courtesy LIV Golf)
Leaderboards
Individual Top 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)
Team Top 3
1. (-25) – Legion XIII (Rahm 65-67, McKibbin 68-65, Hatton 69-66, Surratt 73-70
2. (-6) – Fireballs GC (Masaveu 69-65, Puig 69-72, Ballester 71-67, Garcia 75-74
T3 (-3) – Korean Golf Club (Kim 67-69, An 70-69, Song 67-74, Lee 78-71; Cleeks Golf Club (Perez 63-73, Kaymer 69-69, Bland 74-73, Meronk 75-70
Day 2 stats
Driving Distance: Bryson DeChambeau, 395.8-yard avg.
Longest Drive: Bryson DeChambeau, 407.1 yards (7th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 7 & 12.
Driving Accuracy: Scott Vincent, 85.71% (12 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Tom McKibbin, 94.44% (17 of 18)
Scrambling: Matthew Wolff (6 of 6), Tom McKibbin (1of 1), 100%
Fewest Putts: Danny Lee, 24
Bogey-free rounds: Matthew Wolff, 65
Also read: Perez on top in Mexico as Legion XIII head team competition
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