Legion XIII produces record team lead while Rahm takes control

MEXICO CITY – 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. 

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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’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 of his LIV Golf career. 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. 

“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.

TOP OF THE 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; 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) 

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ROUND 2 NOTES 

400-YARD DRIVES: Five 400-yard drives were recorded Friday at the high-altitude Club de Golf Chapultepec, with Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau producing the three longest of the day. 

DeChambeau unleashed a 411-yard drive on the 5th hole, along with drives of 407 yards on the 7th and 406 yards on the 13th, continuing to take full advantage of the thin Mexico City air.

Two other players also eclipsed the 400-yard mark: 

• 411 yards – Bryson DeChambeau (5th hole) 

• 407 yards – Bryson DeChambeau (7th hole) 

• 406 yards – Bryson DeChambeau (13th hole) 

• 403 yards – Josele Ballester (5th hole) 

• 401 yards – Sam Horsfield (3rd hole) 

MASAVEU ON PACE FOR CAREER WEEK: Luis Masaveu matched his career-best score to par on LIV Golf by firing a 6-under 65. The 23-year-old Spaniard currently sits in solo 5th with his best career finish on LIV Golf being T14 (Singapore 2025).  

“Yeah, it was great. I think I've played super solid,” Masaveu said. “I missed in the right spots, which it was one of the things that I didn't do very well, and when I was out of position throughout the year I was trying to push too much, and I just stayed very calm today, same as yesterday.” 

HV3 IGNORING THE NOISE: Harold Varner III’s last professional win came in 2023 at LIV Golf DC. This week, he’s in a great position to change that as he is currently in a tie for 2nd, just two shots behind Jon Rahm.

“It's a great opportunity,” Varner said. “I'm doing what I love doing. I love playing golf.  With all the noise and all the other stuff, it's just so good to get out there. You don't think about it. I'm super privileged to have that opportunity to be able to go do something and get away from it.”  

HOME FAVORITE BOUNCES BACK: On Thursday, Mexico’s Abraham Ancer struggled, shooting a 2-over 73 in front of a supportive home crowd. On Friday, Ancer bounced back by shooting a 5-under 66 that included seven birdies and two bogeys.  

“It's been amazing,” Ancer said. “It's always an honor to play here. I feel like I'm always a little bit too hard on myself, trying to be perfect, and obviously put on a show, and I guess it makes it a little bit tougher. But today was really cool. I feel like I was feeding off the crowds. A bunch of kids out here, which is what we want and what we like to see. It's a great event, and the weekend is going to be even better.” 

Ancer is in a tie for 16th and seven shots back of the lead entering the weekend.  

MOST PUTTS: A total of 1,737 putts were recorded Friday. That’s the most of any round in LIV Golf history. The field putting average of 1.69 per hole is the third highest of any round, behind only 2022 London (Rd. 2) and last year in Mexico City (Rd. 3). Both of those tournaments had smaller field sizes than the 57 competing this week.

RAHM’S LEADS: With the outright lead after 36 holes, Jon Rahm has now finished 16 league rounds with the lead (including solo and ties) since joining prior to the 2024 season. He has held or shared the lead after six rounds this season, including the last two rounds of his win in Hong Kong.

NOTES & NUGGETS 

• Matthew Wolff’s bogey-free round is the only one thus far this week and the 13th of his LIV Golf career

• Luis Masaveu’s solo fifth is his best placing after 36 holes of a LIV Golf tournament; his previous best position was T17 at 2025 Virginia

• Tyrrell Hatton’s nine birdies Friday is his most in any LIV Golf round

• Tied for third, Tom McKibbin is making just his second appearance inside the top 3 after any LIV Golf round; he was also inside the top three after the opening round in Riyadh last season

• Marc Leishman was 5 under with two eagles on the three par-5 holes in Rd. 2, equaling his best par-5 performance in a single LIV Golf round

• Tied for third through 36 holes, Korean Golf Club is making its first top-3 appearance after any round since 2024 Adelaide and only the fourth time in team history 

• Torque GC started Rd. 2 in 12th place but finished in 5th, the team’s biggest jump in position from one round to the next; Torque improved by 12 shots over their first-round performance

• Branden Grace improved his par 5 Greens in Regulations streak to 49, moving him into third on the all-time list

• Harold Varner III’s 9 under total is his fifth-lowest score through 36 holes; the last time he was top 2 on a LIV Golf leaderboard through 36 holes was 2024 Hong Kong

STATS LEADERS 

Round 2 

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 

Cumulative 

Driving Distance: Bryson DeChambeau, 383.0-yard avg. 

Driving Accuracy: Victor Perez, 75.0% (21 of 28) 

Greens in Regulation: Martin Kaymer, 88.89% (32 of 36) 

Scrambling: Tom McKibbin (8 of 9), Scott Vincent (8 of 9), 88.89%  

Fewest Putts: Matthew Wolff, 52