Round 2 recap: Herbert, Ripper GC dominating at Maaden LIV Golf Virginia

STERLING, Va. — If there were any doubts about Lucas Herbert's Rd. 1 performance being unsustainable, he put them to rest emphatically on Friday.

The Ripper GC stalwart followed his opening 8-under 64 with a bogey-free 9-under 63 on Friday at Maaden LIV Golf Virginia 2026, extending his lead to six shots at 17-under par — the largest 36-hole lead this season and tied for the second-largest lead after two rounds in league history.

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Only one player, Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, is within nine strokes of Herbert’s lead.

“I don't know if there's a way that I can describe this that's not going to sound super arrogant. Just things started coming to me easily,” Herbert said. “The shots that you would see into greens happened and worked the way that you saw them, and putts that you would read to break a certain way just did exactly what you kind of thought. Maybe even at times you'd hit a bad shot, and you'd have judged it wrong and the bad shot now becomes good. …

“To be honest, I probably tried to enjoy it a little bit out there because I was able to in the moment see that that was happening and kind of just be able to sit back and appreciate it a little bit and understand this is pretty not normal. You don't know how many times as a golfer you're going to get to experience that kind of feeling.”

Herbert’s Strokes Gained Total average of +7.82 per round is a LIV Golf record for 36 holes. He gained +8.60 strokes on Friday, which is his second-best performance of his LIV Golf career, exceeded only by the +10.426 when he shot a 10-under 61 in the final round last year in Mexico City to tie for second.

“I'm going to say this golf course is probably harder than Mexico City was playing at the time,” Herbert said. “It's tough to compare them. I'm sat here 30 minutes removed from that round, so it's pretty easy for me to say right now I'm more proud of this than I am Mexico City. But as time goes on, I'll get a better appreciation for how I've played the last two days.”

Of course, he’s only at the halfway mark as he seeks his first LIV Golf individual win.

Garcia fired a 5-under 67 in tricky, windy conditions to sit in solo second at 11 under. The return to form for Garcia has been one of the stories of the week. He ranks second in the field in Strokes Gained Off the Tee (+3.33) and third in Strokes Gained Putting (+4.56).

The Fireballs captain spoke about the difficulty of committing to shots in the swirling wind.

"When it's blowing 20 miles an hour on a tough golf course, sometimes the pin starts on the left side, the wind is off the left, and you're like, OK, I want to hit a little draw, but you don't want to do it because if you short-side yourself on the left side, then you chip in from the short-side and downwind," he said. "I felt like I did a very good job for the conditions that we were playing."

Cleeks GC veteran Richard Bland made the biggest move of the day, shooting a 6-under 66 to climb to solo third at 7-under, one of Friday’s best performances outside of Herbert’s.

“Hopefully I can have a strong weekend and try and give Herby a run for his money,” said the 53-year-old Bland, “but if he keeps playing like the way he's playing, we're playing for second.”

Paul Casey is putting together his best start of the season so far for Crushers GC, shooting a 4-under 68 on Friday to move into a tie for fourth at 6 under alongside teammate Charles Howell III and Southern Guards GC’s Dean Burmester.

Casey spoke glowingly about the challenge the Trump National Washington D.C. course presented on a blustery afternoon.

“I’m going to say this is a major-level golf course,” Casey said. “I don’t know its history or that kind of stuff, so I don’t know if they have aspirations to ever push for that kind of event. Lucas has obviously gone bananas, but apart from that, take him out of the mix, it's a helluva challenge.”

LIV Golf’s current top three players in season-long points – Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Thomas Detry – are among five players tied for seventh at 5 under.

On the team front, Ripper GC extended its lead, moving to 21 under as a team, six clear of Crushers GC and Cleeks Golf Club, who are tied for second at 15 under. 4Aces GC sits fourth at 14 under, with Torque GC and Legion XIII tied for fifth at 12 under.

TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS

Individual Top 10

1 (-17) – Lucas Herbert, Ripper GC (64-63)

2 (-11) – Sergio Garcia, Fireballs GC (66-67)

3 (-7) – Richard Bland, Cleeks Golf Club (71-66)

T4 (-6) – Charles Howell III, Crushers GC (70-68); Paul Casey, Crushers GC (70-68); Dean Burmester, Southern Guards GC (68-70)

T7 (-5) – Thomas Detry, 4Aces GC (70-69); Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers GC (69-70); Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (69-70); Graeme McDowell, OKGC (67-72); Marc Leishman, Ripper GC (66-73)

Team Top 3

1 (-21) – Ripper GC (Herbert 64-63, Leishman 66-73, Smith 72-69, Smylie 71-77; Rd. 2 total: -6)

T2 (-15) – Crushers GC (Casey 70-68, Howell III 70-68, DeChambeau 69-70, Lahiri 75-71; Rd. 2 total: -11)

T2 (-15) – Cleeks Golf Club (Bland 71-66, Kaymer 72-68, Perez 68-72, Meronk 69-75; Rd. 2 total: -7)

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ROUND 2 NOTES

U.S. OPEN SPOT: With the cutoff for LIV Golf's U.S. Open exemption determined after this event, the race enters a critical stage heading into the weekend.

Tournament leader Lucas Herbert is currently projected to move into the top 3 in points and grab the exemption. But a Herbert win alone is not enough to guarantee him the spot — he would also need Thomas Detry to finish tied for fourth or worse.

Detry entered this week ranked third in points with 251.9. A solo fourth is worth 50 points, meaning he could move to 301.9. Herbert entered the week ranked 19th in points at 99.18. With 200 points going to a tournament winner, Herbert would max out at 299.18.

Detry currently is tied for seventh at 5 under, 12 shots off the lead but just two shots behind third place Richard Bland.

TOUGH TWO-HOLE STRETCH: The 194-yard par-3 third and 508-yard par-4 fourth played to a combined 1.05 strokes over par Friday, with the field of 57 players shooting a combined 63 over.

Despite playing 36 yards shorter on Friday than in Thursday’s opening round, the third hole had a stroke average of 3.58, making it the second hardest par 3 in league history behind the hole No. 14 in the third round at LIV Golf Tucson in 2023 (3.60). With the larger field size, the 33 over total at the third hole was the most over par on any par 3 in league history, and the fifth most of any hole. The eight scores of double bogey or worse were the most for any par 3 in a single round.

Just nine players (15.8%) hit the green in regulation at the fourth hole, making it the hardest green to hit this season in a single round and the fifth hardest to hit in league history. The hole played to a stroke average of 4.526.

“There's obviously a couple of holes today that were really, really difficult, like 3, 4,” said Sergio Garcia. “I mean, 4, it was a par-5. It was pretty much a par-5, not a par-4 today.”

BLAND'S BIG DAY: Richard Bland quietly posted one of the best rounds of the day with a 6-under 66, vaulting him to solo third on the individual leaderboard and helping propel Cleeks Golf Club into a tie for second on the team leaderboard at 15-under.

“I think today I holed out very well today, which I think you have to do when it's windy,” Bland said. “It's hard to get those sort of 30-, 40-foot putts right up to the hole side because you might be downwind, into the wind, and that affects it.”

It is a significant two-round stretch for the veteran Englishman, who has given Cleeks genuine team title contention heading into the weekend.

CASEY'S COMFORT ZONE: Paul Casey has thrived this week on a golf course that demands precision and patience over raw power, ranking fifth in the field in Strokes Gained Approach (+4.06) for the week and leading the field in Greens in Regulation (32 of 36). "This tests all facets of the game," Casey said. "You've got to be incredibly intelligent."

RAHM’S RECORD DEFICIT: Two-time Individual Champion and current points leader Jon Rahm will start the third round 12 strokes behind tournament leader Lucas Herbert. That’s the largest deficit he has ever faced after 36 holes in his LIV Golf career.

Rahm is tied for seventh at 5 under after shooting a 2-under 70 that ended his streak of 10 consecutive rounds in the 60s.

ROUND 2 NUGGETS

• The scoring average of 71.60 is the highest for any round this season
• Crushers GC was a cumulative 13 under on the par 5s on Friday, equaling the team’s best single-round performance on par 5s
• For the second consecutive tournament, Cleeks GC enters the third round inside the top 3 on the team leaderboard; until Mexico City, the Cleeks had not been in the top 3 after 36 holes since Chicago in 2024
• Lucas Herbert’s 17 under total through two rounds is the second-lowest 36-hole score in league history behind Talor Gooch’s 20 under in Adelaide in 2023
• Herbert ranked first in the field in Strokes Gained Off the Tee (+3.50), Strokes Gained Approach (+6.00) and Strokes Gained Putting (+4.67) in Rd. 2
• Paul Casey will start the third round off No. 1 tee – the first time this season he’s started a round on the first hole
• Charles Howell III managed 4 of 4 sand saves on Friday, his best single-round performance out of the bunkers in his LIV Golf career
• Thomas Detry (currently tied for 7th) has played 26 rounds in his LIV Golf career and has been inside the top 10 after 17 of those rounds
• The last time Richard Bland finished a round inside the top 3 was last year after the second round in Korea; Bland starts Saturday’s third round in solo third

STATS LEADERS

Round 2

Driving Distance: Lee Westwood, 307.2-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Sam Horsfield, 340.2 yards (2nd hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 2 & 12.

Driving Accuracy: Talor Gooch, 78.57% (11 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Paul Casey, Dean Burmester, Thomas Detry, 88.89% (16 of 18)

Scrambling: Lucas Herbert (3 of 3), Richard Bland (5 of 5), Dean Burmester (2 of 2), Martin Kaymer (4 of 4), Charl Schwartzel (5 of 5), 100%

Fewest Putts: Dustin Johnson, 23

Bogey-free rounds: Lucas Herbert (63), Richard Bland (66), Martin Kaymer (68), Charl Schwartzel (68)

Cumulative

Driving Distance: Matthew Wolff, 306.4-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Peter Uihlein, 349.1 yards

Greens in Regulation: Paul Casey, 88.89% (32 of 36)

Scrambling: Lucas Herbert, 100% (5 of 5)

Fewest Putts: Dustin Johnson, 52

FRIDAY SIGHTS & SOUNDS

Photos from today are available here

Round 2 at Maaden LIV Golf Virginia extended beyond the competition ropes, with the Fan Village delivering a high-energy, immersive experience for fans of all ages. From interactive challenges like the Golf Ball Swing, Drop Zone and Long Putt to family-friendly attractions including the Kids Zone and RangeGoats petting zoo, the atmosphere reflected LIV Golf’s festival-style approach to the game. Activations across team zones and fan spaces, from oversized LEGO art builds to community-driven initiatives, added to the day’s momentum, showcasing how LIV Golf continues to blend sport, entertainment and culture into a dynamic on-site experience.

Off the course, Cleeks GC’s Art of Golf activation added a distinct local layer to the week, featuring Virginia-based artist Glenn Hardy Jr., whose custom design brings the spirit of the region to life. Inspired by Virginia’s landscape and identity, the pieces incorporate symbols like the flowering dogwood and northern cardinal, creating a visual story rooted in place, culture and connection. The activation reflects LIV Golf’s continued push to blend sport with creativity, an evolution players themselves are embracing, with Richard Bland noting, “It’s such a cool thing to have a new golf bag every single week… we’re all excited to see what that golf bag is.”

WHAT’S TEED UP TOMORROW (SATURDAY, MAY 9)

Round 3 of Maaden LIV Golf Virginia tees off Saturday with a 1:05 p.m. shotgun start, as the competition reaches a critical stage heading into the weekend. With public gates opening at 11:00 a.m., fans can expect heightened intensity on the course as players make their move up the leaderboard. The day concludes with post-round interviews and a live performance from Bailey Zimmerman, adding to the high-energy festival atmosphere that defines the LIV Golf experience.

Featured Tee Times (Hole 1 Starters)

Full Tee Times & Groupings

Hole 1 — Group #1 (1:05 PM start)

• Dean Burmester (Stinger GC)
• Paul Casey (Crushers GC)
• Charles Howell III (Crushers GC)

Hole 1 — Group #2 (1:16 PM)

• Richard Bland (Cleeks GC)
• Sergio Garcia (Fireballs GC)
• Lucas Herbert (Ripper GC)

Limited tickets for Maaden LIV Golf Virginia from May 7-10 are still available for sale. More information is available at LIVGolf.com, with all tickets including same-day access to all on-site fan experiences including  LIV Golf After Play concert performance on Saturday. Children aged 12 and under (one per paying adult) and all military members receive complimentary Grounds Pass admission, with group tickets, hospitality and premium experiences also available.

For full event details, live scoring and tickets, please visit LIVGolf.com.