Staff WriterBy the halfway mark of LIV Golf Mexico, Club de Golf Chapultepec had stopped feeling like a tournament venue and started looking more like a crime scene. Legion XIII, last year’s team champions in Mexico City, didn’t just take control of the week — they wrapped both arms around it, squeezed hard, and dared anyone else to breathe.
At 25 under par through two rounds, Jon Rahm’s team has built a 19-shot lead over Fireballs GC, the biggest advantage after any round in LIV Golf history. That is not a lead. That is a declaration of superiority with spikes on.
Rahm, as he often does, was at the centre of it all. His rounds of 65 and 67 have moved him to 10 under and into the outright individual lead, one clear of Matthew Wolff, Tom McKibbin and Harold Varner III. Around him, Tyrrell Hatton found the fireworks, McKibbin found nearly every green worth finding, and the whole Legion XIII machine moved with the cold efficiency of a team that knows exactly what it is doing.
Rahm sets the tone as Legion XIII break the format
The most telling thing about Rahm’s week is that he has reached double digits under par without sounding particularly thrilled about it.
“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.”
That is the thing about Rahm. He can be leading a tournament, carrying the strongest team on the property, and still sound like a man annoyed that the screws in the engine are not quite tightened to his liking.
“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.”
Even so, he kept producing chances, kept the card moving in the right direction, and left the course with the lead for the 16th time in a LIV Golf round since arriving before 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.”
That is a grim thought for everyone else.
Chapultepec’s altitude adds bite to the chaos
Golf at altitude has a way of making honest men question their mathematics. The ball flies differently, the margins go slippery, and shots that look perfect can end up somewhere unhelpful and faintly insulting.
At LIV Golf Mexico, that has been part of the theatre all week. Five drives over 400 yards were recorded on Friday, with Bryson DeChambeau producing the three longest of the day — 411 yards on the 5th, 407 on the 7th and 406 on the 13th. Josele Ballester joined the party with a 403-yarder, while Sam Horsfield added one at 401.
The place is already dramatic enough without the golf ball behaving like it has had two espressos and a motivational speech.
And yet the bigger stat may have come on the greens. Friday produced 1,737 putts, the most in any round in LIV Golf history. The field average of 1.69 putts per hole was the third highest ever recorded in a LIV round. Chapultepec, in other words, is asking awkward questions from tee to green.
Wolff surges, Varner lurks and McKibbin keeps marching
The individual chase behind Rahm remains lively, even if the team race has one foot in the hearse.
Wolff’s bogey-free 65 was one of the cleanest rounds of the week, though he insisted it felt nothing like a peaceful afternoon stroll.
“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.”
That was especially true when the rest of his game required a bit of field surgery. A 36-foot par save on the 12th was one of the round’s real pressure moments, the sort of putt that keeps a card pristine and a player believing.
“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.”
He also seemed to enjoy the crowd, even if Mexico City’s altitude was doing a number on his lungs.
“All the kids and the fans are shouting ‘Wolff’… it’s great,” he said. “Altitude is hard, though… I was so out of breath.”
Alongside him at 9 under is McKibbin, who matched the 65 and continues to look increasingly comfortable in elite company. His 94.44 percent greens in regulation for Round 2 was the best in the field, and his presence inside the top three gives Legion XIII yet another lever to pull.
Varner is there too after a 66, and his position feels more than decorative. He has not won since LIV Golf DC in 2023, but he sounds like a man grateful to be back in the fight.
“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.”
Perez slips as Masaveu keeps climbing
Every leaderboard has a man moving up and another backing into a hedge. On Friday, Victor Perez did the latter.
After opening with a brilliant 63 to lead the field, Perez stumbled to a 2-over 73 and dropped into a tie for sixth at 7 under, alongside Hatton and Richard T. Lee. That is not a collapse, but in a week where Rahm and company are operating like a military parade, even a wobble looks expensive.
Luis Masaveu, by contrast, kept marching. The 23-year-old Spaniard posted a second straight 6-under round to sit alone in fifth at 8 under, continuing the best LIV Golf performance of his young career.
“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.”
That is grown-up golf, and at this level it tends to travel well.
Further down the board, Marc Leishman produced the low round of the day, a 7-under 64, to vault into a tie for 11th after opening with a 74. Two eagles on the par 5s helped, which is generally a pleasant way to go about one’s business.
Home cheers for Ancer, but the team race is nearly gone
Mexico’s Abraham Ancer gave the home crowd something much closer to what they had paid to see. After opening with a disappointing 73, he rebounded with a 5-under 66 featuring seven birdies.
“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 sits tied for 16th, seven back of Rahm, which means a charge is possible if not exactly probable.
In the team competition, Fireballs GC are second at 6 under, with Korean Golf Club and Cleeks Golf Club tied for third at 3 under. Torque GC is another shot behind. Under ordinary circumstances that would keep plenty of intrigue alive.
These are not ordinary circumstances.
Legion XIII’s second-round score of 16 under pushed them into territory rarely seen in this league. Rahm at 10 under, McKibbin at 9 under, Hatton with nine birdies in a 66, and Caleb Surratt quietly holding his line at even for the team effort. That is not merely depth. That is pressure from all four corners.
What this means for the weekend at LIV Golf Mexico
The individual title remains open enough to stay interesting. Rahm leads by one, Wolff has form, McKibbin has control, Varner has momentum, and Masaveu is playing with unusual maturity. One hot nine holes can still make the whole thing twitch.
But the larger truth at LIV Golf Mexico is harder to dodge. Legion XIII have not just taken the tournament by the collar; they have given it a shake.
The historical marker matters. Before Friday, the largest lead by either an individual or team in league history was 14 strokes, set by Stinger GC in London in 2022. Legion XIII have already gone beyond that with a round still to play before the finale.
That tells you two things. First, Chapultepec is still capable of chaos. Second, this week’s most ruthless force has not been the altitude, the greens or the noise from the galleries. It has been Legion XIII.
And when Rahm starts describing a four-under day as frustrating, the rest of the field may have reason to feel exactly that.
