Away from the noise about its future, LIV Golf in Mexico City reached its halfway pointr. He did it with Jon Rahm in the lead, bossy, at a high level, despite three bogeys, one at the start and two in a row, on the par 5 of the 7th and when he hit it into the water on the 8th. With seven birdies, leaving a couple of putts along the way, he shot 67 strokes to lead by a stroke over his teammate Tom McKibbin, Matthew Wolff and Harold Varner. That the legionnaires did so well provokes something never seen in the four years of history of LIV Golf. The XIII Legion leads by teams by 19 strokes ahead!
However, Luis Masaveu was the hero of the day, although Leishman, with two eagles, he played an even better shot (64). The Madrid native led in a couple of moments. Last year he played nine tournaments because in the middle of the season he was relegated to the bench due to the arrival of Josele Ballester. Sergio García gave him another chance when Abraham Ancer went to Torque and nailed him on Friday. He achieved the best round of his career at LIV Golf (65) and showed what Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, his coach, says about him. “He is a winner and a boy who works and is clear about it.”
A notable hitter, Luis, 23, used the driver whenever he could and then played second-shot wedges. He started on the 6th hole and it took him four holes to make the first birdie. It was on the 9th, a very far putt, more than 15 meters. He even left the mast in place to kick. From there, he performed very well in the shots from three meters to the hole, on some greens where understanding the poa, a grass that they are not used to, is an exercise in strength and only on hole 4, his sixteenth, a par 3, did he send it to the bunker and made the only bogey.
Chapultepec is not a course and its 2,200 meters of altitude is an easy course. Although the increased ball flight reduces this considerably, the greens are difficult as the day progresses. Jon, in that moment, was full of joy. He made four birdies on the last nine holes, including a chip on 13 that brought out his greatest adrenaline, remembering the times when in Larrabea, in Vizcaya, which comes to mind in Mexico, he was carving out a promising career as an amateur.
On Friday he punished Victor Perez, the first leader, who scored 73 strokes and fell to sixth place like Tyrrell Hatton -hence why the XIII Legion is walking around- nor for Sergio García. He added a 74 to Thursday’s 75, despite starting with a birdie like the first day. He made five more bogeys, for just one success. His teammates David Puig and Josele Ballester finished the day with 72 (+1) and 67, respectively. The one from Castellón is eleventh and Bryson DeChambeau, unknown, sealed another pair.
