Jon Rahm used a strong back nine during Friday's second round to take a narrow lead at the halfway point of LIV Golf Mexico City in Naucalpan, Mexico.
Rahm -- who backdoored his way into a top-40 finish last week at the Masters by shooting 4 under in the final round to finish at 1 over -- overcame a rocky front nine to shoot 4 under on the back nine, post 67 at Club de Golf Chapultepec and sit at 10-under-par 132.
The Spaniard was in second place after the opening round at 6 under. He's now one stroke clear of Matthew Wolff, Tom McKibbin of Northern Ireland and Harold Varner III, who are all tied at 9 under.
"I was even par on that 9th tee, and I thought, ‘Well, if I hit a good tee shot on 9, I'm going to give myself a birdie chance,'" Rahm said after the round. "If I keep hitting good drives like I've been doing so far, I was going to give myself really good chances at 10, 11 and 12, so I think I told (caddie) Adam (Hayes), ‘If we can get one or two before we get to the par-5s, I think we're in a good spot,' and kind of took it that way."
Rahm, who started on the first tee at the shotgun-start event, opened with a bogey, which set the tone for an even-par front nine with three birdies and three bogeys. That included a ball into the water at No. 8, which led to a second consecutive bogey.
He changed the tune by starting his back nine with a birdie on the par-4 10th hole, kicking off a bogey-free final half of his round. Rahm racked up four birdies to put himself in pole position as he seeks his second 2026 win and sixth straight top-five finish to begin the season.
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Wolff, McKibbin and Luis Masaveu of Spain (who is in fifth place at 8 under) each shot 6-under 65 to shoot up the leaderboard.
Wolff navigated a number of tough situations with par saves to come away with a bogey-free round.
"I was a bit all over the place, to be honest. I told my caddie after I finished up, I said, ‘I would have never guessed that that round would be bogey-free.' I feel really good with the putter, so I think that helped a lot," Wolff said. "... Overall, obviously I'm really happy, but definitely would like to tighten the ball-striking up a little bit. But it's day by day. Hopefully I can leave that bad ball-striking behind and hit it good the next few days."
Australia's Marc Leishman had the low round of the day, posting a 7-under 64 to move past his 3-over opening round to move into a tie for 11th at 4 under. He eagled Nos. 7 and 12, finishing 5 under at the three par-5 holes during his Friday round.
First-round leader Victor Perez of France followed up his career-best 9-under 62 by shooting 2 over on Friday. He's tied for sixth at 7 under along with Canada's Richard T. Lee and England's Tyrrell Hatton.
Bryson DeChambeau, aiming to become the first player in LIV Golf history to win three straight individual events, posted his second straight even-par 71 and is in a tie for 31st.
--Field Level Media
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