LIV Golf Hong Kong Round 2: Burmester and Ortiz Share the Lead as Rahm Fires 62

Friday at Fanling turned into a pileup. Dean Burmester and Carlos Ortiz share the lead at 14 under after 36 holes of LIV Golf Hong Kong, but the more telling number is the one behind them: 22 players sit within seven shots, and some of the hottest golf of the day came from the chasers.

Thomas Detry is alone in third at 13 under after a bogey-free 63. Jon Rahm is solo fourth at 12 under after the low round of the day, a 62. Matthew Wolff, David Puig and Richard Bland are tied for fifth at 11 under. In the team race, Smash GC surged to 35 under and a five-shot lead over Torque GC.

Burmester Plays Through the Stiffness

Burmester's round started in the training room. The Southern Guards GC star said he woke up stiff and received treatment on his neck on the fourth tee, and for a while the scorecard looked like it. He was only 1 under through 10 holes on Friday.

Then he found a gear. Burmester ran off four straight birdies, and he finished the job by rolling in a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-4 18th to post a 64 and catch Ortiz at the top. For a player chasing his third LIV Golf title, it was the kind of grinding round contenders need on a day they do not feel their best.

Ortiz was not as clean as his Thursday 60, but he was busy. The Torque GC man made seven birdies and three bogeys for a 66, including a run of five birdies in an eight-hole stretch in the middle of his round. He credited his comfort with a new swing, and through two rounds he leads the field with 16 birdies and shares the lead for fewest putts.

The Rahm Rescue and the Rahm Round

Off the course, this week has had a story bigger than any scorecard. When conflict in the Middle East closed the airport in Dubai, Detry was at home there and stranded. Rahm helped arrange a private flight out of the region for seven players and a caddie, Detry among them.

Detry made the most of the ride with a bogey-free 7-under 63 that vaulted him into solo third. "That was incredibly generous from Jon with all the uncertainty," Detry said.

Rahm, meanwhile, delivered the round of the day. The Legion XIII captain eagled the par-5 13th and birdied four of his last five holes for a 62, jumping from the middle of the pack to solo fourth. He sounded more matter-of-fact than thrilled about it.

"Clearly I'm doing just good enough to be in the hunt," Rahm said.

That sentence may undersell a player sitting two shots off the lead with 36 holes to play.

G-Mac Finds the Bottom of the Cup

Graeme McDowell gave Smash GC its signature moment with a 7-iron hole-in-one at the par-3 fifth, the 14th ace in LIV Golf history and the second of this week after Victor Perez's on Thursday. Hong Kong Golf Club now has five LIV aces, the most of any host course in the league. McDowell signed for a 63 and sits tied for eighth at 10 under alongside teammate Harold Varner III.

The streaks kept coming elsewhere. Wolff put together four separate runs of three or more straight birdies, tying the LIV record, and sits tied for fifth. Bland's 7-under 63 matched his best round relative to par on LIV Golf. Sergio Garcia's bogey-free run at Fanling finally ended at 69 holes when he dropped a shot at the par-4 seventh.

The course is still giving. Only three players are over par through two rounds, the second-fewest at the halfway point in league history.

Smash Breaks Away, Legion Climbs

The 2026 team format counts all four scores every round, and Smash GC had four good ones on Friday. McDowell's 63, Varner's 64, Jason Kokrak's 68 and captain Talor Gooch's 69 added up to 16 under for the day and 35 under for the event, tying the team's lowest 36-hole total ever.

Torque GC slipped to second at 30 under. Ortiz shot 66, Abraham Ancer and Joaquin Niemann each shot 67, and Sebastián Muñoz's 71 cost the team dearly in a format where every score counts.

The climb of the day belonged to Legion XIII. After a slow Thursday, Rahm's 62, Caleb Surratt's 64, Tom McKibbin's 65 and Tyrrell Hatton's 70 made 19 under for the round. That pulled Legion into a tie for third at 26 under, and it made Legion the first team in LIV history to start a round outside the top 10 and finish it inside the top three. Southern Guards GC shares third after Burmester's 64, Louis Oosthuizen's 65, Branden Grace's 66 and Charl Schwartzel's 67.

Halfway, and Wide Open

There is no cut on LIV Golf, so the whole field plays the weekend, but the contenders are separating. Burmester and Ortiz have the numbers, Detry and Rahm have the momentum, and the team race now has a clear leader with three teams in pursuit. On a course this soft, a five-shot team lead and a one-shot individual cushion can both disappear in a single hot nine.

Catch up on Thursday with our Round 1 recap, and find full details in the LIV Golf Round 2 recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: LIV Golf (Round 2 recap), Irish Golf Desk, The Golf News Net. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Chris Trotman/LIV Golf.