LIV Golf Mexico City Round 3: Jon Rahm Leads Teammate Tyrrell Hatton by Two as Legion XIII Eyes a Sweep

Legion XIII spent two days trying to beat the field. On Sunday at Club de Golf Chapultepec, its players may mostly be trying to beat each other.

Jon Rahm shot a second straight 4-under 67 on Saturday to reach 14 under and carry a two-shot lead into the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City. The man two back is teammate Tyrrell Hatton, who posted a bogey-free 66 to get to 12 under. Another Legion XIII player, Tom McKibbin, shares third at 11 under with Southern Guards GC's Branden Grace. As a team, Legion XIII leads by 15 shots with 18 holes to play.

Rahm Closes the Door, Again

Rahm's Saturday looked a lot like Rahm's Friday until the end, when it got better. Three birdies in the last four holes turned a solid round into a two-shot cushion, the kind of finish that tends to sit in the chasers' heads overnight.

The consistency is absurd. That 67 extended a run of eight straight rounds in the 60s, and Rahm has broken 70 in 21 of 23 rounds this season. This is the fifth time the Legion XIII captain will start a LIV final round with the lead.

The final group is the story. Rahm and Hatton have played together in PGA TOUR events, but never in a final round, and Sunday will be their first final-round pairing in LIV as well. Rahm said the dynamic between them should not change much, though the two will probably talk a little less than usual. Rahm also said a clean sweep, with the individual title, the whole podium and the team trophy, would be a sight to see.

Hatton Keeps Pressing

Hatton has done nothing to make that pairing easy. The 66 was bogey-free, the fourth clean card of the Englishman's season, and followed a nine-birdie 66 on Friday. Chapultepec is also familiar ground: Hatton shared the final-round lead with Phil Mickelson at the 2018 WGC event here before a bogey on the last hole cost a spot in the playoff, and the 54-hole board suggests the course still suits.

McKibbin, at 11 under after a 69, summed up the strange position the Legion XIII trio is in. "It's sort of a weird position. We're all playing against each other but then playing with each other," McKibbin said, per LIV Golf. Legion XIII can sweep the individual podium Sunday, something no team has done since the then-Stinger GC did it at the league's first event in London in 2022.

Puig Goes Low, Grace Putts Lights Out

The round of the day belonged to David Puig. The Fireballs GC player shot a 9-under 62, a career low as a LIV player and one shot off the course record, and gained 7.40 strokes on the field. Puig stood on the 16th tee at 2 under for the day and then went on a tear. "I played the next six holes 7-under, which is pretty unbelievable," Puig said. The charge lifted Puig into a five-way tie for fifth at 10 under with teammate Josele Ballester (65), Harold Varner III, Scott Vincent and Matthew Wolff.

Grace got to 11 under with a 65 built on the greens. The South African needed only 22 putts, the fewest of the round, and averaged 1.22 putts per hole, a personal best in LIV. Grace also stretched a run of par-or-better on par 5s to 66 holes and has now hit 52 consecutive par-5 greens in regulation.

Ballester, meanwhile, leads the field in strokes gained off the tee through three rounds at plus 6.02, and Lucas Herbert hit the longest drive of the day, 417 yards at the 12th.

Fireballs Swing, Legion Shrugs

The team leaderboard finally moved, just not enough to matter much. Fireballs GC shot 17 under as a team behind Puig's 62 and Ballester's 65 to reach 23 under, while Southern Guards GC posted the best team round of the day at 18 under, with Grace and Dean Burmester each shooting 65, to climb to third at 19 under.

Legion XIII, at 13 under for the round, simply absorbed it. Rahm's 67, Hatton's 66, McKibbin's 69 and Caleb Surratt's 69 pushed the total to 38 under, a 15-shot lead over Fireballs. The record 19-shot margin after Friday shrank by four, which in practical terms means Legion XIII lost a little ground and still holds a lead most teams never see at any point in a season. A Sunday win would also tie the Crushers for the most regular-season team wins in league history.

The Sunday Setup

The individual race is not over. Two shots is nothing on a course where Puig just played six holes in 7 under, and eight players sit within four of the lead. But Rahm has been inside the top two after a round at every event this season, and the two players closest to the lead wear the same shirt.

For the chasers, the hope is a slow Rahm start and a Legion XIII group that gets in its own way. For Legion XIII, the question is whether Sunday ends with one trophy or a full set.

Catch up on Round 1 and Round 2, and the full numbers are in the LIV Golf Round 3 recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: LIV Golf (Round 3 recap), the AP, Golf News Net. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Jon Ferrey/LIV Golf.