LIV Golf Singapore Round 2: Bryson DeChambeau Fires 65 to Open a Three-Shot Lead

On Thursday, Sentosa had four co-leaders and no clear favorite. By Friday afternoon it had Bryson DeChambeau, a 65 and a three-shot gap.

The Crushers GC captain posted a 6-under 65, the low round of the week so far, to reach 10 under at the halfway point of LIV Golf Singapore. Five players are tied for second at 7 under: Jon Rahm, Lee Westwood, Richard T. Lee, Louis Oosthuizen and Thomas Detry. DeChambeau's own team rode the round to the top of the team standings too, with Crushers GC at 15 under and three clear of Legion XIII.

The Round of the Week

After the first-round logjam, DeChambeau needed only a few holes to change the shape of the board. He opened with two pars, then birdied the third, fourth and eighth to turn in 32. By the end of the day he had six birdies, an eagle and only one blemish.

That blemish came at the par-4 15th, the hole that ate so many cards on Thursday. DeChambeau overdrew an iron off the tee into the harbor, took a drop and escaped with bogey. He answered immediately with a birdie at the 16th, which is the kind of response that tends to separate a leader from a co-leader.

The numbers explain why the round looked so easy. Through 36 holes DeChambeau leads the field in strokes gained approach at plus 4.70 and ranks fourth in strokes gained putting at plus 4.02, according to LIV Golf. Asked about his mindset for the weekend, he kept it simple: "Focus on my golf, what I can control."

The three-shot cushion is the second-largest overnight lead of his LIV career. The largest was four after two rounds in Korea last year, and he went on to win that one.

Five Players, One Number

The group at 7 under is a strange mix of form, history and opportunity.

Detry put the most emotion into his 67. The 4Aces GC player chipped in for eagle at the 18th from about 40 yards off the back of the green, and he now has three top-three positions at the halfway mark in his first four LIV events. Detry said he is up for the challenge, and the leaderboard suggests he will need to be.

Rahm went the patient route with a 68, which included 11 straight pars from the fifth through the 17th before a birdie at the par-5 18th. That extended his league record to 23 consecutive rounds under par. Rahm said he felt he played significantly better than on Thursday and was simply on the wrong side of small margins.

Oosthuizen shot 67 with six birdies and two bogeys and sits fifth in strokes gained putting. It is the first time the Southern Guards GC captain has been in the top two through 36 holes since London in 2023.

Westwood backed up his opening 67 with a 68, five birdies against two bogeys, in only his second start back from a wrist injury. It is the first time in his LIV career that he has been inside the top two after two rounds. Lee also shot 68 and remains the first wild card ever to sit inside the top two after the second round. No wild card has finished better than 12th in a LIV event.

Matthew Wolff, Marc Leishman and Charles Howell III are four back at 6 under after 68s, and Carlos Ortiz, Scott Vincent and Joaquin Niemann lurk at 5 under.

Crushers Take Control

Under LIV's 2026 format all four scores count in every round, and Friday showed what that means for a team with a hot captain. His 65 led a team total of 10 under, the best of the day, with Howell adding a 68, Anirban Lahiri a 70 and Paul Casey a 71. That moved Crushers GC to 15 under.

Legion XIII, six clear after Thursday, managed only 1 under on Friday. Rahm's 68 was fine, but Tyrrell Hatton shot 71 and Tom McKibbin and Caleb Surratt each shot 72. Legion is second at 12 under.

4Aces GC, who won the team title in Hong Kong, are only a shot behind Legion at 11 under after a 7-under day built on Detry's 67, a 68 from Thomas Pieters and a 69 from captain Dustin Johnson. Southern Guards GC and Ripper GC sit just behind them.

Aces, Pars and Streaks

Graeme McDowell provided the shot of the day, an ace on the 156-yard par-3 second. It was his second hole-in-one in consecutive weeks, the 15th in LIV history and made McDowell the first player in the league with two.

Martin Kaymer's 70 was the only bogey-free round of the day, built on 17 pars. Josele Ballester and Lucas Herbert each shot 66, the next best rounds behind DeChambeau. Johnson hit the longest drive of the day, a 356.3-yard missile on the 18th. Branden Grace's streak of under-par rounds ended at 21 with an even-par 71.

Weekend Stakes

There are 36 holes left, and the shotgun start on Saturday again goes off at 8:05 a.m. local time. DeChambeau has the lead, the ball striking and the putter all working at once, which is a dangerous combination. But five players sit three back, and two of them, Rahm and Westwood, have spent two days refusing to go away. In the team race, Crushers have the lead and a three-shot margin, though Legion and 4Aces both have enough firepower to erase that in a single round.

The full halfway breakdown is in the LIV Golf Round 2 recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: LIV Golf (Round 2 recap), FOX Sports, Arab News, Golf News Net (leaderboard). More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: LIV Golf.