LIV Golf Adelaide: Rahm shoots 63, leads over Campbell and DeChambeau; 4Aces and RangeGoats share team lead
- LIV Golf
- Feb 13
- 5 min read
ADELAIDE, Australia – One of the rewards for winning LIV Golf Adelaide is the opportunity to celebrate with Grammy Award-nominated musical artist FISHER.
Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm, the two-time defending LIV Golf Individual Champion, is two rounds closer to sharing the stage with the Australian star.
Rahm moved to the top of the leaderboard after 36 holes at The Grange Golf Club, shooting a second-round bogey-free 9-under 63 on Friday to take a one-shot lead at 13 under.
If he maintains that advantage over the next 36 holes, he’ll not only end a drought of 16 months without an individual victory, he’ll also be the focal point of one of the league’s most festive post-round parties.
“Being able to share that stage with FISHER on Sunday as the champion is something I think all of us want to do,” Rahm said.
“It’s just an unique experience.”
Rahm rolled in a 47-foot putt for eagle at the par-5 seventh and made five other putts between 10-25 feet on Friday. Overall, he made approximately 151 feet of putts.
“I can’t remember the last time I made this many, but it was a lot – and the ones that didn’t go in looked like they were going to go in,” Rahm said.
“It was a fantastic day on the greens.”
Rahm’s closest pursuer going into Saturday’s Moving Day is RangeGoats GC’s Ben Campbell, who shot his own 63 fueled by a string of five consecutive birdies.
The New Zealand native has not won a professional tournament in Australia, but he has plenty of experience playing its sandbelt courses.
He also has plenty of support in the gallery, with family and friends making the short trip to cheer him on. He said a group of 15 mates has a rule – one beer for every birdie, two for an eagle.
Campbell had 7 birdies and 1 eagle on Friday, so that total number for 15 people is 135 beers.
“It’s great,” Campbell said of the support. “It’s as close to I get playing at home. Everyone has been amazing.”
Another shot back is Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau, who managed a 5-under 67 highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 7th.
New 4Aces GC member Anthony Kim is solo fourth after a bogey-free 67. Smash GC Captain Talor Gooch, who won the first LIV Golf Adelaide in 2023, is tied for fifth with Southern Guards GC’s Branden Grace.
DeChambeau finds himself in contention despite issues with his wedges, along with some bad luck.
On Friday, a gust of wind at the par-3 14th pushed his ball into the greenside bunker, leaving it plugged. It took two shots to escape, but he managed to salvage a bogey.
“I was scrambling all day,” said DeChambeau, seeking his first LIV Golf individual win since last year in Korea, “and that’s something you just can’t do if you’re trying to win a golf tournament.”
It’s even more difficult under prime scoring conditions such as Friday’s cloudless – and relatively windless – day.
Three rounds of 63 were recorded, just one off the course record set by Gooch in 2023, and the field stroke average of 69.035 was more than two strokes lower than Thursday’s opening round.
Thirteen different players made eagles or better on Friday, with Fireballs GC’s David Puig making the league’s third-ever albatross.
Campbell and reserve player Wade Ormsby – a member of The Grange filling in for HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson – each produced a streak of five consecutive birdies.
“Overall, with less wind today and the fairways being a little bit firmer, the course was easier,” Rahm said.
“I think the scores reflected it. I saw a lot of low rounds out there. But still, it can get tricky.”
Gooch said the conditions were similar to when he shot back-to-back 62s at The Grange in 2023.
“When you’ve got this many great players in the field, this type of place, if you don’t get much wind, there’s going to be some birdies made out there,” he said.
In the team competition, the RangeGoats started strong and raced out to a seven-shot lead but were eventually reeled in by the 4Aces, with both teams tied for first at 23 under.
Three teams, including the home favorite Ripper GC, are a shot back.
Lucas Herbert had the Rippers’ lowest round of the day, a 7-under 65 that left him tied for seventh.
As much as he’d like to win the individual title, he already knows what it feels like for the all-Australian foursome to claim the team trophy in Adelaide, having done so in 2024 in LIV Golf’s first team playoff.
“Probably more interested in the team leaderboard than I am the individual at the moment,” Herbert said.
“I’ve had parties for winning and I’ve had parties for winning the team events, and I can tell you the team events are a lot more fun when we win those.”
Herbert’s opening round of the 2026 season last week in Riyadh was a 3-over 75 that left him at the bottom of the leaderboard. But he rallied over the final three rounds, shooting 20 under to finish inside the top 10 to help his Ripper GC win the team title.
He’s kept that momentum going through the first two rounds on home turf in Adelaide and will start the weekend tied for 7th after shooting a second-round 7-under 65. He said the lessons learned last week are paying off in Adelaide.
“I think I had kind of two things to deal with,” Herbert said.
“One was obviously I got off to a bad start last week, so I wanted to make sure I got off to a better start this week. It's a four-rounder. You can't win it on the first day, but you can definitely lose it. So I wanted to make sure I didn't lose it on that first day, and I was happy with yesterday. I think I was two shots outside the top 10 when I finished, which is very respectable and right there with it.
“There was that, but then also I think sometimes when you're playing well, it can be a little scary because you almost – I don't know what to do. You're always working on things when your game is struggling, and you know things that you're working into or feels that you're trying to create or whatever.
When you're playing well, it can be a bit scary sometimes going, well, what do I do now. So just wanted to make sure I didn't over-practice early in the week, didn't overdo it.
“It's pretty easy to burn energy out there, especially in the heat. Just wanted to make sure I tried to burn as few calories as I could the last few days, so I've got some energy left come Sunday. Now it looks like we're going to be somewhere up the top of the leaderboard going into Saturday at least, so I've got that energy to spare.”
Report courtesy of LIV Golf
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