After opening with a 2-over 73, Jon Rahm steadied himself Friday, firing a 67 to climb back into contention at Real Club Valderrama in San Roque, Spain, at the 2026 at LIV Golf Andalucia event.
The second round was so good that the Spaniard repeated himself when giving it high praise. But what exactly happened on Thursday?
Captain Jon Rahm of Legion XIII hits his shot from the first tee during the first round of LIV Golf Andalucía at Real Club Valderrama on Thursday, June 04, 2026 in San Roque, Spain. (Photo by Montana Pritchard/LIV Golf)
“Great score. Great score,” Rahm said. “Yesterday I got, the best way to explain it is ‘Valderramaed.’ I don’t feel like I’ve played any bad golf. It’s just wind gusts and a couple of bounces here and there, and you end up over par very easily. So far, through the tournament, I haven’t made enough putts. I obviously made a long one on 7 today and a good birdie putt on 8, but I think the main difference from being a little further up is making a few more putts. I’ve been playing good golf, and it’s nice to get back into it.”
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Although Rahm started on what is arguably the toughest stretch on the course, No. 11, he felt like it gave him an advantage on Friday due to wind conditions. And the 12th-ranked player in the world opened his round with a birdie.
More: New dad Tyrrell Hatton finds lead at LIV Golf event in Spain
“I actually thought if you’re going to get to choose where to start, I think 10, 11 with the wind direction we had today is a good spot because you start with the first three holes downwind, so you’re warmed up before you get to the into-the-wind holes, when you get to play 14, 16 and 17,” he said. “If you can survive that stretch, I would say 14 through 3, with some good holes, maybe even par, under par, the rest were all coming in. 5 on, every single hole is downwind. Every single hole can be a birdie chance.
“If you start okay, hold on and finish strong, you can get it done, and obviously this is what happened today.”
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Rahm started OK, and he’s now at 2 under for the tournament, just four shots behind leader Tyrrell Hatton, who followed up an impressive 67 on Thursday with a 69 on Friday.
Jon Rahm’s LIV Golf individual wins
|
No. |
Date |
Tournament |
To Par |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Jul 28 2024 |
LIV Golf UK |
−13 |
|
2 |
Sep 15 2024 |
LIV Golf Chicago |
−11 |
|
3 |
Mar 8 2026 |
LIV Golf Hong Kong |
−23 |
|
4 |
Apr 19 2026 |
LIV Golf Mexico City |
−21 |
Rahm heads into the weekend looking for his fifth LIV Golf title overall and his third this year.
“I think today I did a little bit better off the tee, so keep hitting those fairways, and when not, when you find yourself in trouble, which you will here, try to minimize what you can,” he said. “But not too different from what I’ve been doing. I feel like either day was very close to being a fantastic score, and today that was it.”
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Tim Schmitt is the managing editor of Golfweek.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Jon Rahm climbs leaderboard at LIV Golf Andalucia
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