Victor Perez delivered a personal best performance on the LIV Golf Tour on Thursday at the LIV Golf Mexico City opener! The Frenchman carded a 9-under 62 to claim the outright individual lead after Round 1. With an incredible 11 birdies, the Frenchman set the high-altitude Club de Golf Chapultepec ablaze in the thin air, building a three-shot lead over the field and finishing his round with four consecutive birdies. Jon Rahm sits alone in second place at 6-under after a strong start with seven birdies. The Legion XIII captain ended his round with his lone bogey of the day but remains in a strong position to hunt for his second win of the season. Tied for third place at 4-under were Harold Varner III, Minkyu Kim, Scott Vincent, Ian Poulter, Dustin Johnson, Younghan Song, and Thomas Detry. Poulter, who only began wearing contact lenses this week, attributed the change to his improved putting performance, where he ranked 12th in the round.
A solid group of players, including Dean Burmester and Tom McKibbin, fresh off his Masters debut, were at 3-under. Bryson DeChambeau, looking to become the first player in LIV Golf history to win three consecutive individual tournaments, opened with an even-par round of 71 and sits in a tie for 29th place as he aims to continue his winning streak. On home soil, Torque GC's local favorites, Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer, carded rounds of even par and 2-over par, respectively. The Torque GC team, the league's only all-Latin American squad and heavily cheered on by the home crowd, currently sits in 12th place in the team standings after Round 1.
Legion XIII took the early team lead at 9-under overall, propelled by Rahm's quick start and strong supporting performances from McKibbin and Tyrrell Hatton. 4Aces GC is in second place at 6-under, while Smash GC and Majesticks Golf Club are tied for third at 5-under. Cleeks Golf Club, spearheaded by Perez's brilliant 62, is fifth at 4-under. Although many birdies were scored today, the course held its own against the elite LIV Golf field, playing to an average score of –0.33. Ten holes played over par, with the toughest being the 228-yard par-3 14th hole (+0.37). The easiest hole of the day was the 574-yard par-5 16th hole (-0.60).
