<p>Tom McKibbin of Legion XIII lines up a putt on the fourth green during the second round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec on Friday, April 17, 2026 in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Photo by Jon Ferrey/LIV Golf)</p>
LIV Golf's future with the PIF might be in serious doubt, but it was business as usual on the golf course with Jon Rahm topping the leaderboard in Mexico City at the halfway mark.
The Basque star shot a four under 67 at Club de Golf Chapultepec to lead by one stroke on 10-under par from his Legion XIII teammate Tom McKibbin, Harold Varner III and Matthew Wolff.
Legion XIII leads the team standings by a whopping 19-shots from Fireballs GC after McKibbin shot 65, Tyrrell Hatton a 67 and Caleb Surrat a 70.
But while the Spaniard said on Thursday that there is "no point in dwelling on" the league's financial future, LIV Golf's CEO Scott O'Neil said enough this week to confirm that they are scrambling to find a replacement for Saudi Arabia's PIF, which appears poised to pull funding at the end of this season.
Former DP World Tour winner Oliver Wilson interviewed O'Neil for TNT Sports in Mexico, and when asked to comment on Sergio Garcia's pre-tournament claim that he'd been told that funding was in place until 2030, O'Neil took a different tack.
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<p>Scott O'Neil. Picture: LIV Golf</p>
"Yeah, of course, it's just not the way the world works," O'Neil replied. "The reality is that you're funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going.
"But that's not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of mankind."
The clip has since disappeared from the TNT Sports' X account and YouTube channel and there was no reference to LIV's existential problems during second-round coverage.
"Anytime you have to count and do some math to realise how many ahead you are, it's an amazing thing," Rahm said of Legion XIII's massive lead.
"I'm hoping we all keep playing to the same level, and come Sunday, the last few holes is not even a contest, and we have a 20-something, 30-something-shot lead. That would be amazing.
"But you have to expect other teams are going to come in swinging and play good, so we still need to do what we've been doing and play really good golf."
McKibbin, who is scheduled to play the DP World Tour's Turkish Airlines Open later this month, followed an early bogey with eight birdies as he chases his maiden LIV Golf win as an individual.
"Very good round," he said. "Sort of a hot spell in two bursts. I had three birdies in a row twice, and then the rest were kind of solid pars and stuff like that.
"Overall, very happy with the first two days, and yeah, hopefully I can continue to play sort of similar golf the next two."
He added: "I've played a lot of golf tournaments now, so just going to go out there and try and play the same way I have been the last couple of days.
"I figure it'll be very difficult, but looking forward to the challenge."
On the LPGA Tour, Leona Maguire, Stephanie Meadow and Lauren Walsh missed the two-under par cut in the JM Eagle LA Championship.
Maguire's two under 70 left her two shots outside the mark on level par as Meadow shot 71 to finish on one-over and Walsh's 75 left her on five over.
South Korea's Sei Young Kim shot a second successive 65 at El Caballero Country Club to lead by a shot from Japan's Chizzy Iwai on 14-under.
Article Link: McKibbin chasing Rahm in Mexico City as LIV battles to play down financing crisis - News - Irish Golf Desk