If there were any doubts about Lucas Herbert‘s Round 1 performance being unsustainable, he put them to rest emphatically on Friday.
Related: Low on energy, Lucas Herbert’s high-octane show lights up Virginia
The Ripper GC stalwart followed his opening 8-under 64 with a bogey-free 9-under 63 on Friday at Maaden LIV Golf Virginia 2026, extending his lead to six shots at 17-under par — the largest 36-hole lead this season and tied for the second-largest lead after two rounds in league history.
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Only one player, Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, is within nine strokes of Herbert’s lead.
“I don’t know if there’s a way that I can describe this that’s not going to sound super arrogant. Just things started coming to me easily,” Herbert said. “The shots that you would see into greens happened and worked the way that you saw them, and putts that you would read to break a certain way just did exactly what you kind of thought. Maybe even at times you’d hit a bad shot, and you’d have judged it wrong and the bad shot now becomes good. …
“To be honest, I probably tried to enjoy it a little bit out there because I was able to in the moment see that that was happening and kind of just be able to sit back and appreciate it a little bit and understand this is pretty not normal. You don’t know how many times as a golfer you’re going to get to experience that kind of feeling.”
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Herbert’s Strokes Gained Total average of +7.82 per round is a LIV Golf record for 36 holes. He gained +8.60 strokes on Friday, which is his second-best performance of his LIV Golf career, exceeded only by the +10.426 when he shot a 10-under 61 in the final round last year in Mexico City to tie for second.
“I’m going to say this golf course is probably harder than Mexico City was playing at the time,” Herbert said. “It’s tough to compare them. I’m sat here 30 minutes removed from that round, so it’s pretty easy for me to say right now I’m more proud of this than I am Mexico City. But as time goes on, I’ll get a better appreciation for how I’ve played the last two days.”
Of course, he’s only at the halfway mark as he seeks his first LIV Golf individual win.
Garcia fired a 5-under 67 in tricky, windy conditions to sit in solo second at 11 under. The return to form for Garcia has been one of the stories of the week. He ranks second in the field in Strokes Gained Off the Tee (+3.33) and third in Strokes Gained Putting (+4.56).
The Fireballs captain spoke about the difficulty of committing to shots in the swirling wind.
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“When it’s blowing 20 miles an hour on a tough golf course, sometimes the pin starts on the left side, the wind is off the left, and you’re like, OK, I want to hit a little draw, but you don’t want to do it because if you short-side yourself on the left side, then you chip in from the short-side and downwind,” he said. “I felt like I did a very good job for the conditions that we were playing.”
Cleeks GC veteran Richard Bland made the biggest move of the day, shooting a 6-under 66 to climb to solo third at 7-under, one of Friday’s best performances outside of Herbert’s.
“Hopefully I can have a strong weekend and try and give Herby a run for his money,” said the 53-year-old Bland, “but if he keeps playing like the way he’s playing, we’re playing for second.”
Paul Casey is putting together his best start of the season so far for Crushers GC, shooting a 4-under 68 on Friday to move into a tie for fourth at 6 under alongside teammate Charles Howell III and Southern Guards GC’s Dean Burmester.
Casey spoke glowingly about the challenge the Trump National Washington D.C. course presented on a blustery afternoon.
“I’m going to say this is a major-level golf course,” Casey said. “I don’t know its history or that kind of stuff, so I don’t know if they have aspirations to ever push for that kind of event. Lucas has obviously gone bananas, but apart from that, take him out of the mix, it’s a helluva challenge.”
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LIV Golf’s current top three players in season-long points – Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Thomas Detry – are among five players tied for seventh at 5 under.
On the team front, Ripper GC extended its lead, moving to 21 under as a team, six clear of Crushers GC and Cleeks Golf Club, who are tied for second at 15 under. 4Aces GC sits fourth at 14 under, with Torque GC and Legion XIII tied for fifth at 12 under.
