LIV Golf Hong Kong: Dean Burmester, Carlos Ortiz Tied After Round 2 at HSBC

Dean Burmester and Carlos Ortiz enter this weekend at HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong as the co-leaders. Hoping to chase them down is a player whose availability was in doubt to start the week, along with the player who helped him get to Hong Kong.

4Aces GC’s Thomas Detry was at home in Dubai when the recent Middle East conflict began, among the group of LIV Golf players stranded after the airport was closed. Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm helped arrange a private flight from the region for seven players and a caddie, with Detry among them. 

Detry, in his first season on LIV Golf, is now solo third after 36 holes at Hong Kong Golf Club, shooting a second-round 7-under 63 to move to 13 under, one shot behind Burmester and Ortiz. Rahm, meanwhile, shot 62 and is now solo fourth at 12 under. 

"I’d better play well, hopefully to be able to pay that back," said Detry, who arrived in Hong Kong 24 hours before the start of the tournament. "That was incredibly generous from Jon with all the uncertainty." 

It’s doubtful Rahm will be as magnanimous this weekend as he seeks to end a streak of 26 consecutive starts without a win. He’s been runner-up in his last four LIV Golf starts dating back to last season, including the first two tournaments this season in Riyadh and Adelaide. 

On Friday, he shot the lowest score in the field, a round that included an eagle at the par-5 13th and ended with birdies on four of his final five holes. Of his 10 rounds this season, he’s shot 63 or better three times.

"Coming down the stretch in pressure situations, I'm going to need to play a little bit better than that or at least swing a little bit better than I have so far," said Rahm, the two-time LIV Golf Individual Champion and current points leader.