Bubba Watson falters, Jon Rahm feasts on birdies to lead LIV UK

Jon Rahm rode eight birdies to the top of the leaderboard at 8 under at LIV United Kingdom on Friday, surging to the front of the pack after Bubba Watson tumbled through consecutive par-4s in 12 shots.

Rahm, starting on the par-4 second, birdied his opener and ended with another on No. 1 in a round that included six birdies in a nine-hole stretch. The first-round 63 is Rahm's best LIV round since he fired a second-round 63 at LIV Nashville on June 22.

Andy Ogletree is two shots back and tied with Abraham Ancer in second place, a shot clear of Tyrrell Hatton and Cam Smith at 5 under.

Rahm, who played with Hatton on Friday, finished tied for seventh at the Open Championship in Scotland last week.

Rahm and Hatton pushed Legion XIII to the team lead at 12 under, one stroke up on Ancer's Fireballs, captain Brooks Koepka 's Smash and captain Phil Mickelson 's HyFlyers.

Koepka, Louis Oosthuizen , Paul Casey and Graeme McDowell (Smash) are part of a seven-way tie for sixth place at 4 under.

With six holes remaining in his round, Watson (2 under) held the early lead before carding double-bogey 6 on both the 485-yard sixth and 470-yard seventh holes.