Ortiz and Burmester sit tied at 14 under through 36 holes at Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling, holding a one-shot advantage over Detry, who fired a superb second round 7 under 63 to move to 13 under.

Detry’s presence near the top of the leaderboard comes after a dramatic trip to Hong Kong. The 4Aces GC player had been stranded in Dubai when the recent Middle East conflict led to airport closures, before Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm helped arrange a private flight for seven players and a caddie to reach the event.

Detry arrived just 24 hours before the tournament began and quickly found his rhythm.

“I’d better play well hopefully to be able to pay that back,” said Detry. “That was incredibly generous from Jon with all the uncertainty.”

Rahm is also firmly in the mix after producing the low round of the day. The Spaniard carded an eight under 62 to move to 12 under and into solo fourth, continuing a run of strong performances despite an ongoing search for a victory.

Rahm has now finished runner up in his past four LIV Golf starts dating back to last season, including the opening two tournaments of 2026 in Riyadh and Adelaide.

His round on Friday included an eagle at the par 5 13th before birdies on four of his final five holes.

“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. “Clearly I'm doing just good enough to be in the hunt.”

Ortiz backed up his opening round 60 with a four under 66 that included seven birdies and three bogeys. A run of five birdies in eight holes during the middle of his round helped keep him at the top of the leaderboard.

“Kind of a rough start,” said Ortiz. “I wasn't in position a lot in the first few holes. Had to scramble. I made a few bogeys. But honestly, I'm just trying to get good reps. My swing has changed a little bit and the feels have changed. I'm just getting really comfortable with the new swing.”

Burmester, playing alongside Ortiz, made his move late in the round. After sitting one under through 10 holes, the Southern Guards GC player produced four consecutive birdies and then rolled in a 15 foot birdie putt at the par 4 18th to post a six under 64.

The South African also required treatment during the round after waking up with a stiff neck.

“Today I woke up a little stiff,” Burmester said. “I slept a bit funny, which is weird, and worked hard in the physio bed and came straight back after the wait for the first tee and managed to get my physio out there, and that made a massive difference. Got a little bit of work done on 4 tee and then I was away.”

With two rounds remaining, the leaderboard remains tightly packed with 22 players within seven shots of the lead.

Smash GC hold a five shot advantage in the team standings at 35 under, led by Talor Gooch, with Torque GC second at 30 under and Legion XIII and Southern Guards tied for third at 26 under.

Graeme McDowell produced one of the highlights of the day for Smash, recording a hole in one at the 181 yard fifth hole with a 7 iron. It was the 14th ace in LIV Golf history and the 15th of McDowell’s career.

“They're all kind of becoming a bit of a blur over the years,” McDowell said. “It's been about 30 years of them. They're all fun. They're all special. Nice to do it with a card in your pocket in a tournament. I think that's probably half a dozen maybe in tournament play.”

McDowell joked that the shot came after ignoring some advice from his caddie.

“There's a couple of wedge par 3s here that you're kind of licking your chops. No. 5, you don't really stand on that tee licking the chops too much,” he said. “My caddie was trying to steer me a little left of the flag, and I said to him, I think we have enough club in our hands to kind of go after it a little bit. I didn't really listen to him.”

RangeGoats GC’s Matthew Wolff also continued his encouraging start to the season. The 26-year-old followed an opening round 65 with a 66 to move to 11 under and into a tie for fifth, his first time finishing a LIV Golf round inside the top five since Singapore in 2024.

“I put in a lot of work,” Wolff said.

“Golf is one of those funny games. I feel like when your swing feels good, it's easy, and then when it doesn't, it's impossible. It's been fun. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but it feels a lot better than it did last year.”

Ortiz and Burmester will again play together in the final group on Saturday.

“I love Dean. Dean is awesome,” Ortiz said.

“It's actually very cool watching him hit the ball. He hits it a long ways, and he's hitting it beautiful. He's hitting these beautiful draws. I really enjoy watching him play good golf. We're good friends, and it's awesome to play with a good friend.”