Victor Perez has taken the outright lead after a rampaging opening round at LIV Golf Mexico City, the 33-year-old Frenchman carding 11 birdies in a 9-under 62 at Club de Golf Chapultepec to post the lowest round of his LIV career and his first time leading a tournament on the circuit.
Perez, a Cleeks Golf Club member, had never finished inside the top 10 through his first 20 LIV rounds. After five starts he finally looks at home, and he credited the slow burn of adjustment for the breakthrough.
"Definitely a different atmosphere, different vibe," Perez said after the round. "It's about getting more comfortable, and I think the first event, I was really struggling with the energy of the place and the music."
He then walked through his season-opening stretch.
"The second event in Adelaide was another 360 from the night golf," he said. "I thought I found my feet a little bit in Hong Kong, which was decent. Singapore was a little bit more difficult. Then had a decent week in South Africa. So, it's going in the right direction, which is nice."
The numbers on Thursday underlined how far right the direction has turned. Perez ran off seven birdies inside his first 11 holes before a three-putt at the 17th and a plugged-lie bogey at 18 threatened to blunt the momentum. Instead, he closed with four consecutive birdies on his final stretch, none of them conjured from distance.
"Very happy to finish with four birdies," he said. "Nice to not have to deal with long putts at the end."
His longest make during that closing run measured just seven feet, a control round rather than a lucky one.
The leaderboard tells its own story about how rare low numbers are at Chapultepec's 7,366-yard layout at altitude. Jon Rahm, the Legion XIII captain and a regular threat at every LIV event, sat three shots back at 6-under 65 after a bogey-free round through 17 holes. Six players were tied for third at 4-under 67, giving Perez a clear gap at the top.
Asked specifically about Rahm, Perez was matter-of-fact about the challenge in front of him for the rest of the 54-hole event.
"He's obviously one of the marquee players on the league," Perez said. "Ultimately, I think you're going to have to beat those guys."
The comment reflects the reality for every player not yet in the winners' circle on LIV: the league's elite trio of Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Joaquin Niemann have dominated season-opening results, and any maiden victory has to come through at least one of them.
Perez's backstory makes the round more significant than a one-off hot putter. The Frenchman had enjoyed DP World Tour success before his LIV move, with a Dunhill Links win and Ryder Cup service, but the transition to team golf in the Greg Norman-run league has taken nearly a full season of adaptation. The music, the shotgun starts, the reduced field, the travel pattern — every element he flagged has needed time to click.
Whether he can close out a maiden LIV Golf title from here remains the only question that matters by Saturday evening. For now, a career-low 62 on Thursday has at least put Perez and Cleeks in a position to answer it.
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*Originally published on [Golf News Global](https://golfnews.global/article/victor-perez-liv-mexico-city-62). Visit for full coverage.*
