MEXICO CITY (AP) — Jon Rahm says he had no trouble moving forward inside the ropes amid uncertainty surrounding the future of LIV Golf. He led after the second round Friday even as more questions were raised based on a television interview with CEO Scott O'Neil.
Rahm, coming off a rough showing at the Masters, added a 4-under 67 on Friday to his opening 65 to take a one-shot lead at LIV Golf Mexico.
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Matthew Wolff, of RangeGoats GC, hits from the fifth tee during the second round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Friday, April 17, 2026, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Jon Ferrey/LIV Golf via AP)
FILE - Captain Jon Rahm of Legion XIII signs autographs after the first round of LIV Golf tournament at Trump National Doral, April 4, 2025 in Miami. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/LIV Golf via AP, File)
Captain Jon Rahm of Legion XIII speaks after the first round of the LIV Golf tournament in Naucalpan on the outskirts of Mexico City, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Fans wait for players at 18th hole during the first round of the LIV Golf tournament in Naucalpan on the outskirts of Mexico City, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Captain Jon Rahm, of Legion XIII, hits from the 16th tee during the first round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Scott Taetsch/LIV Golf via AP)
“It takes a lot to win, and you also need a little bit of luck,” Rahm said. “I’m clearly playing good enough, I just need to take advantage of the opportunities I’ve been giving myself.”
Rahm led by one shot over Matthew Wolff (65), Tom McKibbin (65) and Harold Varner III (66) at Chapultepec Golf Club.
Speculation was running rampant on Wednesday that LIV's main source of funding — Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund — was on the verge of drying up. O'Neil said in a memo to staff that the 2026 season would proceed without interruption and at “full throttle.”
Questions remained whether that would last beyond the end of the year, and O'Neil added to the intrigue in an interview with U.K.-based TNT Sports.
“The reality is that you’re funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going," O'Neil said. "But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of mankind.”
The interview later was removed from TNT Sports' social media account and replaced with a different version.
In a previous interview with LIV's broadcast team, O'Neil was bullish about the future.
“Given the momentum of this business, we’re really excited about where we are and the position where we are,” O'Neil said.
He said he met with 50 people at the Masters and rolled out a plan that “might surprise people.” LIV Golf has said some of its metrics such as ticket sales and team sponsorships have increased, and O'Neil is projecting 10 of the 13 teams and four of the 14 events will be profitable.
But there is a substantial cost involved with prize funds ($30 million for each tournament) and operations. The newsletter Money in Sport reported in February that LIV Golf already had spent $5.3 billion and was projected to surpass $6 billion by the end of the year.
“This notion of bringing teams to market, I had two calls this morning,” O'Neil said on the LIV broadcast. “This notion of, ‘Do you have to raise money?’ Probably this is business. But if we keep the trajectory going the way we are and the revenue growth going, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time.”
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Matthew Wolff, of RangeGoats GC, hits from the fifth tee during the second round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Friday, April 17, 2026, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Jon Ferrey/LIV Golf via AP)
FILE - Captain Jon Rahm of Legion XIII signs autographs after the first round of LIV Golf tournament at Trump National Doral, April 4, 2025 in Miami. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/LIV Golf via AP, File)
Captain Jon Rahm of Legion XIII speaks after the first round of the LIV Golf tournament in Naucalpan on the outskirts of Mexico City, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Fans wait for players at 18th hole during the first round of the LIV Golf tournament in Naucalpan on the outskirts of Mexico City, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Captain Jon Rahm, of Legion XIII, hits from the 16th tee during the first round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Scott Taetsch/LIV Golf via AP)
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will appear on Capitol Hill for his first congressional testimony since taking the reins at the Justice Department, as the agency faces intense scrutiny over its plans to create a $1.776 billion fund to pay allies of President Donald Trump who believe they were targeted politically.
Also, Trump said he's holding off on a military strike on Iran planned for Tuesday because “serious negotiations” are underway to end the war. Trump said he had planned “a very major attack” but put it off — “for a little while, hopefully, maybe forever.” He said America’s allies in the Gulf asked him to wait for two to three days because they feel they're close to a deal with Iran.
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He’s repeatedly shown that Republican primary voters will follow his lead, even as his popularity wanes with the broader electorate.
In Kentucky, he’s supporting first-time candidate Ed Gallrein over Massie, who’s been in office since 2012. Massie is trying to convince Republicans they can support both himself and Trump at the same time, a proposition that’s been tried unsuccessfully in other races around the country.
In the race for Georgia governor, Trump is backing Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in an unexpectedly ugly battle for the Republican nomination. Jones, who comes from a wealthy Georgia family, has given his campaign $19 million. But billionaire Rick Jackson, a health care tycoon, has put more than $83 million of his fortune into the race. Trump’s endorsement power has rarely been tested against that level of lopsided spending.
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The signs this year suggest no, and Trump has convinced his voters to defeat his adversaries again and again. The next test of the president’s power to extract retribution is Tuesday, when Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky faces a Trump-backed primary challenger.
Massie has been a thorn in the president’s side for pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, opposing the war with Iran and voting against Trump’s signature tax legislation last year.
Meanwhile, Georgia is about to feature a fresh case study in the divergent paths available to Republicans who defy Trump.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan were among the few Republicans to speak out against Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 loss. Both are now running for governor — Raffensperger as a Republican and Duncan as a Democrat — and both are trying to convince voters to look past things they said in the past.
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President Trump has considered himself an effective dealmaker above all else, but he appears to have hit a wall with Iran as his tough talk, threats and even military action haven’t moved Tehran from its long-established positions.
With shifting goals that make it difficult to judge the status of the U.S. effort, Trump and his top aides have insisted the U.S. has already won the war and that Iran is ready to reach an agreement in the wake of escalating U.S. threats during a tenuous ceasefire.
But Trump once again backed down, saying Monday that he’d put plans for an imminent resumption of attacks on hold at the request of Gulf Arab states because “serious negotiations are now taking place, and that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond.”
Crucially, Iran still has a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping lane for global oil supplies, even as the U.S. military has enforced its own blockade on Iranian ports.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin is traveling to China to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping less than a week after President Trump wrapped up his own trip to Beijing.
Putin is scheduled to be in China on Tuesday and Wednesday in a visit likely to be closely watched as Beijing seeks to maintain stable relations with the United States while also preserving strong ties with Russia.
The Kremlin has said Putin and Xi plan to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries, but also “key international and regional issues.” The visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship signed in 2001.
China is a key trading partner for Russia, especially after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Beijing has said it is neutral in the conflict while maintaining trade ties with the Kremlin despite economic and financial sanctions by the U.S. and Europe.
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Trump said he is holding off on a military strike on Iran planned for Tuesday because “serious negotiations” are underway to end the war.
“There seems to be a very good chance that they can work something out. If we can do that without bombing the hell out of them, I’d be very happy,” Trump said at the White House on Monday evening, after first making the announcement in a social media post.
Trump said he had planned “a very major attack” but put it off — “for a little while, hopefully, maybe forever.” He said America’s allies in the Gulf asked him to wait for two to three days because they feel they are close to a deal with Iran.
Trump has been threatening for weeks that the ceasefire reached in mid-April could end if Iran did not make a deal, with shifting parameters for striking such an agreement. Over the weekend he warned, “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them.”
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Trump’s allies who believe they have been wrongly investigated and prosecuted could soon have access to a nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund, the Justice Department announced Monday.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” will represent “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.” Blanche’s statement made no mention of how investigations and prosecutions of Trump’s political opponents under his watch have exposed the Justice Department to the same claims of politicized law enforcement that he has said he opposed.
The fund was announced as part of a deal to resolve Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.
The fund is in keeping with Trump’s long-running claims that the Justice Department during the Biden administration was weaponized against him, even though then-President Joe Biden himself was scrutinized during that time.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday the fund is dedicated to “reimbursing people who were horribly treated.”
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Republican voters in northern Kentucky will choose between U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie and challenger Ed Gallrein in Tuesday’s House primary, another test of President Donald Trump’s power over his party after he handpicked Gallrein to take on the incumbent.
The primary race turned white hot in the final stretch. Massie brought in a phalanx of other Republicans, including Rep. Lauren Boebert, in an attempt to show voters that they could support both him and Trump. Trump ratcheted up his social media attacks on Massie, calling him “an obstructionist and a fool,” and Gallrein shared a stage with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday.
Trump has tightened his grip on the Republican Party in his second term, successfully purging those who deviate from his agenda, but Massie is one of the last and most outspoken holdouts. A Massie defeat on Tuesday would serve as one of the most powerful demonstrations yet of Trump’s influence over Republican voters.
The matchup has become the most expensive U.S. House primary in history.
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will appear on Capitol Hill Tuesday for his first congressional testimony since taking the reins at the DOJ as the law enforcement agency faces intense scrutiny over its plans to create a $1.776 billion fund to pay allies of the Republican president who believe they were targeted politically.
Blanche’s testimony before a Senate appropriations subcommittee follows Monday’s announcement about the creation of the “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” which critics decried as an illegal abuse of power designed to line the pockets of Trump supporters with taxpayer dollars.
In the weeks since assuming control of the Justice Department, Blanche has moved aggressively to advance the president’s priorities.
Tuesday’s hearing is meant to address the Trump administration’s budget request for the Justice Department but is likely to delve into other controversies that have escalated concerns about the erosion of the law enforcement agency’s tradition of independence from the White House.
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President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during and event about prescription drug prices in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Washington, with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks about prescription drug prices in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
