LEADERS’ GROUP: The players in the final group starting off the No. 1 tee are the top three players on the leaderboard – Jon Rahm, Ben Campbell and Bryson DeChambeau. Rahm and DeChambeau are multiple major winners who have shared plenty of groups during their pro golf careers, while Campbell is looking forward to the opportunity to compete against them Saturday. 

“I’ve learned a lot from hanging out with those guys, having dinner with guys like Rahm,” Campbell said. “I’ve played a couple of times with him. I don’t think I’ve ever played with Bryson, so looking forward to that tomorrow.” 

HERBERT STAYS HOT: Lucas Herbert’s opening round of the 2026 season last week in Riyadh was a 3-over 75 that left him at the bottom of the leaderboard. But he rallied over the final three rounds, shooting 20 under to finish inside the top 10 to help his Ripper GC win the team title. 

He’s kept that momentum going through the first two rounds on home turf in Adelaide and will start the weekend tied for 7th after shooting a second-round 7-under 65. He said the lessons learned last week are paying off in Adelaide. 

“I think I had kind of two things to deal with,” Herbert said. “One was obviously I got off to a bad start last week, so I wanted to make sure I got off to a better start this week. It’s a four-rounder. You can’t win it on the first day, but you can definitely lose it. So I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose it on that first day, and I was happy with yesterday. I think I was two shots outside the top 10 when I finished, which is very respectable and right there with it. 

“There was that, but then also I think sometimes when you’re playing well, it can be a little scary because you almost – I don’t know what to do. You’re always working on things when your game is struggling, and you know things that you’re working into or feels that you’re trying to create or whatever. When you’re playing well, it can be a bit scary sometimes going, well, what do I do now. So just wanted to make sure I didn’t over-practice early in the week, didn’t overdo it. 

“It’s pretty easy to burn energy out there, especially in the heat. Just wanted to make sure I tried to burn as few calories as I could the last few days, so I’ve got some energy left come Sunday. Now it looks like we’re going to be somewhere up the top of the leaderboard going into Saturday at least, so I’ve got that energy to spare.” 

LEGION XIII’S SONG SELECTION: The four members of Legion XIII do not pick their own walk-up songs for The Watering Hole, the par-3 12th at The Grange that is the epicenter of the party vibe this week. Instead, captain Jon Rahm and teammate Tyrrell Hatton make the selections for each other as well as their two young teammates, Tom McKibbin and Caleb Surratt. The players have no idea what’s picked until they address their tee shots. 

On Friday, Rahm walked out to “Always Be My Baby,” by Mariah Carey. Hatton’s was “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne. McKibbin’s was “Freak Me” by Silk and Surratt’s was “Axel F” by Crazy Frog. 

“I think Caleb gets the harder ones just because musically, at least, he listens to mostly country, so we’re trying to go as far away as possible from things like that,” Rahm explained. “While Baby Shark was going on yesterday, he had Crazy Frog today. 

“It’s just fun because we know it upsets him so much. The other three of us don’t really care. I just think it’s a little bit of fun with something like that. I’m looking forward to whatever they may have tomorrow.”