Patrick Cantlay opened a five-shot cushion at the Genesis Invitational with his second-round, 6-under 65 on Friday in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Cantlay led by one after 18 holes and began his second round by making a 14-foot eagle putt at the par-5 first hole at Riviera Country Club. He added four birdies down the stretch to get to 13-under 129.
Canadian Mackenzie Hughes fired a 65 to join Luke List (69) and Australian Jason Day (69) in a tie for second at 8 under halfway through the third signature event of the 2024 season. Another Canadian, Corey Conners, is in fifth at 7 under after also posting 65.
During a week when players have struggled to putt on the fast greens, Cantlay is gaining 6.826 strokes putting on the field.
“It’s a golf course I played so many times, I feel comfortable,” said Cantlay, a native of nearby Long Beach. “And it’s really nice to have a bunch of guys up from Virginia Country Club where I grew up just down the road. Being from Southern California, like I said, it feels like a home game.”
The 2021 FedEx Cup champion has shown off his recovery game, too, as he didn’t find the fairway in regulation on any of the three holes he birdied on the back nine. At the par-4 15th, with a 4-iron out of the left rough, his second shot rolled to within 4 feet of the hole.
“I would say the two shots I hit from the rough on 12 and 15 were pretty special,” Cantlay said. “They were both cut 4-irons and they just kind of came out of the rough exactly as planned and rolled out, released exactly as planned. That doesn’t always happen coming out of the rough, but these were two great shots I played today.”
Like Cantlay, Hughes and Day also took advantage of the par-5 first hole with eagles. Hughes made his putt from almost 20 feet, then drained an unlikely chip-in birdie at the par-4 10th over a sand bunker.
He said the par-5 holes are the key to unlocking a good round at Riviera.
“They’re all reachable,” Hughes said. “The wind on 17’s favorable downwind so that’s a huge priority is kind of taking care of those par 5s because there’s a handful of par 4s out here that are really tough pars.”
Will Zalatoris sank a hole-in-one at the par-3 14th hole, winning one new car for himself and one for his caddie.
“I think it was 180 (yards to the) pin back into the wind and we were just trying to hit it kind of right in the middle of that gap between the two bunkers,” Zalatoris said. “I just pulled it about 10 feet and it landed perfectly on the fringe and killed it. Lucky to go in.”
Zalatoris shot a 1-under 70 to join Xander Schauffele (66) and Tom Hoge (70) in a tie at 6 under. Tony Finau (67) and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (68) round out the top 10 at 5 under.
Tournament host Tiger Woods withdrew early in his round due to flu-like symptoms. Woods was making his latest comeback to competitive golf after withdrawing from the Masters 10 months ago and undergoing ankle surgery.
Though 70 players started the event, the top 50 players and ties made the 36-hole cut. Notable players projected to miss the weekend include U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark (2 over), Keegan Bradley (2 over), Justin Thomas (3 over) and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (4 over).
Jordan Spieth would have made the cut at 3-under 139, but he was disqualified Friday evening for signing an incorrect scorecard. According to the PGA Tour, he made a bogey 4 at the fourth hole but signed for a 3.
–Field Level Media
