Davis Thompson birdied his final hole to finish off a 6-under-par 66 and take a one-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler at the halfway mark of the Genesis Invitational on Friday in San Diego.
At 8 and 7 under, respectively, Thompson and Scheffler will comprise the final pairing on Saturday at Torrey Pines Golf Course at the third signature event of the season.
The Genesis is being played at Torrey Pines rather than Los Angeles’ Riviera Country Club because of last month’s wildfires that caused extensive damage to the Los Angeles area.
First-round leader Denny McCarthy (second-round 70) is in the mix in third pace at 6 under par. Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy, who won the most recent signature event at Pebble Beach, is alone in fourth at 5 under after a 67.
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg is also in contention after shooting a 66, tying Thompson for low round of the day, to move into a tie at 4 under with Patrick Rodgers (71).
Thompson, a 25-year-old who picked up his first PGA Tour win last year, had six birdies through 13 holes before enduring a bogey-bogey stretch at Nos. 14 and 15. He rebounded with a nearly 27-foot birdie putt at the par-3 16th, and at the par-5 18th, he pitched his third shot to within a foot of the pin to set up the go-ahead birdie.
“Felt like I hit the ball great at the start, hit a lot of fairways and greens and then on the back nine I just, you know, I had two chip-ins, hit a great iron shot on 13 and then made two bogeys, but bounced back nicely,” Thompson said. “It’s kind of like steady golf on the front and kind of a roller coaster on the back.”
Asked about whether he will be concerned about world No. 1 Scheffler and world No. 3 McIlroy chasing him, Thompson replied, “Just trying to stay in my own lane, try to focus on what I’m doing.”
Scheffler, who improved on his first round by three with a 67, had a bogey-free round highlighted by an eagle hole-out from the greenside bunker at the par-5 sixth, his 15th hole of the day.
“I’m pretty satisfied with the way I scored today,” Scheffler said. “I did not drive the ball as well as I would have hoped to. I felt like I was out of position a lot today, but did a good job of muscling some shots up there on the green and getting up and down when I needed to as well.”
Only 54 players in the 72-man field made the cut at 4 over or better. Notable names who won’t be around for the weekend include Englishman Justin Rose (5 over), Viktor Hovland of Norway (5 over), Jordan Spieth (6 over), Max Homa (7 over) and Austria’s Sepp Straka (10 over), who has already won once on tour this year.
–Field Level Media
