Luke List hits from the fairway on the third hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Jason Day hits from the fairway on the third hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Tiger Woods is taken off the course on the seventh hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. Woods withdrew due to an illness. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Crowds swarm the rope lines to see Tiger Woods as he walks up to the green on the sixth hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Tiger Woods watches his fairway shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Tiger Woods fans Gabriel Rosas and Trevor Meek from Ontario wait for Woods to get to the fourth hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Tiger Woods chips on to the green on the fourth hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Jason Day putts on the 10th hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Patrick Cantlay watches a fairway shot on the third hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Patrick Cantlay hits from the fairway on the second hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Patrick Cantlay watches his tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Adam Svensson lines up a putt on the first hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Cam Davis tees off on the second hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Tiger Woods watches his fairway shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. Woods withdrew from the tournament on the seventh hole because of an illness. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Will Zalatoris putts on the second hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Brandon Todd watches his tee shot on the third hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Tiger Woods waits to tee off on the fifth hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Tiger Woods waits to putt on the fifth hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Patrick Cantlay putts on the first hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Jordan Spieth sinks a par putt on the second hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Justin Thomas chips out of a sand trap on the sixth hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Cam Davis watches his chip shot come up short on the first hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Jason Day chips onto the green on the third hole in round 2 of the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Matt Kuchar hits from the fairway on the second hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Will Zalatoris chips out of the sand on the first hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Will Zalatoris putts on the second hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Jason Day lines up his putt on the 11th hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Jason Day chips on to the 10th hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Fan spread out over the grounds during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Jordan Spieth watches his tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Will Zalatoris tees off on the second hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Jason Day hits from the fairway on the third hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Jason Day lines up his putt on the third hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Tiger Woods is taken off the course on the seventh hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Tiger Woods is taken off the course on the seventh hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. Woods withdrew due to an illness. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Jason Day waits to putt on the eleventh hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Cam Davis chips on to the first hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Tiger Woods fan Gabriel Rosas of Ontario heads to get a view of Tiger Woods on the third hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
PACIFIC PALISADES — Between his time at UCLA and the 12 years he has been playing on the PGA Tour, Patrick Cantlay has played a ton of rounds at Riviera Country Club. But it’s doubtful that he ever played two better back-to-back rounds at the famed course than he has over the first two days of this week’s Genesis Invitational.
Cantlay followed his opening round 64 with a bogey-free, 6-under-par 65 in Friday’s second round, leaving the former Servite High star at 13-under 129 and five shots ahead of a trio of golfers at 8 under – Jason Day (69), Luke List (69) and Mackenzie Hughes (65).
Cantlay’s two-round total of 129 ties his third-lowest 36-hole total in a PGA Tour event and he and List are the only two players in the field with just a single bogey through 36 holes. Cantlay’s five-stroke lead ties Sam Burns (2021) for the largest margin through 36 holes in the tournament’s storied history.
Through two rounds Cantlay is 6 under on Riviera’s par-5s, 5 under on the par-4s and 2 under on the par-3s, highlighted by a phenomenal demonstration of putting. Through 36 holes he is No. 1 in the field in strokes gained putting, having gained 6.876 shots on the field.
“I’m putting great and leaving the golf ball in the right spot, which is really key around here,” said Cantlay, who has probably played the course 70 times in college and as a pro. “It’s the best putting surfaces I’ve ever seen around this place. I like when the greens are really fast, and they’re as fast as I’ve ever seen them and I’ve made a bunch. It’s a golf course I’m really comfortable on and it’s in the best shape I’ve ever seen it.”
As a Southern California native, Cantlay said this tournament feels like a “home game,” and the local fans have shown him plenty of love through the first two rounds, giving him loud ovations and shouting words of encouragement as he made his way around the course.
Cantlay has said he considers Riviera one of the best courses on the tour and his deep familiarity with the layout creates a sense of comfort he doesn’t have at most venues. But despite his high level of comfort, only once in his career has Cantlay seriously contended to win here, that being in 2017 when he also led after 36 holes before ultimately finishing in a tie for fourth.
While his strong play has Cantlay firmly in control, he knows there is still a lot of golf left to play.
“We’re only half done, so I plan to stay in the moment and trust the process that I have,” Cantlay said. “I have a good game plan for this course and I’ll just stick to it.”
When you post rounds of 64-65 you aren’t hitting too many poor shots but even the few times Cantlay put himself in a bad spot, he managed to find a way out of the trouble. On holes 12 and 15, Cantlay pushed his tee shot into the rough, but each time he found a way to reach the green with his next shot, two shots that even the usually low-key Cantlay admitted were pretty good.
“I would say the two shots I hit from the rough on 12 and 15 were pretty special,” Cantlay responded when asked if he ever impressed himself. “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.”
Tiger Woods made another early exit, this one because of flu symptoms instead of his injured body. He withdrew after six holes and spent the next two hours getting intravenous fluids before leaving Riviera, along with a big chunk of the gallery.
“Not physical at all. His back’s fine,” said Rob McNamara, a longtime association and vice president of TGR Ventures. “It was all medical illness, dehydration, which now the symptoms are reversing themselves now that he’s had an IV.”
Woods was driven away in a red SUV about the time Cantlay was running away from the field.
While Cantlay has always loved Riviera, the same can’t be said for Day. Through much of his career, the Australian native admitted he actually disliked the course, mainly because he often hasn’t played well here.
It reached a point where Day decided he had two options, either take the Genesis event off his schedule or change his mindset about the course. He chose to change his outlook and in the last few years he has had decent success at Riviera. His back-to back rounds in the 60s over the first two days is the first time he has accomplished that feat on this course.
After starting his second round with an eagle on the first hole and a birdie on the third, Day found his name at the top of the leaderboard, albeit early in the day. While he had three bogeys on the back nine, Day finds himself in contention heading into the weekend.
“For me to change that mindset, that attitude was huge,” Day said. “Obviously I’ve found some success, which is good. It is a tremendous golf course. Rich history and some of the greats that have played the Tour have played here and won here. It’s one of the golf courses that has held up over time.”
Day said the difference between his first-round 65 and his second-round 69 was his inability to hit enough fairways on Friday.
“I actually hit good drives for the most part that just missed the fairway and that makes it difficult to hit the greens,” Day said. “When you’re not quite sharp enough like I was yesterday with my short game, then that obviously makes it a little bit tough. But overall, I’m obviously very pleased with where I’m at.”
Woods wasn’t the only surprising departure. Jordan Spieth, who played with Cantlay, had a rough finish that left him 10 shots behind, only to sign an incorrect scorecard and get disqualified. Spieth signed a card that showed him making a three on the par-3, fourth hole but he had actually shot a four. The mistake was discovered after the round and Spieth was alerted he was DQ’d.
That left Riviera with a 51-man field for the weekend. This signature event has a 36-hole cut to the top 50 and ties and anyone within 10 shots – the latter wasn’t an issue because of Cantlay. The cut came at 1-over 143, eliminating Pebble Beach winner Wyndham Clark and Justin Thomas.
The big excitement belonged to Will Zalatoris, who had a 70 that only looked ordinary on the scorecard. Zalatoris had five bogeys and four birdies, along with a hole-in-one on the 14th hole. This ace came with a car, not only for Zalatoris but for caddie Joel Stock.
“Most of the time when I shoot 1 under it’s like two birdies and a bogey,” Zalatoris said. “Having a hole-in-one thrown in there and a bunch of crazy bogeys is not exactly how we would have drawn it up, but still, we’ll take it around this course.”
Corey Conners of Canada had a 65 and was in fifth place. Zalatoris was joined by Xander Schauffele (66) and Tom Hoge (70). Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked player, had another sublime performance from tee to green and more struggles on the greens for a 70.
Rory McIlroy can replace Scheffler at No. 1 in the world only with a win, and his first step was to make it to the weekend. McIlroy had a 66 to take care of the first part, though that still leaves him eight shots behind Cantlay.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
