Davis Thompson made back-to-back bogeys from the 14th as well as eight birdies including three in a row from the 11th to close with a 66 and take a one-shot lead at the Genesis Invitational.

“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. It’s kind of like steady golf on the front and kind of a rollercoaster on the back. Yeah, birdieing 16 and 18 definitely helped out,” said Thompson.

“I knew I was hitting it good, I knew I was hitting my lines on my putts. You’re going to face adversity out.”

Thompson holds the 36-hole lead/co-lead in an individual stroke play event on Tour for the second time following the 2023 American Express where he finished second. He also shared the 36-hole lead at the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans with teammate Andrew Novak en route to T23 finish.

The American’s best finish in five starts on Tour this season was T36 at The Sentry and the WM Phoenix Open.

After no bogey-free rounds on Thursday, American Scottie Scheffler posted the only bogey-free score in the second round. His 67 featured an eagle at the par-5 6th and he now lies in second place at 7-under. This marks the World number 1’s second bogey-free round at Torrey Pines (South): R3/70/2022 Farmers Insurance Open (T20). He finished T7 in the 2021 US Open at Torrey Pines.

American Denny McCarthy who held the overnight lead moved down into third place at 6-under after a second-round 70 which also featured an eagle at the 6th as well as two bogeys.

World number 3 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland carded a 67 to move into fourth place at 5-under. Having won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in his season debut, capturing his 27th PGA Tour title, a victory this week would mark the first time in his career to open a PGA Tour season with consecutive wins.

The three player-hosted Signature Events (The Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Memorial Tournament) are the only Signature Events that feature a 36-hole cut (the low 50 and ties and any additional players within 10 strokes of the 36-hole lead); 68 players (including leader Denny McCarthy) enter the second round within 10 strokes of the lead.

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