Max Homa moves into lead, Tiger falters

Genesis Invitational R2

Max Homa closed with a 68 on Friday to take a one-shot lead in the Genesis Invitational.

“Yeah, it’s exciting — 36-hole leads are awesome. Like I said, there’s a long way to go, but regardless, I can rest on the fact I’m playing great golf and I’m just going to try and do that for two more days.

“I’m not really sure why I play so well in California. Obviously there’s some comfortability with the grass and how far the ball goes. I don’t know. This golf course in particular does suit me really well. It suits a lot of the shots I like to hit. That’s my best estimation. I enjoy that it seems to work well in these tournaments because they’ve been big events. San Diego, here, it’s been cool to feel comfortable on two major golf courses with major fields, so I’ve been very lucky with that.”

The American, who has already won twice this season, had a round consisting of five birdies, including three in a row around the turn, as well as two bogeys.

Tied behind Homa at 9-under are compatriots Keith Mitchell (69) and Lee Hodges (66) as well as Spain’s Jon Rahm (68) who shot eagles at the par-5s 1st and 17th.

“A bit of fortune, a bit of good timing. It’s a difficult golf course out there,” said Rahm. “Yesterday morning it was still a little bit softer so you could be a bit more
aggressive. Those greens were getting a little crunchy and a little firmer, so the margins are already small on this golf course and you’re playing with even smaller margins with running fairways and firm greens, not to add the poa annua factor in the afternoon. So to just shoot even par I’m really happy about because it did not look good for a while and luckily I got it together for the last seven holes.”

American Collin Morikawa rounds out the top five at 8-under after closing with a 68.

Tiger Woods closed with with three bogeys over his final four holes for a 74. He is currently T60 at 1-over and is projected to make the cut.

“I did not putt well today, I blocked a lot of putts early and this is probably the highest score I could have shot today. Probably should have shot probably five or six better than this easily. Just didn’t make the putts early and the middle part of the round when I had those opportunities. And they weren’t very hard putts, I just hit bad putts and obviously had a very bad finish, too.

Play was suspended due to darkness and will resume Saturday morning.

Pos.PlayerTo ParThruRoundR1R2Total
1Max Homa-10F-36468132
T2Keith Mitchell-9F-26469133
T2Jon Rahm-9F-36568133
T2Lee Hodges-9F-56766133
5Collin Morikawa-8F-36668134
6Patrick Cantlay-7F-46867135
T7Rory McIlroy-6F-26769136
T7Matt Kuchar-6F-16670136
T9Danny Willett-5F-26869137
T9Gary Woodland-5F-36968137
T9Will Zalatoris-517-369-69
T12Scottie Scheffler-4F-37068138
T12Shane Lowry-4F-26969138
T12Tommy Fleetwood-4F-16870138
T12Thomas Detry-4F-47167138
T12Kramer Hickok-4F-26969138
T12Sungjae Im-4F-26969138
T12Tom Hoge-4FE6771138
T12Adam Svensson-4FE6771138
T12Stephan Jaeger-414-168-68
T21Harris English-3F26673139
T21Jhonattan Vegas-3F16772139
T21Adam Schenk-3F-16970139
T21Sahith Theegala-3F-37168139
T21Kevin Streelman-3FE6871139
T21Peter Malnati-3FE6871139
T21Jason Day-3F-47267139
T21David Lipsky-3FE6871139
T29Adam Hadwin-2F26773140
T29Scott Piercy-2FE6971140
T29J.J. Spaun-2F16872140
T29Viktor Hovland-2FE6971140
T33Kevin Tway-1F26873141
T33Luke List-1FE7071141
T33Justin Thomas-1F26873141
T33Seamus Power-1F-17170141
T33Lucas Herbert-1FE7071141
T33Michael Thompson-1F-47467141
T33Tyrrell Hatton-1FE7071141
T33Doug Ghim-1F36774141
T33Sam Ryder-1F-17170141
T33Adam Long-1FE7071141
T33Justin Suh-1F-17170141
T33Ben Taylor-1F16972141
T33Sepp Straka-1FE7071141
T33Tony Finau-1F-27269141
T33Tom Kim-1F-17170141
T33Adrian Meronk-116-474-74
T33Kurt Kitayama-114-171-71
T33Aaron Rai-114E70-70
T51Nate LashleyParF26973142
T51Tyler DuncanParFE7171142
T51Trey MullinaxParF-37468142
T51Cameron YoungParF36874142
T51Denny McCarthyParFE7171142
T51S.H. KimParF26973142
T51Mackenzie HughesParF-17270142
T51Luke DonaldParF26973142
T51Adam ScottParF26973142
T60Corey Conners+1F17172143
T60Emiliano Grillo+1F46875143
T60Nick Taylor+1F36974143
T60Tiger Woods+1F36974143
T60Christiaan Bezuidenhout+1F17172143
T60Matthias Schwab+1F27073143
T60Xander Schauffele+1F36974143
T60Rickie Fowler+1F46875143
T60J.B. Holmes+116171-71
T60Wyndham Clark+116171-71
T60Patton Kizzire+114171-71
Projected cut
T71Justin Lower+2F27173144
T71Matt Fitzpatrick+2FE7371144
T71Russell Henley+2FE7371144
T71Lucas Glover+2F37074144
T71Jordan Spieth+2F-17470144
T71Justin Rose+2F27173144
T71Hideki Matsuyama+2F27173144
T71Taylor Montgomery+2FE7371144
T71Taylor Moore+2F37074144
T71J.T. Poston+2FE7371144
T71Nick Hardy+216-174-74
T71Dylan Frittelli+215172-72
T83Alex Noren+3F27273145
T83Max McGreevy+3F17372145
T83Alex Smalley+3F56976145
T83Austin Smotherman+3F37174145
T83Troy Merritt+3FE7471145
T83Patrick Rodgers+3F-17570145
T83Andrew Putnam+3FE7471145
T83Doc Redman+3F-27669145
T83Danny Lee+3F-27669145
T83Cameron Champ+317272-72
T83Keita Nakajima+314E74-74
T94Kevin Kisner+4F17472146
T94Chad Ramey+4F17472146
T94Brandon Wu+4F37274146
T94Jack Wall(a)+4F17472146
T94Davis Thompson+4F47175146
T94Keegan Bradley+4FE7571146
T94Stewart Cink+4F37274146
T94Brendon Todd+4F27373146
T94Brian Harman+4F37274146
T94Beau Hossler+415273-73
T104Si Woo Kim+5FE7671147
T104Sam Burns+5F17572147
T104Mark Hubbard+5F47275147
T104Kelly Kraft+5F57176147
T104Hayden Buckley+5F76978147
T104Billy Horschel+5F27473147
T104Robert Streb+5F27473147
T104Joel Dahmen+5F17572147
T112Chesson Hadley+6F47375148
T112Matt Wallace+6F57276148
T112Cam Davis+6FE7771148
T112Ryan Brehm+6F47375148
T112Russell Knox+6F57276148
T112James Hahn+6F67177148
T112Martin Laird+6F17672148
T112Chez Reavie+6F27573148
T112Marcus Byrd+616176-76
T121Scott Stallings+7F37574149
T121Greyson Sigg+7F17772149
T121K.H. Lee+7F67277149
T121Nick Watney+7F-28069149
T125Matthew NeSmith+8F57476150
T125Francesco Molinari+8F37674150
127Yeongsu Kim+9F87279151
128Callum Tarren+10F97280152
W/DLanto Griffin---71-71
Updated: February 18, 2023