Patrick Cantlay extends his lead at Genesis Invitational; Jordan Spieth disqualified
Patrick Cantlay began with an eagle and never let anyone close to him the rest of the round Friday. He shot a six-under 65 to build a five-shot lead at the Genesis Invitational going into a weekend that won’t include Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods.
Spieth signed for the wrong score was disqualified for the first time in the 263 tournaments he has played on the PGA Tour. He was within three shots of the lead at the turn in the second round at Riviera until he dropped three shots as Cantlay, playing in his group, began to pull away.
Spieth made a double bogey on the 18th hole for a 73, leaving him 10 shots behind. But he signed for a three on the par-three fourth hole when he actually made a four, leading to the disqualification. Spieth had missed the green to the left, chipped to about four feet and lipped out.
A PGA Tour rules official says Tiger Woods withdrew from the Genesis Invitational because of illness, and that it was not related to his ankle or back.
Woods also made an 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.
Cantlay was making it tougher on the field with every birdie. Even when he appeared to be in trouble left of the fairway on the par-four 15th — the hardest hole at Riviera — he ripped an iron over the bunker to three feet for birdie.
Cantlay, who grew up down the coast in Long Beach and played at UCLA, was at 13-under 129 and was five shots clear of Jason Day (69), Luke List (69) and Mackenzie Hughes (65).
“Putting great and leaving the golf ball in the right spot, which is really key around here,” Cantlay said, who leads the field in the key putting statistic. “It’s a golf course I’m really comfortable on and it’s in the best shape I’ve ever seen it.
“It’s the best putting surfaces I’ve ever seen around this place,” he said. “I like when the greens are really fast, they’re as fast as I’ve ever seen them and I’ve made a bunch.”
This signature event had a 36-hole cut to the top 50 and ties and anyone within 10 shots, which wasn’t a factor the way Cantlay was playing. The cut was at one-over 143, eliminating Pebble Beach winner Wyndham Clark and Justin Thomas.
Will Zalatoris had a 70 despite making five bogeys, helped by a hole-in-one on the 14th hole that came with a car for Zalatoris and one for his caddie, Joel Stock.
“Most of the time when I shoot one 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.”
Day and List played in the morning and set the target at eight under, and it didn’t take long for Cantlay to catch them. He hit his approach on the par-five opening hole to 15 feet behind the flag and holed it for eagle.
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 No. 1 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, who isn’t doing much wrong.
“Sometimes you just go through spells where you make more a certain week than others. I have had weeks where I’ve gotten really hot with the putter, so hopefully this is one of those weeks,” Cantlay said.
He was asked if having a good attitude on poa annua greens can help.
“You’re probably asking the wrong guy,” he said. “When you’ve made as many putts as I have the last couple days, it’s easy to have a good attitude on the greens. ”
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