SAN DIEGO (AP) — Justin Rose scored even better on the notorious South course Friday in the Farmers Insurance Open, and the proof is in the tournament record book. He broke his own 36-hole record by two shots at Torrey Pines to build a four-shot lead.
The weekend will include Brooks Koepka in his return to the PGA Tour after four seasons on the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League. The five-time major champion remains perplexed by the poa annua greens and settled for a 68 on the easier North to make the cut on the number.
Missing will be Xander Schauffele, the two-time major champion and San Diego native who saw his 72-tournament cut streak end. His last weekend off at a tournament was the 2022 Masters.
Koepka was 14 shots behind. The question now is whether anyone can catch Rose.
Rose opened with a 62 on the North, which was 7.139 shots lower than the field average. He knew what awaited him on the South course — the site of two U.S. Opens — and wound up with a 7-under 65 that was 7.392 shots lower than the field average.
It added to a 17-under 127 — breaking by two the previous mark held by Rose in 2019, Tom Lehman in 2005 and Lennie Clements in 1996 — and a four-shot lead over Seamus Power of Ireland, who had a 66 on the North.
Amazingly, it was the same score for the 36-hole lead in The American Express last week. PGA Tour golf in Palm Springs and San Diego are nothing alike. Rose is playing that well.
Joel Dahmen, who got into Torrey Pines because two courses allow for a larger-than-normal field, had three eagles in his round of 63 on the North and joined Max McGreevy (67 on North) in a tie for third, six shots behind.
Rose said he was aware he faced a stronger test Friday. He only had to look at the leaderboard to see North Course — NC — listed next to so many names to figure that out.
“I don’t go into a deep dive, but I kind of saw the ‘NC, NC, NC, NC, NC, NC, NC’ on the leaderboard, so by process of elimination, I kind of knew what I was facing today,” he said.
“In some ways I was using that as extra patience, obviously being 10 under already,” he said. “It’s a tough situation when you don’t have a great day on the North and then you have to go and find a score on the South. So I had the added benefit of being able to go and play the South I thought with the right mindset to play it, which is kind of respectfully.”
He found his groove early with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 third and then a tough 10-footer for par on the fourth. He was seeing his lines. He was seeing the ball go in. It gave a sense of freedom, and he took off from there.
Rose hit long iron to pin-high 8 feet away for eagle on the par-5 sixth, closed out the back nine with two birdies and never really let up.
The cut fell at 3-under 141.
“I’ll tell you, that’s good golf,” said Power, who made a long eagle putt to close out his round on the North. “You could shoot 2 under and play pretty well here. It’s just the standard is high.”
Koepka received another warm reception on as fine a day as the San Diego coast can offer, with warm sunshine and a blue sky and more red numbers under par than Torrey typically yields.
Koepka needed a better round, and he gave himself a good start with a mid-iron to 12 feet for eagle on the par-5 eighth hole. He birdied the par-5 fifth hole and took advantage of the short par-4 seventh to get some breathing room.
He doesn’t play to make the cut. But he did want to keep playing.
“I think yesterday I was excited to play — nervous, and kind of didn’t know what to expect — but today felt more normal, I guess,” Koepka said. “Don’t me wrong — I definitely still got antsy. Maybe a little bit of nerves just trying to figure it out and see where my game’s at, too, right? I feel like I’m playing really well. It’s just been a long layoff.”
Schauffele was coming off a win in Japan in the fall, the only tournament he played as he wanted to be home with his son born some five months ago. He took bogey from a few funny bounces and bad lies on the short par-4 seventh on the North, and then nearly pulled off an extremely difficult shot behind the green to a back pin on the par-5 ninth, his final hole. He missed the birdie putt from 8 feet to reach the weekend.
Scottie Scheffler now takes over the longest active cut streak at 65, still not halfway to the record 142 held by Tiger Woods.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
