Genesis Invitational: Cut Day Recap

Although the 2nd round technically isn't over due to slow play, I feel there isn't any time better than the present to highlight Friday's activity.

Forward Tees:

Max Homa is enjoying a home-field advantage of sorts, and is delivering as expected. He came in Friday evening three under par for a cumulative score of -10 for the

tournament, good enough for a solo lead. Jon Rahm is hot on his tail at -9, and another handful of top-10 players in the world (Morikawa, Cantlay, McIlroy, & Zalatoris) lurk within 5 strokes of the lead. If there is anything to be learned in tournament golf, it's that getting out to an early lead is easy. Holding your ground while the wolves circle isn't.

From the Tips:

One of the first groups off the tee starting on #10 was Woods, McIlroy, & Thomas. Yet again, all eyes were on Tiger Woods. He is coming off a quick turnaround after being one of the late afternoon groups on Day 1. With the low temperatures on Friday morning, it was fairly obvious early on in the round that the leg that was mangled in his 2021 car accident causing discomfort. In spite of this he battled through the first nine holes, even nearly acing #14 from 192 yards, and made the turn at even par. He was in good shape until on #6 when a tee shot that was a few feet short of being ideal, trickled back down to the foot of the green.

Normally this isn't an issue, except #6 has a pot bunker in the center of the green, leaving Tiger with 2 options; Chip off the green (A superintendents nightmare) or hit a putt with enough pace to ride the shoulder of the pot bunker and get close enough to escape with a par. Tiger chose the latter—his putt took off looking like it had been struck perfectly, only to get caught on the wrong side of the shoulder where it took a hard right, directly into the sand. It was extremely disheartening, and was a sign of things to come. He ended up with bogeys on #8 and #9 to finish +3 for the round and +1 overall, leaving his hopes hanging on by a thread as the projected cut line was even par. Luckily for Tiger, cats have nine lives. The cut line moved to +1, due to other players in the field struggling so we all get to see him play again this weekend.

Speaking of players to make the cut on the number, Xander Schauffele holed out from 173 yards for an eagle on #17 to get to +1, it was a miraculous shot that never touched the green, it just jammed straight into the cup. It seems like when you need it most, this game tosses you a bone.

On the other hand, there are some weeks where it seems like a player just can't find their rhythm, or the course just doesn't suit their skillset. The following are notable players that will be missing the cut:

• Matthew Fitzpatrick (OWGR #10)

• Sam Burns (OWGR #15)

• Jordan Speith (OWGR #17)

• Hideki Matsuyama (OWGR #20)

Even with these players leaving the field, there is plenty of talent that will be on full display, and the weekend at Riviera is sure to be action packed. Based on data models from datagolf.com, we can draw conclusions that for a player to win they have to get birdies on Holes 1, 7, 11, & 17; Play safe to survive the tough stretches from Holes 2-5 and 12-15. Extra emphasis on surviving #12, which is handing out more than four times more bogeys than birdies.

Similarly to Thursday and Friday, early coverage will be on ESPN+ and the afternoon coverage for marquee groups will be on CBS (3pm-7pm). Groupings and tee times for Round 3 have not been released due to suspended play in round 2 (Pick up the pace fellas).