AR
Christopher Powers
You only had yourself to blame if you weren’t making birdies (or eagles) on Friday at the Farmers Insurance Open. Perfect weather along the Southern California coastline meant for perfect scoring conditions, with 53 players posting rounds in 60s.
And yet, there’s one golfer who has played more perfect than the rest. After shooting an opening 63, Justin Rose followed it up a six-under 66 on the more difficult South Course, to take a three-stroke advantage over Hideki Matsuyama through 36 holes.
The world’s No. 1 ranked player has made just one bogey through his first 36 holes (No. 7 on the South Course on Friday), and his 14 birdies and one eagle helped him match the tournament’s 36-hole scoring mark of 129 set by Lennie Clement in 1996 and equaled by Tom Lehman in 2005. (Note to Rose: Neither Clement or Lehman, however, went on to claim the title.)
The defending FedEx Cup champion made news to start the season when he signed a new equipment deal with Honma. And with his T-34 finish last week at the Desert Classic, his first PGA Tour event of 2019, a few whispers could already be heard as to whether changing his equipment after a 2018 season in which he had two wins, six top-three finishes and 11 top-10 finishes made sense.
But it’s hard to question his ball-striking the past two days as he’s hit 88.89 percent of his greens in regulation.
“The job was done today,” Rose said. “It’s really nice to go out there and place a positive round and feel good on it. I can build on it hopefully on the weekend. It’s a nice read on the golf course going into tomorrow. I know what to expect.”
Jon Rahm, who took the first-round lead with an opening 62 on the North Course Thursday, shot a even-par 72 on the South Course to get to 10 under par and sit in a tie for third place with Billy Horschel and Ryan Palmer.
Among those taking advantage was Rory McIlroy, who shot a seven-under 65 on the North Course to get to eight-under total in his first career start at the Farmers.
“I knew I needed to go out there and shoot something in the mid-60s just to make the cut, let alone in contention,” said McIlroy, who moved into a tie for ninth place. “At least I have a good shot going into the weekend.
On Thursday, Tiger Woods was saying the same thing, knowing he needs a low number on Friday to get back into the mix. But a cold putter kept Woods, making his first start of 2019, from moving up the leader board. A second-straight 70 had him just inside the cutline of three-under 141.
“Tee to green it was OK. I made a few mistakes here and there. I just couldn’t get a putt to fall,” Woods said.
Some notables who did not make the cut: Adam Long, last week’s winner at the Desert Classic, Patrick Cantlay and Jimmy Walker, who had Jim (Bones) Mackay on his bag this week.
