Joaquin Niemann continued his assault on the Riviera Nation Membership golf course Friday, taking pictures his second straight eight-under-par 63 for a two-round rating of 126 on the Genesis Invitational, shattering the earlier 36-hole course document of 130 by 4 strokes.
The 23-year-old Chilean racked up seven birdies and one eagle to maneuver to 16 underneath along with his blistering morning spherical, two strokes forward of PGA Tour rookie Cameron Younger, who birdied 9 holes in his bogey-free spherical of 62 on Friday and is 2 strokes again at 14 underneath.
Justin Thomas, ranked eighth within the World Golf Rankings, shot a day spherical of 64 to maneuver to inside 5 strokes of Niemann at 11 underneath. Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott are tied for fourth place at 9 underneath, and Collin Morikawa is in sixth place at eight underneath.
“Capturing 11 underneath, I might have thought that I might most likely be main, not 5 again,” Thomas stated. “I imply, there’s no situations that you just see 16 underneath main after two rounds right here.
“I believe the rationale you see the scores is due to how agency it's or how agency it’s getting. So for those who’re hitting the green and touchdown within the fairway, the ball’s rolling fairly a bit to the place you possibly can convey the quick golf equipment in.”
Scott, a 14-time PGA Tour winner, who shot rounds of 68 and 65, hasn’t given up hope regardless of his seven-stroke deficit.
“I believe the most effective factor is there's somebody up there shut to allow them to take into consideration one another and possibly get distracted for just a few holes and I can quietly creep up on them,” Scott stated.
“Seven again, yeah, I imply, I don’t know. You suppose a five-under spherical can be good, however I don’t know if it’s going to be good. Would possibly want an eagle to go right here or there on the par fives. Someplace, I would like a sizzling 9 over the weekend to slim the hole.”
The 6-foot, 154-pound Niemann confirmed no indicators of stumbling after his near-perfect spherical Thursday. Teeing off amid chilly morning temperatures, he despatched a 207-yard method shot on the par-five first gap to inside 4 ft of the pin and holed the putt for an eagle.
Niemann drained a 14½-foot putt for birdie on No. 2, and a 144-foot method to inside one foot of the pin set him up for an additional birdie on No. 7. A nine-foot putt for birdie on No. 9 pushed him to 13 underneath earlier than his solely bogey of the day on No. 10 dropped him to 12 underneath.
Niemann bounced again with a 12½-foot birdie putt on No. 11, a 41-foot birdie putt on No. 12, an 18-foot birdie putt on 14 and a brief birdie putt on 17.
“Clearly it was an awesome begin after [Thursday’s] spherical,” stated Niemann, who has one PGA Tour win, the 2020 Army Tribute at The Greenbrier. “Didn’t sleep a lot. It was fairly late once I completed [Thursday] and we began fairly early [Friday], however yeah, we bought it going fairly good at first.
“However there’s nonetheless quite a lot of golf to go, 36 holes, so quite a lot of issues can occur right here. Yeah, simply strive not to consider it, who’s going to be up there with me or who’s going to be coming from behind. Simply attempt to fear about my sport, attempt to fear about my photographs, and I believe it ought to be all proper.”
Thomas, who started the day at 4 underneath, birdied three holes on the entrance 9 and gained two extra strokes with a 31½-foot putt for eagle on No. 11 to go to 9 underneath. The lengthy putt was preceded by 336-yard drive off the tee and a 230-yard method.
“That was positively probably the most well-played gap I had at present,” Thomas stated. “Hit an awesome drive. That’s a very good instance of for those who land that ball within the fairway, you get one other 40, 50 yards of run.
“Hit an attractive little high-cut 5-iron that landed in need of the inexperienced and rolled up on there. I’ve had a putt or chip just like that line and noticed Cameron [Smith] proper earlier than me, so I had a reasonably good concept what it was doing. It was good to steal a 3 there.”
Spieth, who started the day at 5 underneath, birdied three holes on the entrance 9 and chipped in from 30½ ft for an eagle on No. 11 to go from eight underneath to 10 underneath. His short-game wizardry and restoration abilities allowed him to avoid wasting par on the thirteenth, 14th and fifteenth holes.
Spieth’s second shot on No. 13 landed close to a drainage ditch in some thick, mushy grass to the aspect of the inexperienced, 88 ft from the pin. He bought up and down with a chip to inside two ft and a putt for par.
Spieth’s tee shot on No. 14, a 180-yard par three, discovered a greenside bunker, 88 ft from the pin. He blasted a sand wedge that rolled just a few inches to the aspect of the outlet and drained a 10-foot putt to avoid wasting par.
Spieth’s drive on No. 15, a 474-yard par 4, discovered a bunker to the best of the green, however a pleasant iron shot to the green in entrance of the inexperienced, 78 ft from the pin, and a pitch to inside two ft allowed him to avoid wasting par.
Russell Knox shot stable rounds of 68 Thursday and 67 Friday and is tied for seventh at seven underneath, a rating that normally would lead or put a participant within the hunt on the midway level of the Genesis Invitational. This 12 months, Knox is 9 strokes again getting into the weekend.
“I don’t care — I’ve by no means made the weekend right here, so I’m completely delighted that I’m getting an opportunity to play two extra days,” Knox stated. “It’s a course that’s tough to maintain going for 4 days.
“I imply, clearly, [16 under] is frightening good. It’s dry, it’s heat, the greens are good, so clearly he’s on full cylinders. I imply, I’m delighted with a seven underneath, and if I get to double digits, it might be tremendous good. That’s my aim each week.”
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