Justin Rose played the tougher South Course at Torrey Pines on Friday, but he made it look like a breeze. Rose putted for birdie on all but 2 holes on the golf course, and fired a 66 to hold the 36-hole lead by 3 shots.
A few fun stats by Justin Rose at Torrey:
2nd 36 hole-lead at the Farmers in last 3 years
1 bogey in the first two rounds came on the 7th hole, when he failed to get up and down
15 under (129), a tournament record last matched by Tom Lehman in 2005
Round 2 came with 4 birdies on the front, 3 birdies on the back for 7 total
Long drive 322 yards, average of 309 yards
88.9% green in regulation
64.3% fairways hit
Hideki Matsuyama trails rose at -12, and you better believe the field will make a run at Rose. Typically conditions at this championship caliber course toughens up over the weekend, making it more likely that leaders come back to the field.
Noteworthy missed cut for Cameron Champ, who has lit the TOUR on fire since joining. Champ had a sloppy tournament with 75, and 71 and many pundits were curious how he would handle the challenge of Torrey Pines courses. Champ reverted back to his former self hitting just 39.3% of fairways, and taking in 8 bogeys during the two rounds.
Other notable players who missed the cut include last weeks champ Adam Long, Patrick Cantlay, and Charl Schwartzel.
Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed tee it up together for the first time since the controversial comments by Reed following the United States loss at the Ryder Cup. We will keep an eye on any friction during the golf round. Neither player has won on the PGA TOUR in some time, leading to perhaps more importance placed on performance this weekend.
All players will tee it up on the South Course on Saturday and Sunday this week. Notable tee times today (EST time):
11:10 am - Reed, Spieth, Chin (1)
11:10 am - Woods, Stallings, Hughes (10)
12:20 pm - McIlroy, Bae, Kim (1)
12:40 pm - Rose, Matsuyama, Palmer (1)
Lets not forget Gregatron’s picks of the week either! Rory was picked to win and sits in T-9 at -8 and is poised to make a move this weekend. Gregatron sent Spieth packing in his ‘back to range’ pick of the week, but Spieth made it to the weekend T-18 at -7. Keep in mind though, Spieth was -7 under in Round 1 and finds himself stuck at -7 after an even par day in Round 2.
