PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — England’s Marco Penge turned a busy day into a share of the lead at the midway point of the Genesis Invitational on Friday by reaching 12-under par at Riviera Country Club.
Forced to play 27 holes after he resumed his first round early Friday morning, Penge shot 9 under on the day and delivered a 7-under 64 during his second round to join Jacob Bridgeman (64) atop the leaderboard.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (65) was alone in third place at 11 under, while Australia’s Adam Scott (63) and Xander Schauffele (65) were tied for fourth at 9 under. Scott needed a birdie at the par-4 closing hole to tie the course record of 61 but finished with a bogey.
A total of 30 players still needed to complete their first round Friday morning. They were on the course during the first round Thursday when play was halted because of darkness following a three-hour rain delay,
While Bridgeman finished his first round Friday, Penge’s full 27-hold day included 11 birdies and two bogeys. Bridgeman started his second round with an eagle 3 at the first hole, then finished with three consecutive birdies to catch Penge.
“I putted it really well and I hit my driver great,” said Bridgeman, a South Carolina native who is holding his own on West Coast Poa annua greens. “The driver was a struggle the last couple weeks. So I drove it nicely, and then the putter worked out for me.”
After winning three times on the DP World Tour last season, Penge is playing his fourth event on the PGA Tour this season and has made the cut in consecutive signature events. He can note one major difference when it comes to playing in the United States.
“Going for lunch on Tuesday and standing in the queue behind Tiger Woods is pretty cool,” Penge said of the tournament host and 15-time major winner. “You know, (it’s) just being in the presence of players that I have so much respect for, players that I’ve watched growing up, players I idolize.”
McIlroy had three birdies on his front nine Friday before an eagle 3 at No. 11 and a birdie at 17 to finish one shot off the pace. Scott had a pair of eagles at Nos. 1 and 11. He was 5 under on a five-hole stretch from Nos. 9-13.
“I’ve been feeling like I’ve had a lot of good golf since last summer and got absolutely no results thanks to average putting,” said Scott, who won at Riviera in 2020. “The standard’s incredibly high out here week in and week out and average putting just isn’t going to get it done. So nice to see myself kind of up on the first page of a leaderboard.”
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (68) made a 7-foot par putt at 18 to make the cut on the number at even par. It is his 68th consecutive made cut.
“It was nice to get out this morning on some fresh greens and hole some putts and do what I needed to do in order to get to the weekend,” Scheffler said.
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (68), the defending champion, is tied for 25th place at 2 under.
The Genesis Invitational is making its return to Riviera after it was played in the San Diego area at Torrey Pines last season following a destructive wildfire that destroyed much of the neighborhood just north of the golf course in January of last year.
–Field Level Media
