Joaquin Niemann continued his assault on the Riviera Country Club golf course Friday, shooting his second straight eight-under-par 63 for a two-round score of 126 at the Genesis Invitational, shattering the previous 36-hole course record of 130 by four strokes.
The 23-year-old Chilean racked up seven birdies and one eagle to move to 16 under with his blistering morning round, two strokes ahead of PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young, who birdied nine holes in his bogey-free round of 62 on Friday and is two strokes back at 14 under.
Justin Thomas, ranked eighth in the World Golf Rankings, shot an afternoon round of 64 to move to within five strokes of Niemann at 11 under. Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott are tied for fourth place at nine under, and Collin Morikawa is in sixth place at eight under.
“Shooting 11 under, I would have thought that I would probably be leading, not five back,” Thomas said. “I mean, there’s no conditions that you see 16 under leading after two rounds here.
“I think the reason you see the scores is because of how firm it is or how firm it’s getting. So if you’re hitting the fairway and landing in the fairway, the ball’s rolling quite a bit to where you can bring the short clubs in.”
Scott, a 14-time PGA Tour winner, who shot rounds of 68 and 65, hasn’t given up hope despite his seven-stroke deficit.
“I think the best thing is there is someone up there close so they can think about each other and maybe get distracted for a few holes and I can quietly creep up on them,” Scott said.
“Seven back, yeah, I mean, I don’t know. You think a five-under round would be good, but I don’t know if it’s going to be good. Might need an eagle to go here or there on the par fives. Somewhere, I need a hot nine over the…
Source : yahoo
