Patrick Cantlay maintained his lead at the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club Saturday, but San Diego’s Xander Schauffele charged into second place.
Cantlay’s five-stroke lead shrank to two in Pacific Palisades, with Schauffele, tied with Will Zalatoris, giving chase. Luke List, a former champion at the Farmers Insurance Open, was tied for second after Friday’s play, and fell to three shots back.
Cantlay, a UCLA alum, is seeking his ninth PGA Tour Championship and first since the 2022 BMW Championship.
“Being from southern California, it’s one of the tournaments on the list that I’d like to win the most,” Cantlay told the Associated Press.
One more wrinkle heading into Sunday’s final round – Cantlay and Schauffele are good friends on and off the course.
“I’m rooting for myself harder than anyone else and same goes for him,” Schauffele told AP. “But of course I’d like to see him do well, but when we’re in the final group together it’s pretty obvious what we’re trying to do.”
Zalatoris had a notable achievement before moving up the leaderboard – he made a hole-in-one on the 14th hole. It was his second hole-in-one in 69 PGA Tour starts. He also had a hole-in-one in the first round of the 2020 U.S. Open.
“I just pulled it about 10 feet and it landed perfectly on the fringe and killed it,” he said.
Other stories have drawn the attention of golf fans during the tournament, including the return of Tiger Woods. But the legend ultimately withdrew because of illness in the middle of the second round.
Woods played the first six holes Friday at 1-over, with a birdie on the first hole and bogeys on the fourth and fifth. He was at 2-over for the tournament.
Gary Woodland also posted a 1-over-72 to go to par-142 for two rounds. In so doing, he made a cut for the first time in four starts since undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor on Sept. 18.
“I got some juices and some energy flowing that I haven’t had in a long time,” the 2019 U.S. Open champion, who is playing on a sponsor’s exemption, said. “To make a birdie on 17 was a big deal for me, so I’m excited about that. My game’s trending in the right direction, so for me to play two more rounds is a big deal for me.”
The field of 70 was reduced to 51 players – the low 50 plus ties – following the conclusion of Friday’s second round.
The cut line was at 1-over 143, the first time a cut line has been over par at a PGA Tour event since last year’s British Open. It was the second consecutive year the cut line at the Genesis Invitational was at 1-over.
The winner will receive $4 million, part of the $20 million purse for the event.
City News Service contributed to this report.
