The Genesis Invitational – round two leaderboard
-12 M Penge (Eng), J Bridgeman (US); -11 R McIlroy (NI); -9 A Scott (Aus), X Schauffele (US); -8 MW Lee (Aus), P Greyserman (US); -7 T Fleetwood (Eng), W Clark (US). K Kitayama (US). M Fitzpatrick (Eng)
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Selected others: -6 A Rai (Eng); -5 J Speith (US); -2 R Fowler (US); level R MacIntyre (Sco), S Scheffler (US); +1 S Lowry (Ire); (missed cut) +3 J Rose (Eng)
Full leaderboard
Rory McIlroy sits one shot behind leaders Marco Penge and Jacob Bridgeman at the halfway stage of the Genesis Invitational.
England’s Penge hit five birdies in his final seven holes to post an eight-under-par 64 and move to 12 under overall after two rounds in Los Angeles.
Penge’s 27-hole Friday was all the more remarkable, as he had to complete his nine holes from a weather-delayed round one before moving on to his second round.
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Northern Ireland’s McIlroy carded a seven-under-par 65 to move to 11 under and having struggled to finish joint 14th at Pebble Beach last week, said the course at the Riviera Country Club was more forgiving.
“There’s no Pacific Ocean to hit it into around this golf course, so that helps,” said world number two McIlroy.
“I still hit some loose shots, but the course set-up is in a way that you can get away with it a little bit more.
“But I’ve hit it well, I’ve controlled my distance well for the most part, and I’ve holed some nice putts from inside eight feet for pars when I’ve needed to.”
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Penge, 27, revealed after his round that his wife is expecting the couple’s second child next week, having recently moved to Florida.
“It’s been quite tough the last four weeks for me and my family,” he said.
“She’s been in the US on her own, heavily pregnant, looking after a one-and-a-half-year old at the same time with no family or friends around.
“It’s been like a bit of a gamble of me just kind of going to compete and leaving her on her own.”
Bridgeman, of the United States, later joined Penge atop the leaderboard by carding a 64 of his own.
World number one Scottie Scheffler made a seven-foot par putt at the 18th to make the cut at level par.
“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,” added Scheffler.
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