Soccer
  • Home
  • Golf
  • How the elite players are faring at the halfway mark of the Genesis Invitational

How the elite players are faring at the halfway mark of the Genesis Invitational

Eight of the world’s top 10 are competing at Riviera this week but they’ve had mixed fortunes over the first 36 holes

Great courses attract great players. And that's a big reason why the field in Los Angeles this week is absolutely stacked.
But not everything is going to plan for the elite stars and the halfway leaderboard is topped by a player, Sam Burns, ranked 149th in the OWGR.
Eight of the world's top 10 are taking part but only five have made it through to the weekend.
Here is Planet Sport Golf's report card on those top players after two rounds.

Dustin Johnson (T2nd)

As you might expect given his current form, the World No.1 is performing best of the big names after rounds of 68-67. That's good enough to be in a four-way tie for second place although five back from the lead. DJ ranks 1st in SG: Tee To Green and 1st for SG: Around The Green although only 40th Off The Tee and 48th in Putting. He's only 1-under for the Par 5s after 36 holes so, ominously, there's plenty of room for improvement.

Jon Rahm (T19th)

The World No.2 sits inside the top 20 but has lots of ground to make up on the weekend. He'll start it nine back from the lead. A 69 on Friday moved Rahm up 15 spots although he needs to start making more birdies (just six so far and ranked 64th in the field). The stats explain why: he's setting up plenty of chances (4th for SG: Approach, 15 GIR in round two) but not taking them (58th in SG: Putting). The Spaniard has also split less than half the fairways (T62 for Driving Accuracy).

Justin Thomas (Missed cut)

JT has some strong course form here but this week has been a washout. He put himself behind the 8-ball with an opening 77 and limped to a 73 yesterday, missing the cut by a massive eight shots. Hard to know where this came from given his decent enough T13 in Phoenix last time. The World No.3 didn't do anything well, ranking outside the top 75 in every Strokes Gained category. His putting was a horror show (lost -5.811 strokes to the field to rank 117th out of 120).

Xander Schauffele (T28th)

After a par round of 71 on Thursday, Schauffele safely made it through to the weekend with a 69 although he's a full 10 shots off the lead and, perhaps more importantly, five adrift of Dustin Johnson. The World No.4's short game has been on point (13th Around The Green, 16th SG: Putting) but he's split just 12 fairways (T79 in Driving Accuracy) and ranks just 50th SG: Tee To Green. A big weekend is needed if he's to challenge for his home state event.

Collin Morikawa (T56th)

Morikawa won the PGA Championship in his native California but it's not going so well here. At least he's going in the right direction. The World No.6 was staring at a missed cut following a 2-over 73 on Thursday but made it through on the number after recovering with a 69 on Friday. His putting was stronger on day two although he's still only 61st in SGP while he's way down the Around The Green (60th) charts so needs to sharpen that short game.

Rory McIlroy (Missed cut)

There's no getting away from it, Rory has endured a miserable two days and some sloppy play saw him miss the cut by a whopping seven shots. The World No.7 made just three birdies and traded those with seven bogeys and a double. He was virtually last in the field (115th of 120) in SG: Putting while his iron play was weak too (94th on Approach). Back to the drawing board.

Patrick Cantlay (T9th)

Cantlay, who went to college at nearby UCLA, was a popular pick this week and the World No.8 is lurking inside the top 10. He ranks 5th for SG: Off The Tee so far and also 5th Around The Green. Two areas need tightening up though. The Californian is ranked 44th for both Approach and Putting. At least he recorded a positive SGP figure (0.714) in round two. He ranks 11th for birdies although six of his nine came in round one.

Bryson DeChambeau (Missed cut)

DeChambeau left himself an awful lot to do after a first-round 75 but an improved 2-under 69 still wasn't enough and, like Thomas and McIlroy, the World No.10 won't be around for the weekend. Chief culprit? His driver. Golf's biggest hitter was wild off the tee, finding just six fairways over his two rounds. And the rest of his game couldn't compensate. A cold flatstick on Friday (-2.426) meant he ranked 99th in SG: Putting.

* Latest Paddy Power betting: 9/4 Sam Burns, 5/2 Dustin Johnson, 9/1 Joaquin Niemann, 12/1 Patrick Cantlay, 14/1 Jordan Spieth, 18/1 Jason Kokrak, 22/1 Brooks Koepka, 25/1 Max Homa, 33/1 Jon Rahm, Tony Finau

More Articles