Tiger Woods' withdrawal from the second round of the 2024 Genesis Invitational stole all the headlines Friday, so perhaps it makes some sense that one of the most underrated presences on the PGA Tour occupies the top of the leaderboard. Patrick Cantlay expanded his overnight lead Friday at Riviera Country Club with a sensational bogey-free 6-under 65 to stand at 13 under and five clear of Jason Day, Mackenzie Hughes and Luke List.
Cantlay's five-stroke margin at the halfway point matches the largest 36-hole lead in tournament history.
Cantlay, who opened with a 7-under 64, has had his way with Riviera throughout the years and it has trickled into this week. The former UCLA Bruin has clocked five top-20 finishes in his last six tournament appearances including a third-place finish a season ago. He has continued to play quality golf since, but the wins have not followed.
One of the most impressive all-around players on the PGA Tour, Cantlay's steadiness has not been rewarded with a trophy since the 2022 BMW Championship. Of those players who played at least 15 tournaments in the 2022-23 season, Cantlay ranked first in par-4 scoring, first in par-5 scoring and first in birdie average.
It's almost unfathomable to put up those statistics, have the killer instinct Cantlay does have and not run into a tournament win here or there. He seems to have finally run into one in the Pacific Palisades, and the world No. 7 looks keen on racing away with it with 36 to go.
The leader
1. Patrick Cantlay (-13)
It may not seem like it, but Cantlay's second round felt like a big one considering his start to the 2024 season. The former FedEx Cup champion has been in the mix after Round 1 in each tournament he has played only to see his name slowly drift down the leaderboard as the week progresses. At the Farmers Insurance Open, Cantlay started 65-73 en route to finishing outside the top 50. The following week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am a similar story unfolded with opening rounds of 64-70 before finishing T11 in the shortened event. Instead of playing catch up and perhaps pushing the envelope, Cantlay can now play his steady game and let the field make the mistakes while they chase.
Other contenders
T2. Jason Day, Luke List, Mackenzie Hughes (-8)
5. Corey Conners (-7)
T6. Will Zalatoris, Xander Schauffele, Tom Hoge (-6)
T9. Tony Finau, Hideki Matsuyama (-5)
Day is a player who has had issues around Riviera in the past. Failing to finish inside the top 60 and missing three cuts across his first five starts in the Genesis Invitational, the Australian credits a switch in attitude to his new-found love for the par 71. Claiming a top-10 result last year, Day looks on well on his way to improving on this result as he is one of Cantlay's closest pursuers heading into the weekend.
"I think it's just a little bit of attitude definitely goes a long way," Day said about Riviera. "Obviously when you come here and you don't quite -- you aren't sharp off the tee and then you just -- like I said today, like if you're not quite sharp off the tee, you miss a lot of greens and if your short game's not kind of showing up, and these greens are a little tricky to read and they're fast, then that is a formula for like not a lot of success.
"But I think you kind of -- first and foremost, when you have results at a golf course, you have to try and change the mentality, then just try and change a few things. I feel like I've gained a lot more accuracy over the last few years, so that definitely helps obviously at this golf course."
Tiger among the early exits
Woods is the biggest name to not be around this weekend following his withdrawal during the second round due to illness, but he is hardly the only star to be missing from the second half of this tournament. The last two U.S. Open champions, Matt Fitzpatrick and Wyndham Clark, fell on the wrong side of the cut number as neither were able to find their footing around Riviera despite having solid histories.
Two-time PGA Championship winner, Justin Thomas, never looked comfortable either and is a disappointing early exit considering his strong start to 2024. Keegan Bradley, Chris Kirk and Sepp Straka are also among those players inside the top 30 of the Official World Golf Rankings to be packing their bags early.
"He started feeling some flu-like symptoms last night," said Rob McNamara, Tiger's longtime business partner and vice president of TGR Ventures. "[Tiger] Woke up this morning, they were worse than the night previous. He had a little bit of a fever and that, and was better during the warm-up, but then when he got out there and was walking and playing, he started feeling dizzy. Ultimately the doctors are saying he's got some -- potentially some type of flu and that he was dehydrated. He's been treated with an IV bag and he's doing much, much better and he'll be released on his own here soon."
2024 Genesis Invitational updated odds and picks
- Patrick Cantlay: 4/6
- Jason Day: 11-1
- Xander Schauffele: 14-1
- Luke List: 18-1
- Scottie Scheffler: 20-1
- Mackenzie Hughes: 30-1
- Will Zalatoris: 30-1
- Corey Conners: 30-1
Cantlay probably closes this thing out and his number is palatable, but if you want a flier there's a multiple-time PGA Tour winner with great history lurking. It may be difficult to stomach, but the 45-1 price tag on Tony Finau is intriguing. The big-hitting right hander may have found something with the putter Friday gaining more than one stroke on the greens and if that keeps up, the rest of his game is well-suited for Riviera. He has done just about everything but win at the Genesis Invitational throughout his career and he has set himself up to give another go.
Rick Gehman and Mark Immelman discuss Tiger's WD and the rest of Round 2 at Riviera. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.