When the Santa Ana winds blow at Torrey Pines, they live up to their nickname (devil winds) and they made things incredibly difficult on day two of the early-start Farmers Insurance Open.
First round leader Sam Ryder was totally undeterred by the difficult conditions — all he did was go out and shoot 68 on the big-boy South Course — making him the only guy to break 70 with winds blowing 15-20 miles per hour.
“Sam played incredible today — the conditions were pretty brutal,” was how Ryder’s playing partner, Brendan Steele, described Ryder’s day. Ryder tore up the “little brother” North Course on Wednesday in perfect conditions (64) and Steele was just a shot back of him (65). On Thursday, Steele finished birdie-birdie and posted a 70 on the South Course. That got him in at nine-under and he sits in solo second, three back of the guy he played with the first 36 holes and they’ll be together again for Friday’s third round.
But those nasty winds caused problems for everyone else, in fact, they sucked the living daylights out of some contenders. Aaron Rai, like Ryder, had his way with the North Course on Wednesday — he was tied for the day one lead with 64 but was slapped around by the South Course and a 78 dropped him all the way back to two-under. He was just one of many who struggled against those devil winds.
So where was Jon Rahm you ask?
Rahm struggled on his favorite course on day one and after his 73 on the South, he simply called his performance “not good.” But he moved over to the easier North for his second round and a spectacular back nine brought him back into contention. He finished on the front nine and went five-under for his final five holes with an eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie stretch that started at the par five fifth. His 67 got him in the hunt and he now has the longest cuts-made streak on the PGA Tour — 22.
“Feel like I did what I had to do to get myself back into position,” Rahm said after that strong finish. He’s tied for 14th and with play moving to the South Course for the final two rounds, he’s in position to go after that third straight win.
He played alongside Justin Thomas and Tony Finau. Thomas rode the struggle bus with so many others. J.T.’s 74 dropped him back to two-under and the third member of the group, Tony Finau, had to birdie his final hole to make the cut. He did and stands a even-par.
World No. 7 Will Zalatoris wasn’t as fortunate. Over on the South Course, Zalatoris needed birdie at the famous par five 18th to make the final two rounds but missed a 12-footer. He posted 77 and at one-over, went home early.
Defending champion Luke List survived a 75 on day two and hung around at two-under. Hometown guy Xander Schauffele’s in at one-under.
Conditions will be a lot more friendly for Friday’s moving day — the Santa Ana winds made their exit leaving cool temperatures and gentle breezes in the five-to-eight mile per hour range.
But the deep rough and toughness of the South Course awaits.
Ryder has had early success in other Tour events but faltered on the weekends.
And then there’s Rahm sitting eight shots back. Sounds like a lot — but not so much with 36 tough holes ahead.
It’s anyone’s ball game.
