Joaquin Niemann wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted to play on Friday the way he played on Thursday when he opened with an eight-under par 63 at the Genesis Invitational.
His Friday got off to a perfect start with an eagle on the par five opening hole at Riviera and by the time he finished his early morning second round, he put another 63 on the board and shattered the 36-hole record for the event.
He stands alone at a mind-boggling 16-under par.
Closest player to him was rookie Cameron Young, who also broke the old record with a second round 62 that got him in the clubhouse at 14-under par.
Biggest name in the hunt is Justin Thomas. J.T. shot 64 on Friday and got to 11-under, noting that although he was five behind Niemann there is “a lot of golf left to play.”
As for Niemann: “We got it going pretty good at the beginning,” Niemann said. “I really like the way I handled myself out there.”
He separated himself from most of the field. Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth go into the third round seven back of Niemann, Collin Morikawa is eight back at eight-under par through 36.
World No. 1 Jon Rahm had to make a nice par save at the 18th on Friday and he made the cut on the number at even par.
Biggest names missing the cut — Dustin Johnson (73-71) and Brooks Koepka (71-74).
Bernhard Langer (64) Shoots His Age At Chubb:
Bernhard Langer’s at it again Friday in the first full-field Champions Tour event of the season — the Chubb Classic.
Langer shot his age –64 — eight-under par at Tiburon in Naples to take the first round lead. He was two shots clear of Robert Karlsson and Tim Petrovic.
David Duval, making his debut, had a rough outing. Duval shot 80.
