Tiger Woods followed up his 3-under par 69 Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open by firing off a 1-under 71 on Friday in his second round of the weekend at Torrey Pines. Woods, who played the North Course on Thursday, struggled at times on the South Course on Friday. He opened the day three strokes off the lead but ended six strokes behind despite his under-par outing after Ryan Palmer torched the North Course with a 10-under 62 to move from No. 70 to solo leader.
Woods opened the day quite different than he started on Thursday, posting a double-bogey on his first hole after playing bogey-free through his first 10 in Round 1. He bounced back on the front nine with birdies on Nos. 6, 8 and 9 and played the back nine at even par, bookending his final nine with birdies on Nos. 10 and 18. He bogeyed Nos. 12 and 17.
“It was a good middle part of the round,” Woods said afterward on Golf Channel. “Not exactly the best of starts, but figured it out and turned it around. I made a mistake on 17 that cost me a shot, but a good birdie on 18.”
To see Woods hang around inside the top 25 at a place where he’s had immense success isn’t a surprise, but Palmer’s ascension on the leaderboard certainly was. Thursday, Palmer posted an even-par 72 on the South Course, which is typically more conducive to posting low scores, before nearly posting a clean card Friday at the more challenging North Course. He played bogey-free golf until No. 18.
Trailing Palmer in second place through 36 holes is Brandt Snedeker, who himself enjoyed a big leaderboard boost after opening the day outside the top 20. Snedeker posted a 5-under 67 and sits at 8-under halfway through the tournament. He leads J.B. Holmes, Jhonattan Vegas, Sebastian Cappelen and Matthew NeSmith, who are T3 at 7-under.
Here’s how the top of the leaderboard looks heading into Saturday’s third round action at Torrey Pines:
1. Ryan Palmer (-10): Palmer’s been playing great golf already this season with top-10 finishes at the Sony Open and the ZOZO Championship, and he’s well on his way to another top 10 after posting the best score of the weekend through 36 holes. He posted 11 birdies Friday as he set a blow torch to the North Course, and was a par away from tying a course-best score in 30 years before bogeying the par-4 18th.
2. Brandt Snedeker (-8): Consecutive masterful performances have Snedeker stealthily in a great spot to pick Palmer off his perch leading into the weekend. He was just outside the top 20 going into Friday after a 3-under-par Thursday. He should go into the weekend with confidence after a 5-under-par 67.
T3. Jhonattan Vegas, Sebastian Cappelen, Matthew NeSmith (-7): 29-year-old Sebastian Cappelen shared the top spot on the leaderboard after a 6-under Round 1, but he gave up ground with a 1-under 70 on Friday. He played the final five holes at 2 under.
T3. J.B. Holmes (-7): Holmes, however, had the best round among the quartet of golfers who share T3. He carded six birdies – including four on the front – to move into the top five heading into the weekend.
T7: Beau Hossler, Keegan Bradley, Zac Blair, Patrick Reed, Harry Higgs (-6): Bradley, like the aforementioned Cappelen, played a fine round but slipped outside the No. 1 spot on the leaderboard after some big days from guys elsewhere. Hossler and Blair were the big movers in this group after posting 6 unders.
