SAN DIEGO – Sam Ryder extended his lead at the Farmers Insurance Open to three shots with a 4-under 68 in challenging winds in Thursday’s second round at Torrey Pines’ South Course, while Jon Rahm late in his 5-under an eagle and 67 had three straight birdies on the easier north course to get under the cut line.
Ryder survived both the Santa Ana wind and the tougher South Course with just one bogey, finishing 12-under 132 and taking a three-shot lead over Brendan Steele, who hit a 70 on the South Course. Tano Goya was two strokes behind after a 67 on the north course.
The Santa Ana wind, blowing out of the desert and down the mountains, raked the course most of the day, gusting up to 30 miles per hour. It sent leaves, branches and even a tumbleweed onto the green and cardboard trash cans tumbled down the slopes.
“Yesterday was very easy, today was very difficult,” said Rahm, who claimed his first tour win here in 2017 and then won the 2021 US Open at the municipal course on Blufftop overlooking the Pacific. “It’s not easy on any of the courses out here, especially in the south and when you get bumpy greens in this Poa Annua wind it can be a bit of a nightmare so I’m glad I did a few.”
Rahm, the world no. He skipped the fifth par 5 and then had three straight birdies. He had another eagle shot on the par 4 seventh, but his long putt hit the left edge and slipped about a foot.
After his frustrating opening lap, “anything would have been great in the ’60s,” Rahm said. “What I shot today man I’m gonna leave the golf course today because it’s a great round of golf.”
Rahm, who won The American Express last weekend, started on the back nine and opened with back-to-back birdies but missed his third and ninth holes. He even went into the fifth par 5 when he started his run with an eagle.
“Holes five through nine, with or without wind, you can exploit the space here,” said the Spanish star. “Luckily, I got it really good. There is no difference between these holes or any other five, four holes that you may choose during the round, it is just a guess as the wind is correct in all of them. I think maybe after that second shot on 6 I was a bit more aggressive and adopted the mentality of making birdies instead of being a little cautious, which is easy to do when it blows as hard as it is today.”
Rahm, who went from tied 116th to 14th on Wednesday, said the cutting line never crossed his mind.
“I played with the mindset of catching up with the leaders as much as possible, that’s it.”
Ryder, a 33-year-old who has never won on the PGA Tour, opened with some margin after sharing the first-round lead with Aaron Rai and Brent Grant. Grant was in a group of six at 6 under.
“Yeah, it feels great. What I’ve told myself is just try to embrace it,” Ryder said. “It’s not a position I’ve been in a lot, you know, so I’m just trying to enjoy it. It’s kind of why we’re playing, so I’m just trying to look around and enjoy the moment.
“And I just do everything pretty solid. It starts from the tee for me, I drive it well. My iron game is really good so if I hit the fairway I feel like I can attack. And I don’t think I really missed a lot of shots today. I missed a few fairways but the irons were really good.”
World No. 7 Will Zalatoris missed the cut after shooting 5 to 77 on the south course.
The last two rounds take place on the South Course.
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