REGION — Kevin Yu of Taiwan holds a one-stroke lead over American Patrick Cantlay and Ryo Hisatsune of Japan, entering today’s second round of the $9 million Farmers Insurance Open.
Thomas Detry, Shane Lowry, Hideki Matsuyama, Aaron Rai and Alejandro Tosti are tied for fourth, two strokes off the lead.
A Torrey Pines High School alum, Michael Kim is among 10 golfers three strokes off the lead at 5-under-67.
Xander Schauffele, the 9-1 pre-tournament favorite, was among 14 golfers five strokes off the lead after shooting a 3-under 69 on the South Course.
The San Diego State and Scripps Ranch High School alum described his round as “overall pretty solid.”
“I had a really nice stretch of golf there through kind of the hard part of the course, hitting fairways and hitting some pretty good iron shots, so pretty happy,” Schauffele said.
Schauffele three-putted the par-4 first hole, including missing an 11-foot, 1-inch putt for par for a bogey, then sank a 21-foot, 7-inch putt for birdie on the par-4 second hole. The 30-year-old also birdied the 10th, 12th and 13th holes.
Schauffele is fifth in the Official World Golf Ranking and the highest-ranked player in the field of 156. He was among three golfers tied for third at The American Express, which concluded Sunday in La Quinta, two strokes behind winner Nick Dunlap.
Schauffele is making his ninth appearance at the Farmers Insurance Open. He missed the cut in four of his first five appearances, tied for second in 2021, and finished 34th in 2022 and 13th in 2023.
Schauffele enters the week with the PGA Tour’s longest active made-cut streak at 36. His last missed cut came at the 2022 Masters.
Schauffele withdrew from The Sentry, a no-cut event, midway through the second round in 2023 because of a back injury.
Yu shot a bogey-free 8-under 64 on Torrey Pines Golf Course’s North Course Wednesday, matching his low first-round score in his 36 starts on the PGA Tour and one shy of his career low.
The 25-year-old former Arizona State standout began his round on the 10th hole and birdied his first two holes, along with his fourth, seventh, and eighth, completing his first nine holes in 5-under 31. On the front nine, he birdied the fourth, seventh, and ninth holes for his first 18-hole lead or co-lead on the PGA Tour.
Cantlay is the tournament favorite entering the second round at 5-1, with Schauffele the second choice at 8-1, according to Golfbet, the PGA Tour’s betting hub.
Cantlay also began his round Wednesday on the 10th hole, birdied his first two holes and his fourth and shot a 3-under 33 on the back nine.
On the front nine, the 31-year-old former UCLA standout birdied the par-4 second hole, then bogeyed the par-3 third. He had three consecutive birdies on the fifth through seventh holes and concluded the round with his eighth birdie.
“I thought I played the par-5s pretty well,” said Cantlay, who birdied three of the four par-5s. “I three-putted one par-5, which was kind of a bummer, but I hit the ball very solidly and played from the fairway a lot, which really gave me a lot of opportunities to make birdie.”
Cantlay is playing in the tournament for the first time since 2019, when he missed the cut. Cantlay said he returned to Torrey Pines because “they changed the order of some of the tournaments, and it worked out good.”
Kim said his round was “a good start.” He had six birdies, five on the back nine, including three in a row from the 15th through 17th holes. Kim ended his round by bogeying the par-4 18th.
“I saw a lot of good things and hit a lot of wedges close,” the 30-year-old former University of California standout said. “Missed a couple of putts here and there, but overall satisfied with the round for sure.”
Defending champion Max Homa shot a 2-under 70 on the South Course, with four birdies on the back nine after a 2-over front nine, and is among 24 golfers tied for 48th, six strokes off the lead.
Each of Wednesday’s eight lowest rounds came on the North Course and 16 of 18. Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark and American Nick Hardy had the low scores on the South Course, 5-under 67, three strokes off the lead.
Golfers who played the North Course on Wednesday will play the South Course on Thursday. Golfers who played the South Course on Wednesday will play the North Course on Thursday.
The field will be reduced to a low 65 and ties following the conclusion of the second round.
Golfers in danger of missing the cut include South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who shot a par 72 on the South Course, putting him in an 18-way tie for 90th, and Australian Jason Day, who shot a 2-over 74 on the South Course, among eight golfers tied for 138th.
Bezuidenhout finished second in The American Express, one shot behind Dunlap, who became the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since 1991. The 36-year-old Day is a 13-time winner on the PGA Tour, including the 2015 and 2018 Farmers Insurance Opens.
The winner will receive $1.62 million.
