Spieth, Kang share lead at rainy Riviera

Given I went cart path to cart path to junk on the first start, and then we got to re-start the round — I went from kind of being unfortunate to fortunate

Jordan Spieth

los Angeles — Three-time majorwinner Jordan Spieth and South Korean Kang Sung topped the leaderboard Thursday when darkness halted play in the weather-hit Genesis Open, where tournament host Tiger Woods never even got to tee off.

Spieth was five-under through 12 holes of the first round and Kang was five-under through 14 at Riviera Country Club, where heavy rain saw the first round get underway in earnest seven hours late.

Organisers tried to get things going on time, only for increasing rain and deteriorating visibility to prompt them to call a halt, and take the unusual step of nullifying the few scores that had been posted.

That saw Phil Mickelson’s unlikely par at Riviera’s 10th — where he was in three bunkers and holed out from the sand — expunged.

Mickelson, coming off a win on Monday at the weather-disrupted Pebble Beach Pro-Am, returned in the afternoon and was one-over through 12 when darkness fell, unable to get much going playing alongside Xander Schauffele and Spieth.

Spieth grabbed five birdies on the rain-softened course while Kang had one bogey, four birdies and an eagle at the par-five 11th.

“Given I went cart path to cart path to junk on the first start, and then we got to re-start the round — I went from kind of being unfortunate to fortunate,” Spieth said.

“Played the par-fives well,” said Spieth, who birdied the three parfives and also chipped in twice for birdie. —