Palmer with 62 claims 2-shot lead
Chico’s Kitayama sits tied for 7th on European Tour
SAN DIEGO >> Ryan Palmer wasn’t aware of any score but his own Friday at Torrey Pines, and he knew it was good enough to at least get himself back into the mix at the Farmers Insurance Open.
He was on the North Course without much bustle — Tiger Woods was on the South — and without any scoreboards. As he kept piling up birdies, Palmer was tempted to get out his phone and see where he stood.
“I said, ‘Just don’t look. We’ll see when we get done.’ I knew it would be close,” he said.
It was much better than that. His 10-under 62 — with a bogey on the last hole — went a long way, taking him to a two-shot lead over Brandt Snedeker going into the weekend.
It was a magnificent round to match the weather along the Pacific bluffs.
But it wasn’t pretty for everyone.
Woods opened his round with four putts from 25 feet for a double bogey, and then a spurt of birdies around the turn to get some momentum, only to stall the rest of the way for a 71 that left him six shots behind.
At least he’s still playing. Phil Mickelson was wild
again off the tee and shot 73 on the North to miss the cut by two shots. He also missed the cut in the desert last week. The other time Mickelson missed the cut in consecutive PGA Tour events to start the year was in 1988. He was 17, and those were the only two tour events he played.
Joining him with a weekend off were defending champion Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler and U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland.
Palmer was worried about the cut when he was 3 over through eight holes on the South in the first round. He rallied to shoot 72 and carried that momentum into Friday.
“I knew today when I got out here, the low rounds were out here,” Palmer said. “A good 5-, 6- under par round was to be had. I just took what I had and it
turned into a 62. So driving the ball great and I was able to finally get some putts to go in. And the golf course with the par 5s reachable and No. 11 as well, it’s a golf course you can take if you’re hitting it well. “
Palmer, who lost in a playoff at Torrey Pines two years ago, was at 10-under 134.
Snedeker, who won the wind-blown edition of this event in 2016, renewed his love affair for poa annua greens and shot 67 on the South to get into the final group, along with J.B. Holmes, whose 69 left him three shots behind.
Woods has won eight times as a pro at Torrey (including the U.S. Open) and twice at Pebble Beach (including the U.S. Open) and twice at La Costa in the Match Play (no U.S. Opens there). He knows poa. And this time he says it wasn’t his friend, at least at the start.” EUROPEAN TOUR >> After opening the year with two missed cuts, Eddie Pepperell surged back into form at the Dubai Desert Classic by shooting 5-under 67 to take the lead after two rounds of the European Tour event.
Pepperell led three players — Bryson DeChambeau (67), Robert Karlsson (68) and Dean Burmester (68) — by a stroke at 8-under overall at Emirates Golf Club.
Tommy Fleetwood birdied five holes in his back nine to shoot 65 for the lowest round of the week, and was four strokes off the lead.
Former Chico High standout Kurt Kitayama followed his opening 69 with a 70 and sits tied for seventh at 5-under 139. LPGA TOUR >> Madelene Sagstrom birdied seven of the first nine holes and shot a 10-under 62 to take the second-round lead in the Gainbridge LPGA.
Sagstrom birdied the first two holes, parred the next two and made five straight birdies to make the turn in 7-under 29 at rain-softened Boca Rio Golf Club.
The 27-year-old Swede added birdies on Nos. 11, 12 and 16, bogeyed the par-3 17th and closed with a birdie on the par-4 18th.
Sagstrom had a 10-under 134 total for a one-stroke lead over European Solheim Cup teammate Carlota Ciganda of Spain. Ciganda had a 66 in the first official event in Boca Raton since the 1989 Oldsmobile LPGA Classic.