Kuchar leads, Woods stumbles at Genesis
LOS ANGELES — Matt Kuchar managed a 2under 69 and built a twoshot lead over Rory McIlroy and two others going into the weekend at Riviera.
“It definitely wasn’t my best stuff today,” Kuchar said. “Two under was an awfully good score for the way I drove it.”
Tiger Woods happily would have taken a score like that. Instead, he made his bid for a first victory at Riviera and a record 83rd title on the PGA Tour a lot tougher. Two swings with a wedge wound up costing Woods three shots, and his 73 left him nine shots behind.
“I made some pretty bad mistakes out there,” Woods said.
He can’t afford any more, not with 44 players ahead of him, including past champions like Adam Scott and Dustin Johnson, and players who would desperately like to add their name to the list of winners at this historic club.
McIlroy, in his return to No. 1 in the world, handled the par 5s and kept mistakes to a minimum in his round of 67, which puts him in the final group Saturday with Kuchar and Harold Varner III, who had a 68 in the morning.
Kuchar was at 9-under 135. He began with a bogey on the par-5 opening hole, one of only two players in the 121-man field to not make par or better. In other news:
• Seven-time major champion Inbee Park moved into contention for her 20th LPGA Tour victory by taking a share of the second-round lead at the Women’s Australian Open at Adelaide, Australia.
Park shot 4-under 69 to put her at 10-under 136 at Royal Adelaide, level with first-round leader Jodi Ewart Shadoff (70).
Jillian Hollis (69), was in third place, one stroke behind. Defending champion Nelly Korda (73) was six strokes behind.
Five-time champion Karrie Webb, whose lead-up to the tournament was hampered by a virus, missed the cut after a second consecutive 74.