Day: February 20, 2021

Jordan Spieth puts himself in the mix again after two rounds of Genesis InvitationalJordan Spieth puts himself in the mix again after two rounds of Genesis Invitational

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Win probabilities: The Genesis InvitationalWin probabilities: The Genesis Invitational

2021 The Genesis Invitational, Round 2 Top 10 win probabilities: 1. Sam Burns (1, -12, 37.5%) 2. Dustin Johnson (T2, -7, 20.6%) 3. Joaquin Niemann (T2, -7, 7.4%) 4. Patrick Cantlay (T9, -5, 4.9%) 5. Jason Kokrak (T2, -7, 4.4%) 6. Jordan Spieth (T6, -6, 3.5%) 7. Tony Finau (T14, -4, 2.7%) 8. Jon Rahm (T19, -3, 2.5%) 9. Max Homa (T6, -6, 2.4%) 10. Wyndham Clark (T6, -6, 1.9%) Top Strokes-Gained Performers from Round 2: Putting: Jason Kokrak +3.0 Around the Green: Bryson DeChambeau +3.2 Approach the Green: Jordan Spieth +3.0 Off-the-tee: Carlos Ortiz +1.9 Total: Sam Burns +4.9 NOTE: These reports are based off of the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live "Make Cut", "Top 20", "Top 5", and "Win" probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 20K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of The Genesis Invitational, or to see how each golfer's probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model's home page.

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Sam Burns builds five-shot lead at The Genesis InvitationalSam Burns builds five-shot lead at The Genesis Invitational

LOS ANGELES — Sam Burns wanted to pay respect to tough Riviera by playing it safe. It led to a 5-under 66 on Friday to tie the 36-hole record at The Genesis Invitational and build a five-shot lead going into the weekend. RELATED: Leaderboard | Dustin Johnson lurks at Riviera Among those chasing is Dustin Johnson, the reigning Masters and FedExCup champion and a past winner at Riviera. Another shot back was Jordan Spieth, who is starting to make himself at home near the top of the leaderboard. Burns kept his bogey-free day intact toward the end of the round when he came up short of the eighth green, his 17th of the morning. He chipped it about 10 feet short — anything too strong could lead to big trouble — and made the par putt. He also handled two of the par 5s, and picked up so much roll on the firm turf at the 476-yard 12th hole that he had only a pitching wedge into the green and made a 5-foot putt. “Whenever we were kind of in a tricky spot, just kind of took what the golf course gave us,” Burns said. “There’s definitely times where I’ve tried to force it a little bit, but this just is not a golf course you want to do that.” Burns was at 12-under 130, matching the record last set in 2004 by Mike Weir and Shigeki Maruyama. Johnson led a group at 7-under 135 despite playing the three par 5s in only 1 under for the week. Part of the problem is that Johnson has hit only one fairway on the par 5s. That was the final one he played Friday, the 17th, and it set up a simple up-and-down that moved him a little closer. He also has a simple solution to improve his par-5 performance. “Drive it in the fairway,” he said. “I feel like I’m playing really well. Just need to get a little bit more out of the rounds.” Joaquin Niemann finished with eight pars for his round of 68 and was five shots behind. He and Johnson were joined by Tyler McCumber and Jason Kokrak, who each shot 68 in the morning. McCumber is the miracle worker this week. His finger got caught trying to open a window is his hotel room Tuesday, and his best option was for a doctor to remove the nail on his left index finger. He did that Wednesday, hit about five balls and figured he could give it a shot. “It’s pretty wild how quickly the body does adapt to things,” McCumber said. “I thought it was a little better today just to focus on the golf and not really worry about the finger.” Riviera injured some of the games best players. Rory McIlroy made only one birdie in his round of 76 and missed the cut. Justin Thomas followed his opening 77 with a 73 and missed the cut. So did U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau after a 69. McIlroy had the PGA TOUR’s longest active cut streak at 25 events dating to the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush. The streak now belongs to Xander Schauffele at 22. Burns is a 24-year-old from LSU who has what it takes to win when it falls into place. He tied for sixth at the Barbasol Championship when he was still an amateur, and it took him only one year on the Korn Ferry Tour before he was in the big leagues. Now it’s a matter of breaking through, and he’s off to a strong start at Riviera. “I’d like to think that I have all the tools to win out here,” Burns said. “There’s a lot of good players — really, really good players. I try not to get caught up in that and just trying to get better each week.” Riviera is playing fast and difficult this year with such beautiful weather and occasional gusts of wind. Aside from Burns and his great play over 36 holes, no one else was better than 7-under par. Ten players in the 120-man field had two rounds in the 60s while playing in ideal weather. “It’s one of those rare weeks where you can’t get away with firing at flagsticks,” Spieth said. “There’s not much rough, but when you get in the rough it takes the spin off enough to where you can’t get into pins. A lot of times when you miss the greens, it’s harder to get it closer than where you could have hit your approach. “It’s such a different experience from what we normally have on TOUR.” Spieth was three shots behind going into the weekend in the Phoenix Open, shot 61 and shared the 54-hole lead. He tied for fourth. Last week at Pebble Beach, he had a one-shot lead after 36 holes and led by two going into the final round before tying for third. Now he’s six shots behind Burns, but in reasonable position on the leaderboard. It’s an upward trend. “It’s not like you can go chase people on this golf course,” Spieth said. “So I’m happy with where I’m at, but just eliminate a couple of the minor mistakes here and there and try to keep clean cards on the weekend and let the rest of it take care of itself.”

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Dustin Johnson poised for weekend run at The Genesis InvitationalDustin Johnson poised for weekend run at The Genesis Invitational

LOS ANGELES - Sam Burns put on a show worthy of Hollywood, but reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson sits poised in a log jam for second place heading to what promises to be a hard and fast weekend at The Genesis Invitational. Burns backed up his opening 64 with a 5-under 66 to set a tournament record 36-hole mark of 12 under at Riviera Country Club. It gave the 24-year-old former college standout a five-shot cushion over his four nearest competitors. Burns is rightfully confident his game can match it with anyone but if there is a player to fear at Riviera world No. 1 Johnson is likely the man. DJ is coming off a European Tour win a few weeks ago, but perhaps more threateningly has an incredible record at Riviera. Johnson won the tournament in 2017 and has nine top-10 finishes from his 13 appearances. And he has proven he can go low at the iconic course which stands to get tougher over the final two rounds. Johnson has more rounds of 66 or better than any player at this event over the last 14 years with 12 - a whopping seven more than the nearest competitors. He now has 211 birdies since 2008 at Riviera and is cumulatively 90-under. It's why DraftKings has Johnson at +250 to win the tournament, only slightly behind Burns at +225, despite the five-shot buffer. "I like my position. I’m five back, but on this golf course there’s only one guy in front of me," Johnson said. "I like where I’m at and I do like this golf course, and hopefully I can drive it a little bit better on the weekend and give myself a few more chances." Johnson leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+7.267) despite being somewhat uncharacteristically wayward off the tee. He has hit just 10 of 28 fairways to rank 102nd in a 120-man field in driving accuracy. But a text from his coach Claude Harmon pointing out a slight adjustment needed on his takeaway has Johnson even more confident he can surge ahead on moving day. Johnson's biggest bugbear came in the form of par-5 scoring. He has made just one birdie on the three par 5s over the opening two rounds despite the three holes playing as the easiest on the property. It leaves him ranked T94 on those holes. Burns is 5-under on the same holes. "One under is not going to get the job done over the weekend (on those holes). Definitely need to take advantage of the par 5s the next couple days," Johnson said. "But other than that I feel like I’m swinging my irons really well, I’m rolling the putter nicely, so looking forward to the weekend." While Johnson will fight it out for the title, fellow big hitters Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas won't be around for the weekend after a tournament to forget. DeChambeau rebounded from his opening 75 with a 2-under 69 but was still two shots shy of further play while McIlroy (73-76) and Thomas (77-73) were well off the pace.

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