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PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Jon Rahm faced the wind and handled it just as well Friday in the Mexico Open at Vidanta, making eight birdies on his way to a 5-under 66 that staked the world’s No. 2 player to a two-shot lead over Alex Smalley. RELATED: Leaderboard | Inside the Field: Wells Fargo Championship Rahm birdied all four of the par 5s, including the 18th hole at Vallarta Vidanta with a 4-iron from light rough to just short of the green, a pitch to 6 feet and one last putt. He was at 12-under 130 going into the weekend. Smalley was playing on the other side of the course, where he did most of his work. The highlight was holing out from 165 yards on the par-4 third hole for eagle. He had eagle chances on consecutive holes late in his round, two-putting from 35-feet on the par-5 sixth and driving the 291-yard seventh hole to 30 feet for another two-putt birdie. He finished with a 66 and will be in the final group with Rahm. Rahm was two shots higher then his opening round, in which the Spaniard never had to deal with the wind until the final four holes. This was one felt even better. “I feel like I might be a little bit more satisfied with today’s score than yesterday,” Rahm said. “Yesterday I felt like I was really under control and relatively speaking stress free. Today was a bit more of a grind, but still a really good round of golf.” Patrick Reed ran off two late birdies and was poised to close out his round with a third in a row until a pedestrian pitch from just short of the green on the par-5 18th. He had to settle for par and a 66, leaving him in a large group that was three shots behind. Cameron Champ, who played alongside Rahm and handled the wind with his penetrating ball flight, had a 66 to reach 9-under 133. Champ and Reed were joined by Trey Mullinax (69), Adam Long (66) and Andrew Novak (67). Rahm played a superb shot from a waste area well right of the green on the par-5 14th to about 3 feet. What really pleased him was his 6-iron on the par-3 ninth, over water while trying to navigate the gusts. “The 6-iron was perfect. And having 3 feet for birdie there, it’s a huge bonus,” Rahm said. “I think my iron game was really, really good today. It was really under control and in those windy conditions I was hitting it really, really solid so. I was never really too surprised where my ball was ending up and I was always in a good position.” Smalley, a Duke graduate in his rookie year on the PGA TOUR, had a runner-up finish in the Dominican Republic a month ago. Both courses have the same kind of grass on the greens, and Smalley said he picked up plenty of experience playing in the final group on the weekend, starting with the belief he can compete on TOUR. He also was a quick study on the wind, that made some of the par 4s more difficult to reach than some of the 600-yard par 5s. Smalley had a 5-iron for his second shot into the 608-yard sixth. Two holes later, he had 3-wood for his second shot on the 515-yard eighth hole, barely reaching the front of the green. That led to a beautiful lag from 65 feet for a par. “That’s what happens when you have winds that are gusting 25,” Smalley said. “I was able to keep the ball in play and was able to get out of those holes that were playing really long, and happy I’m done with them.” Scott Brown, Jonathan Byrd and Davis Riley, who lost in a playoff at the Valspar Championship earlier this year, were in the group at 8-under 134, four shots behind. The cut was at 2-under 140. Among those making it to the weekend were the Ortiz brothers of Guadalajara — Alvaro shot 69 and was at 5-under 137, while Carlos, a PGA TOUR winner, had a 69 and was at 3-under 139. Abraham Ancer, part of 10 Mexican players in the field and No. 20 in the world ranking, had a 69 and made the cut on the number. The task for everyone is chasing Rahm, going for his first victory of the year. “I’ve been playing really good,” he said. “I can’t really complain about anything I’m doing right now, so hopefully I can keep that good ball-striking going and keep rolling it the way I have.”

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Ollie Schniederjans was still a little raw, and a little hurt. Two hours earlier, with the eyes of the world watching intently, he had worked his way into a tie at the top at THE PLAYERS Championship. Two hiccups on the back nine, though, including a triple-bogey 6 at the most famous hole in American golf, had given him an even-par 72 and a T16 finish. “I cost myself a lot of money on 17,â€� he said, “so that’s hard to deal with right now.â€� Now, though, he looks ahead to this week’s Valspar Championship, and, big-picture, he likes what he sees. Because Ollie Schniederjans 2.0 is finally achieving liftoff. He has a new swing coach (Butch Harmon), a new trainer (Brendan McLaughlin, who also works with Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson), and a new caddie (Damon Green, formerly with Zach Johnson). At TPC Sawgrass, Schniederjans, who stands out for his conspicuous lack of headwear and his feathery brown bangs, was even sporting a new mustache. “Just since today,â€� he said after the wild final round. “Yesterday I had a goatee.â€� Not long ago, it appeared Schniederjans didn’t need to change anything. He was a member of golf’s heralded Class of 2011—Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas were co-valedictorians—and marked for greatness as he mowed through the amateur ranks and was an All-American at Georgia Tech. But his early professional career fizzled. While Spieth and Thomas were racking up a combined 20 PGA TOUR titles, Schniederjans was running in place. He was 60th in the FedExCup in 2017, when he had his best chance to win before finishing runner-up at the Wyndham Championship, and 98th last season. If anything, he felt himself getting worse. “I wasn’t hitting it good enough,â€� he said at THE PLAYERS. “I couldn’t work it both ways. I couldn’t get it in the air real well. I lost a lot of speed last year.â€� What’s more, he added, he was stubbornly clinging to his old ways. “A lot of time was wasted,â€� he said, “and energy was wasted just trying to figure things out on my own.â€� He went to see Harmon for the first time in December, traveling to the renowned teacher’s home base in Las Vegas. He began working with Green at the Sony Open in Hawaii, in January, and made a second pilgrimage to Vegas for another full-day visit with swing coach Harmon. All the while, McLaughlin was overseeing his new program to strengthen his body for golf. That’s a lot of changes all at once, and the results were slow to come. Schniederjans came into last week languishing at 193rd in the FedExCup and 239th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He kept at it, though, not content to be mediocre and unwilling to quit before the changes had had a chance to take hold. They did so at THE PLAYERS, where Schniederjans, who took up golf at the relatively advanced age of 12, seemed to play better as he got closer to the lead. “That was the one thing Zach was good at, too,â€� caddie Green said. “We’ve talked about it a lot, how you have to be the guy who wants the ball and wants to take the shot at the end of the game. He really does, and you could see it. I’ve been telling him for the last month, ‘You’re going to peak at TPC, I can just feel it.’ Just tryin’ to get in his head and give him a little confidence.â€� Schniederjans has certainly never lacked drive; he burns to be one of the best in the world and is constantly having Green film his swing. Green calls him “an old soul for a 25-year-old,â€� such is his low-key, studied approach to improvement. His physical tools are also impressive. It’s one thing to reach the par 5s in two shots at TPC Sawgrass, but quite another to reach with a 9-iron, like Schniederjans. (He’s 11th on TOUR in driving distance, averaging 309.5 yards.) “He’s got around 125 mph ball speed, which is sick,â€� Green said. “If he can hit a few more fairways and improve on his putting, which let us down a little at TPC, he’s gonna do damage.â€� Schniederjans’ big weekend at THE PLAYERS was the long-awaited affirmation that he’s on the right path. With the leaders faltering early, he birdied three of the first six holes to tie for the lead, rising to the occasion like old times. This was exactly what was predicted for him. Alas, he double-bogeyed the 10th, rallied with three birdies, then rinsed his tee shot on 17, the resulting 6 a buzz-kill at the end of an otherwise electric weekend run. Still, these are early days, and the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, which has given us first-time winners like Adam Hadwin, Kevin Streelman and Gary Woodland, awaits. Schniederjans calls caddie Green a huge help, and says the same for Harmon and McLaughlin. He’s got the right support team, and his decision to change everything is finally paying off. “I played extremely well – I had two terrible holes that cost me the tournament,â€� he said. “I know when I get in the mix, I can get the job done. I’ve just got to keep putting myself in this position.â€�

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PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Jordan Spieth played 12 holes on Thursday, then six more on Friday morning. Despite the staggered schedule, it was a productive two days at Riviera, as he carded a bogey-free 7-under 64 to walk off the course with the lead midway through the first round of the Genesis Open. The rest of his Friday? Some light work, then a much-needed nap. He won’t start his second round until Saturday morning, which means he’ll need to cram 54 holes into the weekend. Time to conserve his energy for a long two days. “Be prepared for 27 to 30 holes tomorrow and potentially another 27ish on Sunday,â€� Spieth said. “I think less is more at this point. Try and get some really good, solid, quick work in and then lay around all day.â€� After storms dumped more than two inches of rain on the course and forced a seven-hour delay to the start of Thursday’s first round, players on both sides of the draw now face an arduous schedule in hopes of completing the tournament Sunday afternoon. For players in the early/late wave, such as Spieth and Tony Finau (tied for second in the clubhouse at 5 under with Patrick Rodgers and Kramer Hickok), it meant two early wake-up calls and now a challenging long weekend. Like Spieth, Finau walked off the course Friday morning with one objective: rest. “I think we deserve some chill time after a couple 4 a.m. wake‑up calls,â€� said Finau, adding that “emotionally we were kind of prepared for it. I saw the weather forecast for the week and knew it could be something similar to the AT&T last week at Pebble Beach, so mentally and emotionally you’ve got to prepare.â€� The final round of Sunday’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was delayed one hour by rain, then nearly 2-1/2 additional hours after a hailstorm hit the area. The final group of Phil Mickelson and Paul Casey had to play two holes on Monday morning, with Mickelson winning by three shots. Mickelson and Casey are both in the field this week and completed their first rounds Friday morning. Mickelson, a two-time Genesis Open champ, shot a 1-over 72 in which he failed to post a single birdie-or-better. Casey opened with a 70. For players in the late/early wave, who were unable to tee off Thursday, the prospects of a long Friday loom. Their wave teed off before 8 a.m., and after completing their first round, they will immediately start their second round in hopes of getting in 36 holes (or as many as possible) before darkness stops play. MUST READS: Round 1, Genesis Open Round 1 scores reset at Genesis Open due to weather Tiger, Phil keep pushing each other Cameron Champ’s grandfather helped pave the way Those players include the threesome of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas. Woods, who has never won the Genesis Open in 12 career starts, suffered two bogeys in his first seven holes. Although Riviera hasn’t always been kind to Tiger, it should be fairly welcoming to the field. “This afternoon wave’s getting a soft golf course with the tees up and some pretty benign conditions,â€� Spieth said, “so even if you’re pushing to the lead of the morning wave, it’s likely that somebody’s going to shoot 7, 8, 9 under even though it’s Riviera. It’s as gettable as it can possibly be right now.â€� Perhaps that will make up for the 36-hole day that the afternoon wave faces Friday. “The way I look at it is — it’s going to be one very long round,â€� said Jon Rahm, who started his first round Friday morning in a group that includes Bryson DeChambeau and Matt Kuchar. “If you get hot, you don’t have to wait a whole day [to play again]. You can just keep going. And if you start off on the wrong foot, maybe a couple over through nine or something, you can think, ‘I’ve got 27 holes to make that up.’ Either way, you’ve got a lot of time to make it up or a lot of time to make birdies.â€� Harris English took time out from his practice session Thursday to watch how players were attacking the 10th hole, especially with the pin position on the right side. He’s not worried about playing 36 holes; he’s had to do it during U.S. Open qualifying. “It’s more of a mental test than a physical test,â€� said English. “It’s staying focused. Obviously, your body is going to be tired and you’re going to make some tired swings but you’ve got to keep your head in it as much as possible and try to not make any dumb mental mistakes. That can happen – especially on a tough course like this.â€� Just how tough Riviera actually is remains to be seen. And just which side of the draw has the advantage also remains in doubt. The one thing that’s assured is the at least one marathon session awaits each player. “I’ve had to play 30 holes, 36 holes in a day a couple years ago and it can be very taxing here,â€� Spieth said. “It’s tough, it’s spongy ground, it will wear on you a bit if you’re not careful. So it’s all about trying to save as much energy as possible more than anything else.â€�

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