Farmers Insurance Open Round 2: Åberg and Griffin Survive the Wind to Share the Lead

Thursday at Torrey Pines was not a golf tournament so much as a weather report with scorecards attached.

The second round of the Farmers Insurance Open was blown sideways by coastal gusts, halted for 86 minutes in the afternoon and finally swallowed by darkness with 29 players still on the course. Those players came back Friday morning to finish, and when the dust settled, Ludvig Åberg and Lanto Griffin shared the 36-hole lead at 6-under 138.

Danny Walker sits alone in third at 5 under. Chris Gotterup, Sungjae Im and Hayden Springer are tied for fourth at 4 under. The cut fell at 1 over, and a few big names were on the wrong side of it.

Twelve Shots Worse, Still in Front

Åberg's overnight lead came from a 63 on the friendlier North Course. Thursday sent him to the South in the wind, and he signed for a 75, 12 shots higher than his opener. That he still has a share of the lead tells you plenty about the conditions.

His card had two birdies, three bogeys and a double. He was still out when the horn sounded for darkness, sitting in a greenside bunker at the par-5 18th, and he chose to finish rather than come back in the morning. He splashed out to just inside a yard and tapped in for par.

"Obviously the South Course is pretty hard even when you play it in 75 (degrees Fahrenheit) and no wind at all," Åberg said, per Field Level Media. "Adding some 30 mile an hour gusts and sustained 15, it makes it pretty difficult."

Griffin Holds His Nerve

Griffin followed an opening 66 on the North with an even-par 72 on the South, three birdies and three bogeys, which on this day was closer to a heist than a holding pattern. The interesting part: Griffin thought the course he left behind was the tougher one.

"The North greens are a little crustier, a little dried out," Griffin said. "That's crazy that it played tougher because it felt like the South played brutal."

Griffin sounded ready for what is coming. "It's going to be a tough weekend, but it's a golf course I really like," Griffin said.

Sungjae Im Beats the Dark

The most fun round of the day might have belonged to Im, who played the North and had to sprint against the sunset. He birdied two of his first three holes, gave two shots back in quick succession, then closed with three birdies over his last five holes, including one at the 9th as the light disappeared. His back nine was a bogey-free 33, and the 1-under 71 jumped him into a tie for fourth.

"It was a nice way to finish my round in near darkness with a birdie at the last hole," Im said, per the PGA TOUR. He also noted the upside of finishing on Thursday: "It'll also be nice to sleep in a bit tomorrow morning instead of having to come back to complete the second round."

Im, a two-time TOUR winner, has top 10s here in 2022 and 2023.

Walker, the rookie who hit all 18 greens on the South in Round 1, held up nicely on the North with a 74. "It was super gusty," Walker said. Gotterup posted a 69 on the North, a strong number in that wind, while Springer's 75 on the South kept the opening-day co-runner-up within two.

Amateur Hour, in the Best Way

Two college players are sticking around for the weekend. Florida State's Luke Clanton briefly climbed into a share of second, one off the lead, during the round. Clanton was 1 under through 16 holes when darkness hit, then came back Friday and bogeyed the last for an even-par 72. That still leaves Clanton at 2 under and tied for 13th.

Auburn's Jackson Koivun shot 76, but closing birdies on the 7th and 9th got Koivun in at even par, safely inside the number. According to AmateurGolf.com, it is the first time in 55 years that two amateurs have made the cut at this event. Both are chasing PGA TOUR University points.

"I think if I give it my all, play good the next two rounds I can maybe sneak in that top five," Koivun said.

The Cut Line Casualties

Joel Dahmen summed up the vibe: "This is just survival mode out here today." Dahmen survived nicely, sitting at 3 under in a big group that also includes Harris English, Kris Ventura, Eric Cole, Wesley Bryan and Will Gordon.

Others did not. Defending champion Matthieu Pavon shot 80 on the North and finished 9 over. Justin Rose (69 then 80) and Tony Finau both finished 5 over, Shane Lowry was 3 over, and Daniel Berger was 7 over. Max Homa, who opened with a 77, withdrew with three holes left in his second round.

Hideki Matsuyama made it through but not without drama, dropping five shots over a five-hole stretch before birdieing his last two holes on the North to get back to 1 under. Jason Day's 69 on the North moved him to 1 under, too.

Two Rounds on the South

From here, everyone plays the South Course. Twelve players sit within three shots of the lead, a mix of stars, rookies and amateurs. With two rounds left, the Farmers is wide open, and the course that did the most damage on Thursday is the only one left.

Catch up on Wednesday's action in our Round 1 recap. Full scores are on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 2 story on Sungjae Im (opens in a new tab) and cut line report (opens in a new tab) have more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 2 stories and leaderboard), Field Level Media, AP, Golfweek, AmateurGolf.com. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images via PGA TOUR.