Farmers Insurance Open Round 2: Justin Rose Breaks the 36-Hole Record and Leads by Four

The theory going into Friday was that Torrey Pines South would slow Justin Rose down. Rose spent the afternoon dismantling the theory.

A day after his 62 on the North, Rose shot 7-under 65 on the South to reach 17-under 127 at the Farmers Insurance Open. That total is a tournament record through 36 holes, two shots better than the previous mark of 129 that Rose himself shared with Tom Lehman and Lennie Clements. He leads Seamus Power by four. Joel Dahmen and Max McGreevy are tied for third at 11 under, six back.

Torrey's Hard Course, Made Easy

The South is the course that hosts U.S. Opens, and it played like one on Thursday, averaging nearly 72.5. Rose shot 65 on it anyway, a number the AP calculated at 7.392 shots better than the field's average on the course.

He got going early. A 15-foot birdie at the par-3 third opened the scoring, and a 10-foot par save on the fourth kept the card clean. Then came the shot of the day, as picked by the TOUR: a long iron into the par-5 sixth that settled 8 feet from the hole for an eagle. Birdies at the eighth and ninth followed, per Sky Sports, and Rose turned in 5 under.

The only blemish came at the 12th, where he dropped his first shot of the week. He answered with a birdie at the 13th and then closed with birdies on the 17th and 18th, the kind of finish that turns a four-shot lead from comfortable into suffocating.

Rose admitted to Sky Sports that he expected a decent lead going in, but he also said he had to stay "respectful" of the course. That balance, aggressive with the irons and disciplined everywhere else, is exactly what Torrey demands.

Power Keeps Pace, Sort Of

Power did everything right on Friday and still lost ground. The Irishman, who shot the low round on the South on Thursday, swapped to the North and posted a 66 that he capped with a long eagle putt on his final hole. That got him to 13 under. Most weeks, that is a lead. This week, it is four behind.

"It's just the standard is high," Power said, per the AP.

That one line might be the best summary of this tournament so far. Power is playing well enough to win most PGA TOUR events. He is chasing a man who has not given the field an opening.

Dahmen's Three-Eagle Day

The round of the day in pure entertainment terms belonged to Dahmen, who made three eagles in a 63 on the North. Dahmen holds only conditional status, and he got into the field because the two-course rotation allows a bigger field than most TOUR stops. He took full advantage, rocketing into a tie for third.

McGreevy, one of only two players to break 67 on the South on Thursday, added a 67 on the North to join Dahmen at 11 under. Both players are now in position to play the weekend near the top of the board, a big result for two names who do not usually lead the broadcast.

Koepka Makes It, Schauffele Doesn't

The cut fell at 3-under 141, and Brooks Koepka landed right on it. In his first PGA TOUR start in four seasons, Koepka followed his opening 73 on the South with a 68 on the North. The highlight was a 12-foot eagle putt on one of the North's par 5s, and he added birdies on the par-5 fifth and the short par-4 seventh.

Koepka was not exactly celebrating. He told Sky Sports that 68 was about the worst score he could have shot given how he played. He is 14 shots behind Rose, but he will play the weekend, and after four years away that matters.

Xander Schauffele was not as fortunate. The San Diego native bogeyed the short par-4 seventh on the North and missed an 8-foot birdie try on the par-5 ninth, his final hole, to miss the cut. That ended a run of made cuts that dated to the 2022 Masters and had been the longest active streak on TOUR. According to the AP, that title now passes to Scottie Scheffler at 65 straight, which is still well short of the record 142 held by Tiger Woods.

The Record Book Is Open

Rose already owns the 36-hole record. The 54-hole and 72-hole marks at this event will be in play if he keeps scoring like this on the South, where the weekend is played.

The weekend changes the math, though. No more North Course, no more scoring course to lean on. Every player still in the field faces the South twice, and Rose said on Thursday that he hoped the weekend would get harder.

What we know after Friday: Rose has a four-shot cushion, the field is playing well and losing ground anyway, and Saturday on the South will show whether anyone can make him uncomfortable.

Catch up on Thursday in our Round 1 recap. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 2 wrap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 2 wrap and leaderboard), AP, Sky Sports. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.