Justin Rose sets record pace for 4-shot lead in Farmers Insurance Open

Justin Rose kept up the heat Friday in the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open, shooting 7-under 65 on the South Course at Torrey Pines to set the 36-hole tournament record and take a four-shot lead into the weekend.

Rose has a two-round total of 127. That’s two strokes better than the record Rose shared with Tom Lehman (2005) and Lennie Clements (1996). Rose did it in 2019 when he won the Farmers. Rose finished birdie-birdie on the South Course, completing a round that began with a strong start. His front nine included three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 sixth hole.

“I’m feeling great,” said Rose, who opened the tournament Thursday with a 10-under 62 on the North Course. “Obviously, yeah, that was two special rounds of golf. Today probably even more so just given it’s hard to often follow up a low one. Obviously, this week you kind of go from the easy course to the tough course but it was really kind of cool to keep momentum up out there.”

Rose has a four-stroke lead over Seamus Power, who shot 66 on the North Course. Six strokes back in third are Max McGreevy (67, North) and Joel Dahmen (63, North), who carded the low score of the day with a round that included three eagles.

“The North Course is playing a little easier in week, but you still have to hit it in the fairway, you still have to, you know, play good golf over there,” said Dahmen, who was added to the field on Monday when Patton Kizzire withdrew. “To make the eagles is a huge bonus. I hit a couple great shots into the greens and made a bomb and added up nicely today.”

Seven players were tied for sixth, eight strokes off the pace. The 147-man field was cut to 74 players for the final two rounds on the South Course. The first groups tee off for Saturday’s third round at 7:55 a.m. Rose is in the final group with Power and Dahmen at 10:07.

Among the players who missed the cut were San Diego State alums Xander Schauffele (69, North), J.J. Spaun (69, North) and Justin Hastings (70, North). Defending champion Harris English (68, North) and Brooks Koepka (68, North) both finished on the cutline with a two-day total of 141.

“It feels good,” Koepka said. “Just wanted to play four days this week, I think that was important. Played really solid today. Drove it a lot better. Putting, I feel like I hit a lot of great putts, they just didn’t go in. I felt like I was all over the lip today. But that’s golf. … But that’s all right, got two days to figure it out and kind of really see where my game’s at, kind of take the reins off and go.”

Schauffele’s streak of consecutive cuts made ended at 72 — the fifth-longest streak in PGA history — after he shot three-under 69 on the North Course for a 142 total that was one over the cut line.

“It’s going to be nice to have the weekend off,” Schauffele said. “Going to go home and relax and regroup. … I had plenty of golf today to make it and bogeying a drivable par 4 (322-yard 7th hole) and parring two par 5s in the middle of the fairway, you deserve to miss the cut. So here I am.”