LOS ANGELES — Patrick Cantlay began with an eagle and never let anyone close to him the rest of the round Friday. He shot a 6-under 65 to build a five-shot lead at the Genesis Invitational going into a weekend that won’t include Tiger Woods.
Woods made another early exit, this one because of flu symptoms instead of his injured body. He withdrew after six holes and spent the next two hours getting intravenous fluids before leaving Riviera, along with a big chunk of the gallery.
Cantlay was making it tougher on the field with every birdie. Even when he appeared to be in trouble left of the fairway on the par-4 15th – the hardest hole at Riviera – he ripped an iron over the bunker to 3 feet for birdie.
Cantlay, who grew up down the coast in Long Beach and played at UCLA, was at 13-under 129 and was five shots clear of Jason Day (69), Luke List (69) and Mackenzie Hughes (65).
This signature event had a 36-hole cut to the top 50 and ties and anyone within 10 shots, which wasn’t a factor the way Cantlay was playing. The cut was at 1-over 143, eliminating Pebble Beach winner Wyndham Clark and Justin Thomas.
Will Zalatoris had a 70 despite making five bogeys, helped by a hole-in-one on the 14th hole that came with a car for Zalatoris and one for his caddie, Joel Stock.
This story originally appeared on ESPN
