SAN DIEGO — After a cloudy and soggy start to the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open the sun came out Thursday and the winds picked up along the southern California coast. The scores picked up, too.
The South Course at Torrey Pines was even more challenging during the second round of the PGA Tour’s annual stop in San Diego, but on the flip side, the often gettable North Course played a little bit easier.
From a European invasion at the top of the leaderboard to a first-ever ace and the extension of the longest active cut streak on Tour, here’s what you may have missed – including notables who missed the cut – from Thursday’s second round of the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open.
FARMERS: Friday third round tee times | Photos
European invade leaderboard
The top four players on the leaderboard after 36 holes all hail from Europe. Germany’s Stephan Jaeger leads the way at 12 under following an impressive 8-under 64 on Thursday on the North Course. He took the solo lead with an eagle on his last hole.
“I’ve been driving a fair bit of fairways. When I do miss it, I feel like I’ve done a good job with missing in the right spots, being able to kind of chase something up and being able to maybe have an easier up-and-down than you would out of the rough or something,” Jaeger said of his performance thus far. “I’ve been putting it well, my speed’s been great. Obviously made a couple of nice putts, longer putts that kind of kept the round going.”
With rounds of 68-64–132 (-12), Stephan Jaeger holds his first 36-hole lead on the PGA TOUR and extends his consecutive cuts-made streak to 20. Last cut he missed was at the 2023 RBC Heritage.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) January 26, 2024
“It’s going to be nerve-wracking, but it’s going to be awesome,” he said of his lead entering the third round, “so I can’t wait for this weekend.”
Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard followed his 5-under 67 on the South with an even better 6-under 66 on the North to sit in second, one shot back at 11 under. Belgium’s Thomas Detry and France’s Matthieu Pavon are T-3 at 10 under. Americans Tony Finau (66) and Michael Kim (68) round out the top five at 9 under.
Schauffele extends longest-active cut streak
San Diego native and world No. 5 Xander Schauffele has made three straight cuts at the Farmers Insurance Open, including a T-2 finish in 2021, but missed the cut in four of his first five starts at his hometown event.
Sitting T-10 at 7 under after the first two rounds, Schauffele extended his made-cut streak to 37 events, the longest active run on Tour. Schauffele’s last missed cut, you ask? The 2022 Masters (though he did withdraw after the first round of the 2023 Sentry, a no-cut event).
Tale of two courses
Preferred lies were in play for the first two rounds after heavy rains earlier in the week, and the field took advantage, especially on the already gettable North Course.
Thirty-three players were 4 under or better in the first round, and of those players, 27 played the North Course, including the top eight on the leaderboard. The North (69.70) played more than two shots easier than the South (71.96) on Wednesday. Nicolai Hojgaard had the low first round on the South, a 5-under 67. Overall, the score-to-par comparison on Wednesday between the two courses was drastic. The North was 179 under par, while the South was just 3 under.
Come Thursday, the course dried out and the winds picked up, which led to an increase in scoring on the South (72.235) but a decrease on the North (69.295), for a nearly three-shot difference.
Woodland inches away from weekend
Gary Woodland returned to the PGA Tour two weeks ago at the Sony Open in Hawaii and missed the cut in his first event back from brain surgery. On Thursday he was just inches away from his first weekend action since the Wyndham Championship last August.
The 2019 U.S. Open champion lipped out for par on No. 18 on the North Course to shoot 71-71 and miss the cut by a single shot. He also shot a pair of 71s at the Sony to miss the cut.
History from Hideki
Hideki Matsuyama has accomplished a lot in his golf career: No. 1 amateur in the world, eight PGA Tour wins, first-ever Japanese player to win a men’s major at the Masters. The list goes on.
During Thursday’s second round, Matsuyama crossed another feat off his PGA Tour to-do list: make a hole-in-one. Matsuyama aced the par-3 eighth hole on the South Course for his first-ever hole-in-one on the PGA Tour in his 247th start. He then threw the ball away to a lucky fan.
🚨 ACE FOR @HidekiOfficial_ 🚨
He cards his first hole-in-one on TOUR @FarmersInsOpen! pic.twitter.com/XduXV1wkZI
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 25, 2024
Making his third start of the season this week, Matsuyama has made the cut in his first two events at The Sentry (58) and Sony Open in Hawaii (T-30). Matsuyama is T-10 at 7 under, five shots off the lead.
