SAN DIEGO — While golfers with grander resumes struggled to keep pace, a pair of veteran non-winners moved to the top of the leaderboard Saturday in the third round of the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines.
Despite a bogey on the par-5 18th hole when he put his third shot in the only water hazard on the course, Patrick Rodgers grabbed a one-shot lead over Denny McCarthy with a 4-under 68. Rodgers, who finished three rounds at 8-under 208, and McCarthy have combined for nearly 500 PGA Tour starts without finishing better than second.
Rodgers, 32, has been a runner-up four times in 286 previous events; his record also includes three top-10 showings at the Farmers Insurance Open, the annual tour stop at Torrey Pines. The South Course here is hosting the Genesis this week due to wildfires last month near its usual home at Riviera Country Club, about 125 miles north in Pacific Palisades.
The 31-year-old McCarthy, who has two runner-up finishes in 193 starts, made four birdies in a five-hole stretch to get to 9-under for the tournament after 10 holes Saturday, but dropped back to 7 under after a 71.
Meanwhile, the two players who began the day at the top of the leaderboard tied for the worst rounds of the day at 4-over 76. Davis Thompson, who had the lead, dropped into a tie for fourth at 4 under, one shot ahead of Scottie Scheffler. The world’s top-ranked player made bogeys on both par-5 holes on the front nine and a double bogey at the par-4 14th.
World No. 3 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland also struggled, finishing with a 2-over 74 that left him five shots behind Rodgers.
Ludvig Aberg of Sweden is in third place at 6 under after a 70 that included the first hole-in-one of the tournament. Aberg struck a pitching a wedge on the 140-yard third hole, with the ball landing just a few feet past the pin and spinning back into the hole.
According to the PGA Tour, the last ace on that hole came 1,479 days ago when Richy Werenski holed out in the first round of the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open. It was the sixth ace of the year on the tour — all by international players: Sami Valimaki of Finland, Kris Ventura of Norway, McIlroy, Shane Lowry of Ireland, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina and Aberg.
–Jay Posner, Field Level Media
