The American Express is already at the halfway point, and the leaderboard has been inundated with red numbers over the past two rounds.
Here’s everything you missed from Friday’s action in La Quinta.
It’s still a two-way tie at the top
After following up impressive opening rounds of seven-under-par 65 with an even more impressive rounds of eight-under-par 64, both Rickie Fowler and young Tour rookie Scottie Scheffler sit alone at the top of the leaderboard, replacing yesterday’s leaders Zac Blair and Grayson Murray, whose second rounds of two under and one under, respectively, dropped them into T12 and T18.
Fowler’s Friday scorecard at the Nicklaus Tournament course was blemish-free, and included six birdies and an eagle. Scheffler had an unbelievable start to his round on Friday, also on the Nicklaus Tournament course, when he made six birdies in his opening seven holes. A double-bogey on the par-4 18th brought him back to four under on the back side, but he rebounded with a clean card on the front, highlighted by two birdies and an eagle.
Fowler is seeking his sixth career victory this week, while Scheffler, who won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, is hoping to bag his maiden Tour win.
How about the other big names?
After a relatively quiet opening-round 69, Tony Finau made a big-time move on Friday, posting a tournament-low round of 62. His bogey-free performance on the Nicklaus Tournament course featured a 29 on the front (his back nine) and 10 total birdies, which launched him 45 spots up the leaderboard into solo fourth, and two shots behind the leaders.
Paul Casey is the next big name within shouting distance. He’s six shots back at nine under par overall.
Cameron Champ (six under par overall and nine shots back) has some work to do if he wants to get in the mix, and Phil Mickelson (-2) and Francesco Molinari (E) likely have to fire things up in a big way just to stick around for the final round.
