Davis Thompson makes THREE EAGLES at American Express to lead Jon Rahm
Davis Thompson, 23, has made five eagles in two rounds at The American Express to lead the tournament at the halfway stage in California.
PGA Tour rookie Davis Thompson made another three eagles on Friday as he kept his two-shot lead at The American Express in La Quinta.
Thompson, 23, held a two-shot advantage after his heroics on Thursday at La Quinta and today, he tackled the Nicklaus Tournament Course with even more success.
The Korn Ferry Tour graduate started on the back nine and made his third eagle of the week on the par-5 11th hole. He made bogeys on the 16th and 1st holes, but he bounced back with his second eagle of the day on the par-5 4th hole.
Thompson then made his fifth eagle of the week and third of the day on the par-5 7th hole. Throw in three birdies weaved in between and he carded an 8-under 64 to reach 18-under.
The last player to make five eagles in a PGA Tour event was Justin Rose at last year's RBC Canadian Open and Thompson tied the record for the most eagles made in 36 holes on the Tour.
FIFTH eagle of the week.
-7 in his last 5
Davis Thompson leads by 5 @TheAmExGolf. pic.twitter.com/PLNiZ73tws— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 20, 2023
The former University of Georgia man holds a healthy two-shot lead over the world's in-form player Jon Rahm and is on course to win his maiden title on the circuit.
"That's pretty cool. I didn't know. I kind of thought about that a little bit after I made the putt on 7. But yeah, those are always nice. Able to get two for one. But, yeah, it's pretty cool to have some putts drop and make some eagles," Thompson said after equalling the 36-hole eagle record.
"Just had some good numbers into par-5s and was able to execute my shots. Had some putts drop. So it was nice to make some eagles.
"I think putting the ball in the fairway, hitting a lot of greens and really seeing lines well on my putts. Yeah, as you said, just everything is kind of clicking these last two days and just looking forward to trying to keep it rolling tomorrow."
In the first round, Thompson became the first player to make back-to-back eagles on Tour since Shane Lowry at The 150th Open Championship.
Nearly holed it!
An easy birdie on No. 5 for @JonRahmPGA. pic.twitter.com/EexhLvlvbB— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 20, 2023
Rahm also played the Nicklaus Tournament Course on day two and he avoided making any bogeys. He started on the back nine with four birdies and he added another four on the front to card his second 64.
The Spaniard won this event in 2018, and at just a couple behind the leader heading into the weekend, he could be on for his ninth Tour title and his fourth win in his last six starts.
Tom Kim may have missed the cut at last week's Sony Open, but he is back with a bang in California this week. He's carded rounds of 69 and 62 to sit five shots behind Thompson on 13-under.
"I had a good putting round. It's been a few rounds since it's been like this today. It's kind of nice to know that I still have my feel on my putter and my putter's still working. Definitely a lot of positives. Really happy with the way I played today," Kim said.
"Even just yesterday, since Sony, just didn't have really good putting rounds. Feel like I putted great, but just the hole was looking really small. I went with a different mindset today and I felt really comfortable on the greens and just going up to my ball. So I think that was the big thing."
Former US Open champion Rose carded a 67 to go with his first-round 66 to reach 11-under, while former PGA champion Jason Day scored a 64 to reach 13-under with Kim.
