LA QUINTA, Calif. — Rookie Davis Thompson made three more eagles Friday through a total of five through 36 holes to tie the PGA Tour record for a 72-hole tournament since 1983, and still didn’t putt. The distance between himself and Jon Rahm at American Express.
Thompson was carded the first few games of the tournament, which wasn’t enough to slow him down. A day after Thompson shot a 10-under 62 at La Quinta and made consecutive eagles to take the first-round lead, Thompson shot an 8-under 64 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West. He had three eagles, four birdies and two bogeys.
The 23-year-old, who played college golf at Georgia, is 18-under 126, two strokes ahead of Rahm, who shot a 64 on the Nicklaus course.
“I had some good numbers on the par-5s and I was able to execute my shots,” Thompson said. “I had a few spots. So it was nice to make some eagles.”
It’s his whole game that’s going well in the Southern California desert.
“I think it’s just getting the ball down the green, hitting a lot of greens and seeing fairways,” Thompson said. “Everything is just clicking these two days and I’m just trying to get it rolling tomorrow.”
Thompson will play the stadium course on Saturday, after the 54-hole cut in this pro-am event, he will host the final round on Sunday, which will use three courses.
Thompson is the second player with five eagles in two rounds at American Express. He tied the record set by Scott McCarron in 1995, when the 72-hole cut was a five-round tournament.
Thompson, who started his round wearing a hoodie in the early morning chill, eagled the second hole when he hit a -5 11th, a 5-iron to 15 feet. He then made two bogeys in four holes to briefly lose the lead, but ran off a string of three birdies and two eagles in five holes to go from 1-under to 8-under for the round. He eagled the par-5 fourth and par-5 seventh — hitting the green with a mid-iron and draining the putt from 20 feet each time — before finishing the round in a row.
Other players with five eagles in four rounds since 1983 include Justin Rose at the 2022 Canadian Open, Dustin Johnson at the 2020 FedEx St. Jude Championship, Austin Cook at the 2019 Barbasol Championship, Keegan Bradley and Brandt Snedeker at the 2018 Canadian Open, and Davis Love III at the 1994 Sony Open. Only Johnson won.
World No. 4 Rahm, who won at Kapalua two weeks ago, equaled his feat at La Quinta a day earlier.
“I feel great. A lot of confidence,” Rahm said. “I’m having the hardest course two days in a row, but I’m in a really good position. So I hope to keep up the good game.”
Five players were five shots back of Thompson, including 20-year-old Tom Kim, who had the lowest round of the day, a 10-under 62 on the Nicklaus Course and Jason Day, who shot a 64 on the Stadium Course. The others were JT Poston, Sungjae Im and Tyler Duncan.
The field includes five of the top 7 players in the world and 10 of the top 20 players.
Second-ranked Scotty Schauffele and sixth-ranked Xander Schauffele were in the top five of the 11, which also included Rose. No. 5 Patrick Cantley was at seven under at 10 under and No. 7 Will Zalatoris was at 6 under.
