LA QUINTA, Calif. (CNS) — Rookie Davis Thompson holds a two-stroke lead over pre-tournament favorite Jon Rahm entering Saturday’s third round of The American Express PGA tournament after both golfers fired rounds of 8-under-par 64 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course.
Five golfers are tied for third, five strokes off the lead, including South Korean Tom Kim, who had Friday’s low round, a bogey-free 10-under-par 62 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course.
Thompson, Rahm and Kim will all play at the PGA West’s Stadium Course on Saturday. The golfers who played on the Stadium Course on Friday will play at the La Quinta Country Club on Saturday. The golfers who played at the La Quinta Country Club on Friday will play at the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Saturday.
Thompson held a two-stroke lead over Rahm and four other golfers entering Friday’s second round. He started his round on the 10th hole which he parred, then had an eagle on the par-5 11th. Thompson birdied the par-5 15th hole, then had his first bogey of the tournament on the par-4 16th hole.
Thompson began the front nine by bogeying the par-4. He started a streak of five consecutive holes under par with a birdie on the par-3 third hole, then eagled the par-5 fourth hole. Thompson birdied the fifth and six holes, both par-4s, and eagled the par-5 seventh hole. He concluded his round with a par on the par-4 ninth hole. Thompson is at 18-under-par 126 through two rounds.
Thompson had two eagles Thursday at the La Quinta Country Club. His five eagles match the PGA Tour record for a 72-hole event. Records date back to 1983.
“That’s pretty cool,” Thompson told a reporter when asked in his post-round news conference how cool it was to tie the record, which he shares with six other golfers. “I didn’t know. I kind of thought about that a little bit after I made the putt on 7.”
Rahm called five eagles through two rounds on two courses “pretty impressive.”
“Things can happen out here,” Rahm said. “It’s accessible and if you get the right number, the right shot, the greens are in such good shape that you can make a lot of putts.”
Thompson said on his two bogeys he “hit two good shots, we just kind of misjudged the wind and it hit short and came back and wasn’t able to get up- and-down.”
This is the first time in Thompson’s 20 PGA Tour starts he has led or shared the lead through 36 holes. His previous best was a tie for sixth in the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic, where he finished tied for 58th.
Second-round leaders or co-leaders have gone on to win what is now The American Express nine times since 2000, most recently Hudson Swafford in 2017 when the tournament was known as the CareerBuilder Challenge.
Thompson earned his PGA Tour card by finishing 16th on the season-long Korn Ferry Tour Eligibility Points List in 2022 with four top-10 finishes, including winning the REX Hospital Open on his 23rd birthday, June 5.
Thompson was the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in November 2020 and March 2021, a two-time first-team All-American at the University of Georgia and the 2020-21 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.
Rahm also began his second round on the back nine. He had four birdies on the back nine and four on the front nine in his bogey-free round.
Rahm, who is fourth on the Official World Golf Ranking, was the 6-1 pre-tournament favorite according to BetMGM, an official betting operator of the PGA Tour. The odds for the Spaniard have lowered to 11-10 entering the third round. Thompson is the second choice at 4-1.
Kim began his round with a birdie on the 10th hole, an eagle on the 11th and a birdie on the 12th. He also birdied the 15th, 16th, first, fourth, seventh and ninth holes.
“I had a good putting round,” said the 20-year-old Kim, who is seeking to rebound from missing the cut in his last start, last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. “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.”
Kim is seeking to be the first multiple winner in the 2022-23 PGA Tour season in its 12th tournament. He won the Shriners Children’s Open in October for his second PGA Tour win. He also won the Wyndham Championship in August.
Kim’s fellow South Korean, Sungjae Im, Australian Jason Day and Americans J.T. Poston are also tied for third at 13-under-par 131.
Scottie Scheffler, who at second is the highest-ranked player in the field, is among five golfers tied for ninth at 11-under-133, seven strokes off the lead, after shooting a 7-under-par 65 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Friday. He is the only player bogey-free through 36 holes.
The 156-player field will be reduced to the low 70 and ties following the conclusion of the third round. Sunday’s final round will be played at the Stadium Course. The winner of the $8 million tournament will receive $1.44 million.
The tournament’s concert series will conclude Saturday with a performance by Grammy-winning country singer Darius Rucker on the PGA West Stadium Course driving range following the conclusion of play.
All tickets include admission to the concert. There are no concert-only tickets.
The concert area on the Stadium Course driving range will open to spectators at 4 p.m., with the concert expected to start at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Singer Gwen Stefani began the concert series on Friday.