Wind plagues golfers during second round of Farmers Insurance Open; Lanto Griffin, Ludvig Aberg share clubhouse manager – San Diego Union-Tribune

On By Littum

The wind picked up and took the scores with it Thursday in the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

Wind gusts reached more than 35 mph — enough to move balls onto the green and force an 86-minute suspension of play that prevented the round from being completed.

With 29 golfers still on the course when darkness came, the clubhouse managers were Ludvig Aberg and Lanto Griffin. Both were at 6-under midway through the tournament.

First-round leader Aberg shot a 3-over 75 on the South Course, allowing Griffin to draw even with an even-par 72 on the South.

“Throw the score out the window – on a normal day the 72 is good on this golf course and today was just heads down,” Griffin said. “The goal on the back — I didn’t make a birdie on the front — the goal on the back nine was just to make a birdie, get some momentum going.”

Griffin called the conditions “brutal” as gusts rose to an estimated 35 mph as he walked to the tee box on the 614-yard 13th hole.

“So it was a bit of hang on for dear life, try to save pars on most holes and sprinkle in a birdie or two,” he said.

Danny Walker was one stroke behind the leaders after a 2-over 74 at North.

“Crazy day for sure,” Walker said. “One of those days where you can’t even think about what you’re shooting, just do your best to hit every shot and just accept whatever happens. So much of where the ball is going to go is just outside your control. Did my best to just keep my head straight and just take it one shot at a time. That’s all you can do.”

Three other players – Hayden Springer, Chris Gotterup and Sungjae Im – are two strokes behind the leaders.

Gotterup moved into contention by posting one of the low rounds of the day, a 3-under 69 at North. Jason Day (tied for 26th, five strokes back) also had a 69 at North. No one else could make such a claim.

The best score in the South was also a 3-under 69, carded by Jackson Suber, who was tied for 14th at 2-under for the tournament.

Amateur Luke Clanton, a Florida State junior, played himself onto the leaderboard by shooting 1-under through 16 holes in the South. That put him with six others at 3 under, although Clanton and Will Gordon still need to complete their rounds.

Clanton has a chance at Farmers to earn his PGA Tour card through the tour’s Accelerated program, which allows top players to earn tour cards based on what they do in amateur, college and pro golf events. A top-five finish in the Farmers would earn Clanton three points, bringing him to the 20 points needed to receive his card.

The second round was scheduled to be completed Friday morning at 7:30. The third round begins moments after that for the 65 players (and ties) who survive the cut, which is expected to be plus-1. The final two rounds are played on the South Course.

Defending champion Matthieu Pavon will not be among them after shooting a second-day 80 (north) that put him at 9-over for the tournament. Max Homa, the 2023 Farmers champion, withdrew during the wind delay with three holes to play. Homa was 4-over for the day and 9-over for the tournament when he retired.

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