Burns ties 36-hole scoring record, leads Genesis Invitational by 5

Sam Burns followed up his 64 from Thursday with a 5-under 66 in Round 2 to lead the Genesis Invitational by five shots while tying the tournament's 36-hole scoring record.

His 130 total (12-under) at Riviera Country Club matches Davis Love III (1992), Mike Weir (2004), and Shigeki Maruyama (2004) for lowest at the halfway point.

"I think just having patience out there," Burns said about what he was most pleased with during his Friday round. "I didn't try to force anything. Whenever we were kind of in a tricky spot, just kind of took what the golf course gave us."

Burns' five-shot margin is the largest through 36 holes on the PGA Tour since Brooks Koepka led by seven at the 2019 PGA Championship. It's also the largest 36-hole lead in a PGA Tour event at Riviera since at least 1950, according to the 15th Club's Justin Ray.

The 24-year-old, pursuing his first PGA Tour title, sits well ahead of four players, including world No. 1 Dustin Johnson.

Johnson shot 4-under on Friday to get himself in position to make a run at his second straight victory after winning in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago on the European Tour.

Here's how the top of the leaderboard stands going into the weekend:

Jordan Spieth continues his resurgence with another strong lap around Riviera. He shot 68 to put himself in position to finish inside the top five for a third week in a row, something he hasn't done on the PGA Tour since 2015.

Patrick Cantlay (5-under), Tony Finau (4-under), and Koepka (4-under) are all inside the top 15 with 36 holes remaining.

Rory McIlroy (7-over), Justin Thomas (8-over), and Bryson Dechambeau (2-over) headline the players who failed to make the even-par cut. McIlroy ended the longest active cuts-made streak he held on the PGA Tour with his first short week since the 2019 Open Championship.