Rory McIlroy is one shot behind co-leaders Marco Penge and Jacob Bridgeman at the halfway stage of The Genesis Invitational as he targets a first title of the season.

McIlroy finished tied 14th at last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, following a strong performance at the Dubai Invitational where he tied for third across three DP World Tour events.

The world No. 2 enjoyed a blemish-free second round at The Riviera Country Club on Friday, shooting a six-under 65 featuring four birdies and an eagle at the 11th.

Blemish-free Penge Shares Lead, Scheffler Makes Cut

Penge registered five birdies across his final seven holes after previous gains at the first and the sixth, while Bridgeman mixed seven birdies and an eagle with two bogeys.

Penge’s fellow Englishmen Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood are in a share of eighth place on seven under, with compatriot Aaron Rai one shot further back and tied 12th.

Xander Schauffele and Adam Scott are well placed in joint fourth at nine under – Scott carding a round-of-the-day eight-under 63.

Scottie Scheffler battled to create the cut with a closing par. The world No. 1 was four over for the event with nine holes to go but then made four birdies from that point to get back to evens before doing what he needed to do at 18 to increase his cut streak to 68 tournaments, the longest active run on the PGA Tour.

“There’s no Pacific Ocean to hit into around this golf course, so that helps. I still hit some loose shots, but the course setup is in a way that you can get away with it a little bit more.”

Rory McIlroy

McIlroy sits at 11 under for the event heading into the weekend, with Penge and Bridgeman at 12 under after seven-under second rounds in California.

“It’s been quite tough, to be fair, the last four weeks for me and my family,”

Marco Penge

Penge revealed that his wife is expecting the couple’s second child next week and recently moved to Florida.