Rahm and Thomas joined on 13 under by Schenk, who made eight consecutive birdies in his round; England's Aaron Rai in contention as Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Spieth both miss the cut - watch live on Friday from 5.30pm on Sky Sports Golf
Sunday 30 January 2022 14:49, UK
World No 1 Jon Rahm birdied three of his last four holes to join Justin Thomas as part of a three-way tie for the halfway lead at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Rahm's fast finish closed a seven-under 65 on the North Course, one of two being used at Torrey Pines, moving the Spaniard to 13 under alongside Thomas and Adam Schenk.
Thomas charged up the leaderboard after carding a bogey-free 63 on a low-scoring day in California, while Schenk equalled the best score of the round as he made eight consecutive birdies on his way to a second-round 62.
Cameron Tringale is a shot back in fourth ahead of Peter Malnati, while England's Aaron Rai holed a 25-foot eagle on his final hole on the South Course to close a four-under 68 and jump within four of the leaders.
Former world No 1 Jason Day is also in the group on nine under and overnight leader Billy Horschel slipped five behind after following an opening-round 63 with a one-over 73 on Thursday, with Dustin Johnson six off the pace after rounds of 68 and 69.
Bryson DeChambeau and Rickie Fowler both missed the cut by a shot after rounds of 72 and 76 respectively, while Brooks Koepka made an early exit and Jordan Spieth ended the longest active made-cut streak after a second-round 78 to finish on four over.
Schenk's first-round 62 marked a career-low for the 30-year-old, with his birdie run from the fourth to the 11th moving him into contention for a maiden PGA Tour title.
"Honestly, I lost track of how many I made in a row," Schenk said. "I knew it was a couple obviously. I had done it before, obviously not on the PGA Tour, on this stage. I just lost track and knew I had some par-fives coming up and wanted to take advantage of them."
Rahm won the tournament in 2017 and returned to Torrey Pines to lift his first major championship trophy at last year's US Open. He said those experiences weren't comparable to his situation this week because he won those events from behind.
"A US Open is very, very different," Rahm said. "I believe I was three under through two rounds and I was thrilled with that score. At [13] under right now and I think how much better it could have been if I hit fairways, right? So it's not comparable."
Thomas, a major champion like Rahm, is in search of his first title since The Players last March. The world No 6 birdied five of his first eight holes and also chipped in to pick up a shot at the par-four second, then added three straight gains from the fifth.
"These greens don't quite grab as much on the chips and the pitches, so unfortunately I hit it well to the first 10 holes where I hadn't hit a chip yet," Thomas said. "So I tried to remember it's the same as the chipping green, tried to kind of remember some of that and just felt like the 57-degree [wedge] was a little better option, and it was."
Watch the Farmers Insurance Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage from the third round begins on Friday from 5.30pm on Sky Sports Golf.
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