Bold opening: Marco Penge and Jacob Bridgeman surged to the Genesis Invitational lead with flawless 7-under 64s, while Rory McIlroy lurks just behind them—and the Riviera drama isn’t done yet.
Associated Press report, February 20, 2026
Marco Penge and Jacob Bridgeman delivered standout performances at Riviera on Friday, both shooting 64 (-7) to sit tied for the lead early in the Genesis Invitational, with Rory McIlroy hot on their heels.
For Scottie Scheffler, the goal was simply to make the weekend. He achieved that by a razor-thin margin, sinking a 7-foot par putt that barely kissed the lip and dropped in.
Penge, the top European Tour player to earn a PGA Tour card for this season, closed with five birdies in his final seven holes and was the first to post 12-under 130. Beyond the impressive score, the narrative included a personal hurdle: his wife is moving into a new Florida home and is due to give birth to their second child next week.
“It’s been quite tough, to be fair, the last four weeks for me and my family,” Penge said. “She’s been in the U.S. on her own, heavily pregnant, looking after a 1½-year-old with no family or friends nearby.”
Meanwhile, Bridgeman—who arrived at Riviera for the first time on Wednesday due to rain—birdied his final three holes, finishing with a 64 and a final shot: a 5-iron into an easing breeze that stopped at 8 feet.
The former Clemson star has developed a fondness for poa annua greens, a grass type that can become bumpy when players’ spikes and footprints accumulate, and that can be nerve-wracking on quick, short par putts when the greens are this fast.
Joe Greiner, a caddie in Bridgeman’s group, even teased him, asking, “Are you sure you’re not from the West Coast?” Bridgeman laughed, noting how soft and fast the greens were: “Two or three times today I hit it 6 feet by the hole and thought, ‘Wow, I don’t know how they’re that fast,’ because even a 5-iron can back up on you. This is probably the most pure poa annua I’ve ever seen.”
Rory McIlroy has opened with rounds of 66 and 65 and carries just one bogey on his card through 36 holes—a stark contrast to Pebble Beach last week, where three double bogeys and a triple bogey wrecked his title hopes.
McIlroy played the three par-5s with two birdies and an eagle on the 11th, plus a birdie at the par-3 fourth for the second straight day. The hole was lengthened to 273 yards earlier in the year, a change McIlroy called a “horrible change,” though the PGA Tour hasn’t yet used that tee.
The bigger shift, he said, was minimizing mistakes.
“There’s no Pacific Ocean to risk hitting into here, which helps,” McIlroy noted. “I still hit some loose shots, but the setup allows you to get away with it a bit more. I’ve hit it well, controlled my distance for the most part, and made some nice putts from inside eight feet when I needed to.”
Xander Schauffele followed with a 65, moving to three behind, alongside two-time Riviera winner Adam Scott, who fired a 63—the day’s low round. Scott rode a hot stretch to 9-under through 13, then spent the final hour scrambling for pars and only missed on the last hole.
This event is one of three in which the championship uses a 36-hole cut to the top 50 and ties, with anyone within 10 shots of the lead still alive for the weekend.
