Rory McIlroy, Max Homa sweating cut line into Friday at Riviera

Rory McIlroy and Max Homa were popular selections to contend at The Genesis Invitational, the third Signature Event of the PGA TOUR season contested at The Riviera Country Club.

Their title hopes aren’t gone, but they’ll be sweating the cut line into Friday at the famed Los Angeles venue.

Homa opened in 2-over 73; he stands T60 into the second round at Riviera. McIlroy opened in 3-over 74 and is tied for 64th. Patrick Cantlay holds the early lead at 7-under 64, putting Homa nine off the pace and McIlroy 10 back. In contrast to most Signature Events, which feature no cuts, the 70-player Genesis is one of three player-hosted invitationals that will feature a cut line in 2024.

After 36 holes at The Genesis, the top 50 and ties will advance to the third round, in addition to all players within 10 shots of the lead. In addition to The Genesis, the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday will utilize this rule. (All three are Signature Events.)

Both Homa and McIlroy, top-10 players on the Official World Golf Ranking, fell victim to Riviera’s challenges at points on Thursday.

Homa, 2021 winner of The Genesis, made triple bogey on the par-4 second hole, as he missed the green short and right with his second shot; he then needed three shots from thick rough to advance the ball to the green. He played the remainder of his round in even par, which didn’t makeup ground on a day of soft conditions and low scores.

McIlroy was 3 under through 12 holes Thursday but was derailed by Riviera's closing stretch. After a bogey at No. 12, he made a double bogey on the par-4 15th, followed by a triple bogey at the par-3 16th as he took two strokes to advance from a deep greenside bunker and then three-putted from 8 feet.

The 10-shot rule means that McIlroy is squarely on the cut line into Friday (3 over), with Homa one stroke inside the number. That number could change in a hurry, though, if Cantlay or another leader makes a flurry of birdies to pull away from the field.

There are currently four players projected to miss the cut at The Genesis: Kevin Yu (75), Matt Fitzpatrick (75), Nick Hardy (76) and Alex Smalley (76).

Tournament host Tiger Woods opened in 1-over 72, two strokes inside the current projected cut line.