2024 Farmers Insurance Open leaderboard, scores: Nicolai Hojgaard stays hot, trails by a stroke after Round 2
Nicolai Hojgaard did what he needed to do on Thursday by backing up his 67 from Round 1 on the South Course at Torrey Pines with a 6-under 66 on the easier North Course. Unfortunately for him, somebody took it even lower, and Hojgaard — who was part of Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team last fall — is still looking up at the lead.
It’s an eclectic leaderboard. Stephan Jaeger leads after dropping an 8-under 64 on the North Course to get to 12 under and clip Hojgaard at the halfway mark by a shot. Thomas Detry, Matthieu Pavon, Tony Finau and Michael Kim round out your top five.
There are certainly some big-name lurkers a bit further back, but as of right now this tournament is set up to have a potential long-shot champion over the next few days.
The leaders
1. Stephan Jaeger (-12)
2. Nicolai Hojgaard (-11)
Hojgaard is now the favorite to win at Torrey Pines. He has played beautiful golf over the first few days with just one bogey in his first two rounds, and he took advantage of the easier North Course on Thursday in Round 2.
The big thing for him over the final 36 might be keeping his body energized enough to keep up the good golf. Hojgaard flew in from Dubai early in the week, but with a Wednesday start to this tournament he barely saw the golf course and his sleep has been wonky.
“Started probably out with four hours [of sleep last night] and then maybe an hour at a time for four hours maybe,” he said. “I don’t know, not much sleep at the moment. I feel good in the morning, wake up early and feel fresh, but when we get to midday and afternoon, I can feel like my body is tired. But it’s getting better every day, but we’ll find a way.”
He should get the juice of being in contention on Friday and Saturday to help out, but this is definitely something to consider over the next two days.
Other contenders
T3. Thomas Detry, Matthieu Pavon (-10)
T5. Tony Finau, Michael Kim (-9)
T7. Aaron Rai, Emiliano Grillo, Joseph Bramlett (-8)
Finau is fascinating here. Though his driving distance has dipped a bit over the last few years, he’s once again cruising with the big dog. And he’s doing so with more accuracy. Among the 15 longest drivers in the world, Finau has been the most accurate over the last month. This week at Torrey, he’s 21st in the field in distance with some room to push it over the next two rounds. That doesn’t mean he’s going to win, but it should be fun to watch.
“I don’t need to swing hard,” said Finau on Thursday. “I know I have a lot in the tank, but with the mechanics that I have and the body that I have, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be in the low to mid [180 MPH ball speed] on my stock driver. We’re to that now, which is a nice feeling where I don’t feel like I have to get on it to get to that speed. It’s paid off. And on a golf course like this, I am able to kind of let it go on some of these holes.”
Shot of the day
Hideki Matsuyama made his first hole-in-one on Thursday in the second round, and for a while it looked as if he would get himself in the mix at the top of this leaderboard. He fell back a bit to 7 under, but he’s still worth a look with 36 holes to go.
Zalatoris makes the cut
Will Zalatoris made the cut on the number with a clutch par putt on his final hole to get in at 3 under. Zalatoris had back surgery following the Masters last year. Since then, he’s struggled to a last-place finish at the Hero World Challenge in December, missed the cut at the Sony Open and then finished T34 at the American Express last week.
If nothing else, the tournament reps will be good for somebody who is trying to get everything in order by the time the majors roll around in April.
2024 Farmers Insurance Open updated odds and picks
Odds via SportsLine consensus
- Stephan Jaeger: 4-1
- Nicolai Hojgaard: 4-1
- Tony Finau: 15/2
- Xander Schauffele: 10-1
- Thomas Detry: 12-1
- Matthieu Pavon: 12-1
- Michael Kim: 16-1
- Patrick Cantlay: 22-1
Finau is probably the play here. He’s hitting it well so far this year, and I don’t really trust anyone else other than Hojgaard at the top of the board. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hojgaard went on to win, but at 4-1, he’s a bit too short for me.
