Genesis Open 2018: Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau Tied for Lead as Play Suspended

A star-studded field at the 2018 Genesis Open was overshadowed Thursday when Patrick Cantlay and Tony Finau walked off the course tied for the first-round lead with matching scores of five-under par. 

Among the marquee players in the field, Justin Thomas had the best showing with a two-under 69. Phil Mickelson is one shot behind him. Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson all failed to break par in the first round. 

Play was suspended around 6 p.m. local time because of darkness with 12 players still on the course. They will finish Friday before everyone else gets back into the swing of things for the second round.  

Here's the full leaderboard from the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California:

Finau looked like he might be in line for a special round after hitting birdies on four of his first five holes. Even though he would slow down after that hot start, his performance off the tee was nothing short of spectacular:

Cantlay joined Finau atop the leaderboard with a more consistent showing over 18 holes. He had three birdies each on the front and back nines, with a bogey on No. 4 being his lone bad mark. 

The 25-year-old Cantlay earned his first PGA Tour win earlier this season at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in November, but that's been his lone top-10 finish in five tournaments entering this weekend. 

Woods, McIlroy and Thomas got an early start Thursday morning in the marquee group. None of them had a banner day, though Thomas at least has the benefit of staying under par to keep a close eye on Cantlay and Finau when the second round begins. 

Woods turned in a one-over 72, though it could have been a lot better if he'd kept his tee shots on the fairway. The 42-year-old hit the short grass just four times in nine attempts with his driver. 

Per Justin Ray of the Golf Channel, Woods' inability to get on the fairway enabled him to do something with his putter that he's never done on the PGA Tour:

Woods looked like he'd be in for a long round at the start. He followed a birdie on his first hole with a double bogey on the par-five 11th hole, a bogey on No. 12 and another birdie on No. 13. 

McIlroy didn't fare much better to start his round, coming out of the first three holes at one-over par. He settled after that, even hitting an eagle putt on his 10th hole to bring his score back to even:

Sitting alongside McIlroy at even par is Spieth, though it might be time to start having concerns about where his game is. The three-time major champion entered this tournament ranked 121st in putting average and 193rd on the PGA Tour in putting strokes gained. 

Through one round at the Genesis Open, Spieth had a pedestrian 55.56 greens-in-regulation percentage and cost himself 0.706 putting strokes. He exacerbated the problem by only hitting 42.9 percent of fairways with his driver. 

Spieth attempted to avoid using his putter altogether with this incredible birdie save on the fifth hole:

Johnson would have been thrilled to end his opening round where Spieth did. The world's top-ranked player turned in a disappointing three-over par performance that included a run of three holes from No. 4 through 6 in which he hit two bogeys and a triple bogey. 

Per Ray, Johnson had been excellent at avoiding disastrous holes prior to Thursday:

Johnson will look to make a quick turnaround in the second round to avoid missing his first cut since the U.S. Open last June. 

With Cantlay and Finau setting the early pace, the rest of the field knows what it must do to put the pressure on them. 

Stats via PGATour.com.