The 2018 Genesis Open was cut short on Friday with 17 golfers still on the course. Round 2 was suspended because of darkness and will be picked up early on Saturday morning. But Patrick Cantlay, Graeme McDowell and Sam Saunders share the lead at 7 under, while a host of golfers -- including Tony Finau and Bubba Watson -- are just a few strokes back.

Just like Thursday, Friday was eventful as Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth squeezed inside the cut line, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas made some noise in the afternoon and Tiger Woods shot a 5-over 76 to miss the presumed cut of 2 over by four strokes. It was just the 17th missed cut of his PGA Tour career.

The leaderboard might not seem great at first glance, but I'm certainly excited about it through 36 holes. Here are five takeaways on the second round of the Genesis Open.

1. Patrick Cantlay is a star: You might not know it yet. Heck, he might not know it yet. But the 25-year-old is a genuine star on the PGA Tour. It's fitting that he's leading this tournament, too. Riviera is widely considered to be one of the best tests on the PGA Tour of who the best ball-strikers are, and Cantlay has been lights out over the first two days.

The former UCLA Bruin leads the field in birdies and strokes gained on approach shots. No surprise there that Cantlay is leading the field or that the field leader in strokes gained on approach shots is winning this tournament. You might tune in on Saturday afternoon wondering which star is going to run down this guy you've never heard of. Wrong question. Cantlay is the star, and he's going to be tough to catch.

2. Justin Thomas is the best: Thomas shot an even-par 71 that included this hilarious bit from the cheeky par-3 6th hole. Thomas went on to make the 20-footer for birdie, so you could say his ball eventually obliged. He's just five back after 36 holes, and it looked like it was going to be much better than that. Thomas made three bogeys in his last six holes.

3. Rory McIlroy's missed putts: McIlroy missed consecutive four-footers on the front nine, and his 2-under 69 should have been two strokes better. It's baffling that somebody this confident and this good could miss putts like this, but it continues to happen. He's currently 7th in the field from tee to green and 99th in putting. What impressed me on Friday, though, was his short game. He hit some fabulous chips to leave himself tap-in birdies and pars and stay in the hunt despite the putter.

4. D.J., Spieth still in it? Dustin Johnson needed something low on his back nine for the day to make it to the weekend. He got it with a 33, and now a bunched-up leaderboard means Johnson can start working his way toward a backdoor top 10. Johnson is 1 over and just five back of the guys tied for seventh.

Spieth did the same in his group with the same number on the back nine. He got to 1 under after 36 holes and is certainly still in the conversation as a winner. It will take something extremely special to catch Cantlay from where Spieth is at, but I think we all know what Spieth is capable of.

5. Diverse leaderboard: I've made my feelings for this course well known, but the current leaderboard really drives the point home. Ryan Moore (4th) and Graeme McDowell (T1) are, to put it nicely, not the longest guys on the PGA Tour. Tony Finau (T5), Bubba Watson (T5), Justin Thomas (T15) and Rory McIlroy (T15) are probably four of the five longest. And now all six of those guys are circling the lead. 

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The decision-making that will be necessary on Saturday and Sunday on holes like No. 8 and No. 10 will be interesting because of who's in contention and how they hit the ball. Bring me all the TopTracer for every hole this weekend!