SAN DIEGO — Two of golf’s greats are lurking on the leaderboard, but Davis Thompson has a “What, me worry?” attitude two rounds into the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines.

“We’re halfway through, still a lot of golf left,” said Thompson, who endured a “roller coaster” back nine Friday for a 6-under 66 that equaled the low round of the day and made him 8 under over with the weekend waiting.

“Yeah, just trying to stay in my own lane, try to focus on what I’m doing,” Thompson said.

Thompson has a lane to himself doing what he’s doing is one stroke ahead of Scottie Scheffler (67), who has led the golf world rankings for most of the past three years while winning 13 tour titles.

Thompson is two shots ahead of first-round leader Denny McCarthy (70), three shots ahead of 27-time tour winner Rory McIlroy (67) and four shots clear of Ludvig Aberg (66) and Patrick Rodgers (71).

Heavy rains moved through the county overnight, but had cleared out by the time the second round began. It made for wet grounds (preferred lies were allowed again), but improved conditions that were reflected in the scores.

Thirty-eight of 72 players broke par in the second round, a day after cold, wind and rain limited under-par rounds to 13 players.

The weekend could be spectacular, with sunshine and mid-60s temperatures in the forecast and fan favorites on the leaderboard.

Thompson, 25, who was born in Atlanta and joined the PGA Tour three years ago, is still making a name for himself. He earned his first tour win at last year’s John Deere Classic, so he knows how to finish. He also knows how to keep his “poise and patience” for the inevitable ups and downs during a round.

Thompson flirted with the lead with three birdies on the front nine before Scheffler (who started on the back nine) got into the mix.

Scheffler rolled in a 15 1/2-foot putt on the picturesque par-3 third hole for his third birdie of the round and a share of the lead with Thompson and Nick Dunlap at 5 under.

Thompson regained the lead by himself at the par 3 11th hole when he pitched in from the right rough 26 feet for birdie. He made it a two-stroke advantage on the par-4 12th with another birdie, holing out from 40 yards.

“Felt like I hit the ball great at the start, hit a lot of fairways and greens,” Thompson said.

Then the roller coaster. Bogeys at 14 and 15 dropped Thompson out of the lead before birdies at 16 and 18 enabled him to regain it.

“It’s a hard golf course,” Thompson said. “You’ve got to have a pretty high acceptance rate out here. … We just, one, misjudged the wind a little bit on 14 and then the wind didn’t take my ball on 15. You just have to accept it.”

Scheffler’s dominance over the golf world extends seemingly everywhere but Torrey Pines.

Of nearly two dozen PGA Tour courses in which he has played at least eight rounds, Scheffler’s scoring average is highest (72.0) at Torrey Pines South.

Scheffler appears intent on correcting that deficiency at the Genesis.

“I’m pretty satisfied with the way I scored today,” said Scheffler, whose biggest shot came when he holed out from a greenside bunker for eagle at the par-5 sixth hole. “I did not drive the ball as well as I would have hoped to. I felt like I was out of position a lot today, but did a good job of muscling some shots up there on the green and getting up and down when I needed to.”

McIlroy, who won the AT&T Pebble Beach two weeks ago in his only other PGA Tour start of the season, began the day even for the tournament. He quickly announced his presence with four birdies on the front, climbing onto and up the leaderboard.

He threatened to go real low when he birdied the 10th hole after making the turn, but bogeys at 12 and 14 dismissed such notions. McIlroy got the strokes back with birdies on two of his final four holes, giving the gallery something to cheer with an approach shot at 17 that landed two feet from the pin.

McIlroy gave himself a B+ grade for the round.

“I hit a lot of really good shots,” he said. “I played well for the most part. I scrambled well. I just didn’t take advantage of the par 5s … I know going into the weekend I’m going to have to play the par 5s better.”

Aberg, who opened the tournament Thursday with a 2-over 74, started Friday on the back nine.

He shared low honors with Thompson in a round sparked by an eagle on the 574-yard, par-5 18th hole. A pair of birdies got him even before he stepped to the tee box at 18.

His second shot found a greenside bunker, but he holed the 40-foot sand shot for the eagle.

“We sort of knew if you get a good lie in that left bunker it’s sort of a makeable shot,” Aberg said. “Obviously, anytime you make a shot off the green, it’s a bonus. All I tried to do was get it somewhat close and make a birdie. It was nice to see it go in.”

That lifted Aberg onto the leaderboard. Three more birdies, offset by the round’s lone bogey when he missed a 5-foot par putt on the fourth hole, positioned him well for the weekend.

The field was trimmed to 54 players (paired in twosomes) for the final two rounds, with Saturday’s first group taking the tee at 7 a.m. Thompson and Scheffler go off last at 11:35, 10 minutes after McIlroy and McCarthy.

Locals watch

Torrey Pines High School graduate Michael Kim is 1-under (T14) for the tournament after a 72 that featured a 20-foot birdie putt at 15 and a 21-foot birdie putt at 18.

San Diego State alum J.J. Spaun is 1-over (T24) after two days following a round of 69 that included six birdies.

San Diego resident Danny List had birdies on three of his last four holes to shoot 72, improving by seven shots over his opening round in his first tour event. At 7-over, List missed the cut by three strokes.

Notable

— Among the notable players who failed to make the cut (plus-4) were Justin Rose (75-74, plus-5), Victor Hovland (73-76, plus-5), Jordan Spieth (76-74, plus-6) and Max Homa (76-75, plus-7).

— The scoring average for the second round was 71.79, nearly 2 1/2 strokes better than the 74.28 average in the first round.

— There were no bogey-free rounds Thursday and Scheffler had the only bogey-free round on Friday.

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