Marco Penge and Jacob Bridgeman lead the way at Riviera at the halfway stage, but World No.2 Rory McIlroy is hot on their heels.
Penge made a significant move with five birdies over his final seven holes and was the first to post his 12-under total.
The Englishman is expecting to become a father for the second time next week, but he managed to keep his focus on an enthralling day at the famous venue.
"It’s been quite tough, to be fair, the last four weeks for me and my family," said the 27-year-old. "She’s been in the US on her own, heavily pregnant, looking after one-and-a-half-year-old at the same time with no family or friends around.
"It’s been like a bit of a gamble of me just kind of going to compete and leaving her on her own."
Bridgeman, meanwhile, who only played Riviera for the first time on Wednesday, birdied his last three holes to join the Englishman at the top.
McIlroy is just one shot back at -11 and will be confident that he can land his 30th PGA Tour title on Sunday afternoon.
The Genesis Invitational action gets back underway at Riviera when Denny McCarthy tees off on his own at 3.30pm (GMT), with the leaders starting their third rounds at 7.45pm (GMT).
Genesis Invitational Tee Times: Round Three
1st Hole - GMT
- 3.30pm: Denny McCarthy
- 3.35pm: Viktor Hovland, Ryan Gerard
- 3.45pm: Scottie Scheffler, Matti Schmid
- 3.55pm: Patrick Cantlay, Robert MacIntyre
- 4.05pm: Ryo Hisatsune, Brian Harman
- 4.15pm: Hideki Matsuyama, Sam Stevens
- 4.25pm: Ben Griffin, Shane Lowry
- 4.35pm: Sami Valimaki, Sahith Theegala
- 4.45pm: Andrew Novak, Harris English
- 4.55pm: Tom Kim, Tony Finau
- 5.10pm: Ludvig Aberg, Patrick Rodgers
- 5.20pm: Si Woo Kim, Cameron Young
- 5.30pm: Nick Taylor, Corey Conners
- 5.40pm: Rickie Fowler, Alex Noren
- 5.50pm: Pierceson Coody, Akshay Bhatia
- 6.00pm: Matt McCarty, Taylor Pendrith
- 6.10pm: Sepp Straka, Jake Knapp
- 6.20pm: Jhonattan Vegas, Collin Morikawa
- 6.30pm: Max Homa, Jordan Spieth
- 6.40pm: Ryan Fox, Aaron Rai
- 6.55pm: Tommy Fleetwood, Aldrich Potgieter
- 7.05pm: Wyndham Clark, Kurt Kitayama
- 7.15pm: Min Woo Lee, Matt Fitzpatrick
- 7.25pm: Adam Scott, Max Greyserman
- 7.35pm: Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele
- 7.45pm: Marco Penge, Jacob Bridgeman
