Following last week’s American Express at La Quinta Country Club, the PGA Tour continues its opening ‘West Coast Swing’ by swapping the luxurious surroundings of the Coachella Valley for the dramatic coastline of northern San Diego and the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
And, as far as tournament contrasts go, they don’t really get much more stark than that.
Because if the American Express is like a shopping spree with a brand new credit card from its namesake sponsor, carefree and filled with the kind of exhilaration one can only get from bagging a non-stop parade of shiny birdies, then the soon-to-be-renamed Farmers Insurance Open is the sobering reality check of the hefty bill for that very same credit card sliding in through the letterbox.
With its long-standing place on the calendar, it always feels like a big deal whenever the PGA Tour arrives at Torrey Pines. Yes, you can look at the history associated with the course, never mind the stunning location. But it’s the difficulty of the track, I feel, that makes every visit to the edge of the North Pacific so memorable. Generally, the shorter North Course is seen as the friendlier of the two courses, a welcome chance to pad your card with some birdies on Thursday or perhaps make the cut with a last-ditch blitz on Friday.
Given its association with the US Open, however, it’s the South Course at Torrey Pines where we really see this famous old track shine. Guided by the hand of Rees Jones, the South Course has undergone two notable renovations to keep it moving with the modern game – the first coming in 2001, and the second as recently as 2019. Naturally, like most of the rejuvenation projects that classic tracks like this undergo in their lifetime to keep them fresh, the bulk of the work was focused on lengthening the South Course. And with it now standing at a hefty 7,800 yards from the tips, one would have to say that, amongst the more specific changes to green surrounds and hole layouts, Rees nailed the brief.
When you then factor in the narrow fairways, thick Kikuyu rough, myriad of bunkers, and riddlesome green complexes to that length, if the weather is anything less than favourable? It’s easy to see how, more often than not, this week can become the mother of all grinds. Because that’s what Torrey Pines is all about. It’s the very reason why it got the nod to host the US Open. It challenges every single aspect of your game and sniffs out weaknesses faster than a hound at an airport.
Or, in other words, it epitomises what exactly separates your regular tour stop from those that tap into the very essence of what this wonderful game of ours is all about.
And whilst this week will, for the most part, be dominated by the return of Brooks Koepka and seeing how he does after swapping LIV for the PGA, amidst all the noise that will create – and it will do every bit that – don’t let that distract you from appreciating just how special Torrey Pines is.
THE ORACLES’ FOURBALL
NICOLAI HØJGAARD
Despite a disappointing showing at the Dubai Invitational, one where he finished an eye-watering +11 come Sunday, given that he finished in a tie for fourth-place at the Dubai Desert Classic this past weekend, it appears that having no cut the previous week proved to be exactly what Nicolai needed to shed that dreaded offseason rust – or, at least, some of it at any rate.
Because, make no mistake about it, the young Dane’s game still feels very much like a ‘work-in-progress’ at this early stage of the season, and you could see that in how up-and-down his scorecard looked in terms of the numbers he was writing down at the Majlis. But whilst that all-important consistency isn’t quite there yet – a ‘consistency’ that’s difficult to come by when you’re still swinging as consciously as he is – the fact that Højgaard still went to the Emirates and didn’t post a single over-par round for his week’s work is incredibly telling. Does it mean that he was probably leaning on his putter quite a bit? Probably. But, given that getting your feel dialled in on the greens can be problematic this early in the season, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
So, given that he is still in this process of fully fine-tuning his game, if Nicolai can take his experience from the past couple of weeks in Dubai – a fortnight of playing tough courses in tough, windy conditions – and find enough consistency to avoid racking up big numbers on the card, then with his length off the tee (currently averaging 311 yards) and ball-striking with the irons when he’s on-form, Nicolai could well repeat his performance that saw him finish solo second at this event back in 2024.
Yes, he’ll have to battle the jet lag that flying halfway around the world will induce, so too the challenge that will be trusting his game around a track as difficult as Torrey Pines, but if Højgaard can get around the Emirates with a game that’s anything but his very best? There’s no reason why he can’t emulate that performance on the West Coast.
JASON DAY
It’s always difficult to ignore Jason Day whenever he comes to the Farmers. With two wins under his belt in 2015 and 2018, and a T-2 and T-3 amongst his seven top-10 finishes at Torrey Pines, it’s no secret that La Jolla’s most famous track suits the Australian’s eye.
As important as a positive history with a specific event and course is, however, there’s no denying that Jason is coming off an impressive showing at last week’s American Express, with his work for the week culminating in a tie for second by world number one, Scottie Scheffler. Now, as I discussed above, there’s no comparison between the courses used for the American Express and Torrey Pines. Therefore, you can’t really posit that a good showing at La Quinta – a tournament that is set up to be a shootout – will inherently lead to a continuation of that form at Torrey Pines.
But what gives me hope that we might see a special performance from Jason this week is how well he was actually putting in the desert. Because back in 2015-2016, when he was at his most unplayable, it was Day’s putting that really set him apart. Yes, he was long off the tee. The irons and wedges were strong, too. But once he got on the green? He used to make everything – to the point where, for that period of time, he carried that same aura of inevitability that prime Tiger did when he had the flatstick in hand.
So, if Jason can take the positives from his performance at the American Express, an all-around showing that would’ve seen him locked in a playoff were it not for the unstoppable Scheffler, then he can absolutely be a threat this week in San Diego, and continue his resurgence back to the top of the game.
ADAM SCOTT
Imagine how great it is to be Adam Scott? And, no, this isn’t how I usually begin these things, but just humour me for a second.
I mean, he has his Major Championship in the bag (arguably, the best one in the shape of the Masters). He has his money made (nearly $70 million in career earnings alone). He has one of the most aesthetically pleasing golf swings we’ve ever seen. And he only plays around eighteen or nineteen tournaments a year, casually makes the cut in the majority of them, and then disappears back to one of the several homes that he owns around the world.
And all of that whilst also having the audacity to be tall and handsome.
But it’s that time-proven consistency that makes Adam someone to look out for this week. Whilst Torrey Pines doesn’t always make it into his schedule, in his most recent appearances there, he finished runner-up in 2019 and T-10 in 2021, before notching up a T-12 finish later that year when the US Open returned to La Jolla. And when you look at the course and how it matches up with Adam’s game, you can see why he tends to play quite well there.
He’s still long off the tee despite now being 45 (yes, that’s actually true). He’s always been a wonderful ball striker. And whilst his putting has always been the streakiest part of his game from a statistics perspective, when you have thirty-three professional wins to your name worldwide, I think we can take it as a given that Adam still knows a thing or two about getting it done on the greens.
Therefore, when you see a golfer like Adam Scott showing up at Torrey Pines, a player with Major pedigree and a tendency to perform well on difficult tracks, if he can bring the same accuracy with the driver that he’s shown over the first two weeks of the season (currently 6th in Driving Accuracy), it’s well within the Aussie’s ability to give himself a shot at winning his first event since 2020.
MARCO PENGE
New tour? New equipment manufacturer? New home? To try to quantify the level of change that Marco Penge has been experiencing since securing his PGA Tour membership would be enough to make anyone feel overwhelmed. But that’s what progress is all about. It’s supposed to be uncomfortable.
So, whilst we should, of course, expect there to be a bedding-in period for Marco as he adjusts to playing in America, it’s still important to remember that there’s a reason why he’s now playing on the PGA Tour. He earned his way into the position that he currently holds. Three wins last season on the European Tour. A second. A third. Three top-10s. All of that, culminating in that incredibly valuable second-placed finish in the Race to Dubai behind McIlroy.
He did that. Him. And his game.
Therefore, whilst just making it to the weekend might be all he’s looking for as he sets out on his first block of events as a bona fide PGA Tour player, there’s actually no reason whatsoever that Penge can’t rock up to the Farmers this week and compete. Because he possesses the ability to do just that. It’s a course that suits someone with the ability to hit a power fade, which Marco does beautifully. Given the length of the South Course, it rewards those who are long off the tee for their second shots, and really rewards them on the far shorter North. And it’s a course where good ball striking is an absolute necessity. All areas that play to Penge’s strengths.
So, if he can keep the driver under control this week and utilise the full extent of his length off the tee (5th in Driving Distance last season with an average of 319 yards), then if his new irons from PXG are appropriately dialled in, Marco could well sneak in under the radar this week for a big showing.
Because it’s fine to come in and go quietly about your business until you’re settled on tour.
On the other hand, though … why not make a little noise?
