Farmers Insurance Open Field is Loaded

Still, there is that issue of competitive rust, Woods acknowledged Wednesday during a news conference at Torrey Pines.

That was Woods’ 14th and most recent major title.

He has also won on this track a record seven times, six of which came at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Woods has won nine times at Torrey – including the 2008 U.S. Open.

This week in the States, Jon Rahm headlines at Torrey Pines after winning this event past year and winning the CareerBuilder Challenge last week.

The PGA Tour returns to Torrey Pines this week for the Farmers Insurance Open as golf fans can begin to get excited about the season ahead. It sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the community of La Jolla, just south of Torrey Pines State Reserve.

We’ve also seen the short-lived Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth “eras”, both of which ended simply because the game of golf is full of more young, talented players than it ever has been. Although, Tiger appeared at his own Hero World Challenge in December, that tournament is not an official PGA event, so in terms of collecting FedEx Cup points, this is Tiger’s official return to the PGA Tour. A swath of those rare sightings occurred at Torrey Pines, the same place where Woods will make a comeback following an abrupt failure of one a year ago. He’s since spent time recovering from a fourth back surgery, and come Thursday he’ll be joined on the first tee by Charley Hoffman, Patrick Reed, and a jam-packed crowd gripped by his every swing. Woods last played tournament golf at the 2017 Hero World Challenge, where he finished T9 in the star-studded 18-player field. Given how much charities benefit from pro-ams, the Tour needs to keep these important fundraising and schmoozing days relevant.

So as you can imagine, the anticipation for this week’s Farmers is at an all-time high. Rose is on one of the best stretches of his career and I think it continues this weekend.

“I said last week that he has the ball speed to win now”. “Obviously I never go into tournaments under the radar anymore but at least a little bit of the spotlight – or a lot of the spotlight – is taken away by him, so I can go about my business and get ready for the tournament”. More likely, he understands that a successful week could be defined by his making the cut and completing 72 holes without pain, the first tentative steps towards what clearly is his ultimate target. “Everything’s been off of Bermuda (grass) because I’ve been home”, Woods said. Woods met him for the first time this week. “It’s a golf course I know how to get around and I know how to shoot good scores on”. I don’t think so.

Thursday will mark Woods’ first official US PGA Tour event since missing the cut at Torrey Pines previous year.

There are a bunch of Australians in the field, including the top-ranked Marc Leishman and Jason Day, who practised with Woods on Tuesday. “This week will be a true test, because you’ve got some thick rough, a long golf course and some cold weather”.

But the Albany Club in the Bahamas is a resort course with wide fairways and coquina sand in place of deep rough. “That’s not the case this week”. “Other than that, the older you get your nerves probably aren’t quite as good as they were, but when you have so much to fall back on, so many memories as Tiger has, good memories, I think that helps physically and mentally”.