Day: January 26, 2018

Tony Finau continues fine form at Torrey PinesTony Finau continues fine form at Torrey Pines

January 26, 2018January 26, 2018| 2:54

SAN DIEGO – Tony Finau loves Torrey Pines. Having finished inside the top-25 in all three of his previous Farmers Insurance Open starts, Finau opened up his fourth attempt with a 7-under 65 on the North Course to set the early pace. In the old days, before last year’s redesign of the North Course, it was common to see a low leader from out that way. But now it plays much tougher making Finau’s aggressive nine-birdie, two-bogey performance very impressive. He was three shots better than the next best on the North Course that played to a 71.308 stroke average on Thursday. “I got off to a great start and just kind of was able to ride that momentum,â€� he said. “The North, the way they set it up, it’s a lot firmer and the greens are a lot faster than the South. I think some of the scores reflected that not nearly as low as in the past and just for that reason, the greens are a lot tougher and a lot faster.â€� And in an ominous sign to his rivals… he likes the South Course better. “I look forward to playing the South, a golf course where I can use my length to my advantage so hopefully I keep hitting it well off the tee. I know I can score on that golf course.â€� If Finau is to go on to win, he will have to buck a recent trend. George Burns in 1987 is the last first-round leader/co-leader to go on to win the Farmers Insurance Open.   OBSERVATIONS The North Course at Torrey Pines is no longer the pushover it used to be. On Thursday, at 71.308, it was only a shade easier than the always-tough South Course at 71.615. Now, there is no respite at the Farmers Insurance Open. “In the back of your head you’re always trying to get something out of the North course, but with where the pins are and how firm those greens are, it’s no give on that golf course anymore, so you have to play great golf to get the ball close,â€� Justin Rose explained. Ted Potter Jr. has missed five out of seven cuts so far this season, but the former Greenbrier Classic winner (2012) started hot on the South Course. A 5-under 31 on the front nine saw the web.com Tour graduate leap up the leaderboard and a steady 1-under back nine leaves him tied second at 6-under (the equal best score on the South Course). Potter Jr. hasn’t had a top-10 on the PGA TOUR since the 2013 Greenbrier. Ryan Palmer’s 6-under 66 was certainly one of the feel-good rounds of the day. Having started the season on a major medical exemption, Palmer secured his TOUR status last week at the CareerBuilder Challenge – freeing up the three-time winner. Having endured shoulder surgery last year and dealing with his wife’s breast cancer the year before, plenty are hoping Palmer becomes a regular at the top of the leaderboards once more. Hunter Mahan missed the cut in his first three Farmers Insurance Opens. Since then, he’s made the weekend 10 years in a row, including two top-10 finishes at Torrey Pines (2011, 2012). The six-time PGA TOUR winner opened with a 4-under 68 on the South Course Thursday to be T4. His last top-10 finish on TOUR came in September 2015 at the Dell Technologies Championship. In his six starts since returning from military leave, South Korean Sangmoon Bae has missed five cuts and finished T61 in a 78-man no cut event. But Thursday at Torrey Pines, his 4-under 68 on the North Course to be T4 was a step in the right direction for the two-time winner and former Presidents Cup star. The last seven winners of the Farmers Insurance Open played the South Course in the first round. Ben Crane in 2010 was the last player to start on the North Course and win. The last four winners have shot 72 or higher in the first round. Tiger Woods (2013) is the last player to open with a sub-70 round and go on to win. 2017 – Jon Rahm (72); 2016 – Brandt Snedeker (73); 2015 – Jason Day (73); 2014 – Scott Stallings (72); 2013 – Tiger Woods (68) NOTABLES Tiger Woods – The long-awaited return of the 79-time PGA TOUR winner resulted in a respectable even-par 72 on the South Course to be tied 84th. His total distance of made putts was 34 feet, 11 inches, marking his fourth-lowest total in a round on TOUR in the ShotLink era (2003). The field average was 74 feet, one inch. Phil Mickelson – The San Diego native is T35 after a grinding 2-under 70 on the North Course. Jon Rahm – The defending champion and last week’s winner continued his hot form with a tidy 4-under 68 on the South Course to be T4. He will move to world No. 1 with a win. Patrick Reed – An impressive 4-under 68 on the South Course in front of his idol Tiger Woods has Reed well poised at T4. Justin Rose – The Englishman produced a back nine turnaround on the North Course to shoot 3-under 69 to sit T15. Rickie Fowler – After jumping to 4-under through eight holes, Fowler produced four bogeys in his last 10 holes on the North Course to shoot even-par 72. Jason Day – The 2015 Farmers Insurance Open champion battled to a 1-over 73 on the South Course a day after withdrawing from the Pro-Am with back soreness. QUOTABLES   When you’re playing good, everything kind of seems easier. I am a local guy, a lot of local support and it did get me a little jittery and excited.I’m always nervous. I care about what I do and it was fun to feel that competitive rush again.Other than majors, this is the one I want to win the most. SUPERLATIVES Low round: North Course: 7-under 65 from Tony Finau; South Course: 6-under 66 from Ted Potter Jr. and Ryan Palmer. Longest drive: 343 yards: Conrad Shindler on the par-4 14th on the South Course. He made par. The North Course only measured the 13th and 18th holes with Will Zalatoris leading at 350 yards on the 13th. Longest putt: 43 feet, one inch – Abraham Ancer drained an eagle on the par-5 13th on the South Course. Putt distances were not measured on the North Course. Easiest hole: (South) – Par-5, No. 6 (4.462) with 47 birdies, 26 pars and five bogeys. (North) – Par-5, No. 17 (4.513) with three eagles, 38 birdies, 32 pars, four bogeys and a double bogey. Hardest hole: (South) – Par-4, No. 12 (4.474) with just two birdies, 42 pars, 29 bogeys and five double bogeys. (North) – Par-4, No. 4 (4.333) with seven birdies, 39 pars, 31 bogeys and one double bogey. CALL OF THE DAY

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Tiger Woods grinds out even-par 72 in Round One of Farmers Insurance OpenTiger Woods grinds out even-par 72 in Round One of Farmers Insurance Open

January 26, 2018January 26, 2018| 2:38

SAN DIEGO – Tiger Woods was playing six days per week to prepare for his 2018 debut at the Farmers Insurance Open, unencumbered by the quotas that have limited his practice time over the past few years. “Now it’s just, hey, want to go play 18, want to go play 36? Sure. That to me is fun,â€� Woods said in his pre-tournament press conference. After years of struggling with back pain, Woods has enjoyed the camaraderie of playing with his friends at his home club. Fellowship has never been Woods’ first priority on the golf course, though. A thirst for competition has driven him to 79 PGA TOUR titles and 14 majors. All the casual golf in the world can’t replace the emotions that tournament golf elicits. “I want to start feeling what it feels like to be out here and hit shots (and) grind out scores,â€� he said Wednesday. The first round of the Farmers Insurance Open gave him that opportunity. He played Thursday’s first 13 holes exactly how a reasonable witness to last month’s play in the Bahamas would expect. His clubhead speed was high, and his iron shots sailed higher. But for every impressive shot that harkened back to Woods’ better days, there was a miscue that reminded us that Woods has played just one official PGA TOUR event since 2015. Tap-in birdies on Nos. 6 and 10 were offset by three bogeys and several pars that were saved only by deft short-game work. He seemed headed in the wrong direction toward the middle of his back nine, dropping his driver in disgust at the par-4 12th hole and making a sloppy bogey at the next hole after dumping a short wedge shot into a greenside bunker on the par-5. “I was probably a little bit rusty,â€� he said. The slide stopped there, though, as Woods fought to salvage an even-par 72 that kept his hopes of spending the weekend in San Diego alive. He hit his final five greens in regulation, including an impressive tee shot on the par-3 16th that was the defining highlight from his first round. Patrick Reed, his playing partner, described it as “6-iron that came out like a pitching wedge.â€� The shot landed softly on the green before curling within 6 inches of the hole. On the next hole, Woods choked down almost to the steel of his 7-iron, digging the ball out of the rough to hit a high cut to the elevated green. He parred the par-5 finishing hole after missing the fairway and laying up short of the pond. “It was cool to see him fight today,â€� said Reed, who shot 68. After hitting four greens on the front nine, Woods missed just one on the back. He hit 8 of 14 fairways while averaging 314.1 yards off the tee. Woods, whose mobility has been hindered by his back fusion, seemed to rely primarily on fades, even on dogleg-left holes like Nos. 14 and 15. Hitting a fade didn’t decrease the distance of his drives, though. “Some of those cuts today were insanely long,â€� Reed said. “A cut isn’t supposed to go that far, and he’s hitting a flat cut out there 30 yards past your driver.â€� He ranked 14th out of 78 players in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, but was 50th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green (ShotLink stats are only available on the South Course). Despite hitting two-thirds of the greens in regulation, Woods lost 0.6 strokes with his approach play because he struggled to get the ball close to the hole. Of the 12 greens he hit, just two of those approach shots ended up within 18 feet of the hole. His average proximity to the hole on greens hit was 28 feet, 6 inches, but that number was skewed lower by approach shots knocked stiff at Nos. 10 (2 feet) and 16 (1 foot). “I need to clean up my iron game for tomorrow and give myself a lot more looks at it,â€� Woods said. He admitted Wednesday that he is still searching for a swing that works best with his physical limitations following back-fusion surgery. “I’m still learning it,â€� he said. For all the gushing over the numbers he’s producing on Trackman, great golf is a product of consistency over weeks, months and years. Woods exhibited the unsteady play characteristic of a man who’s still trying to learn his swing and has played just 12 competitive rounds since 2015. He will start his second round on the North Course in a tie for 84th place. The shorter of Torrey Pines’ two courses used to play a couple shots easier than the South, but that changed last year after Tom Weiskopf’s renovation. On Thursday, the North Course was just three-tenths of a stroke easier than the South Course. Woods was 2-over par for his first five holes Thursday, looking like he was overmatched by Torrey Pines’ tougher South Course. He missed the fairway and the green on the first hole, then went bunker-to-bunker on No. 5. Then he walked after his 238-yard second shot on the par-5 sixth, two-putting for his first birdie of the day after hitting the green with a long-iron. He dumped a short-iron into a bunker from the seventh fairway, then missed the green on the short par-3 eighth hole, but saved par both times with deft short-game shots. An approach shot knocked stiff at the par-4 10th hole got him back to even par. He made an easy par at the 216-yard, par-3 11th hole before hitting a long drive on 12 that he was unhappy with and making a sloppy bogey at the next. He played the final five holes in 1 under and showed enough positive signs for him to receive passing grades for the first round. “It was fun to feel that competitive rush again and have a scorecard in my hand and try and post a number,â€� he said. A fighting finish gave him a score that did not damper the optimism surrounding his latest comeback.

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