The PGA Tour has its first challenge of the season as a strong field heads to the historic Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California for the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open.
Torrey Pines is the longest course on the PGA Tour and the field is in for a treat after heavy rain has made the course longer to play. With narrow fairways and tough greens, it’ll be a difficult test for golfers on the Tour this week.
The Farmers Insurance Open will bring some of the biggest names to California, including Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffle, and more.
Farmers Insurance Open 2023
The Torrey Pines golf course holds a lot of core PGA Tour memories.
It was the place where Tiger Woods won the 2008 US Open with a broken leg. Torrey Pines is also home to Jon Rahm’s first PGA Tour win when he sank an outrageous putt on the 72nd hole.
Needless to say, there’s a lot of history at Torrey Pines.
Many fans believe that the Farmers Insurance Open is the true start of the PGA Tour. After three weeks of low-scoring events, Torrey Pines is a difficult course for even the world’s best players.
The Farmers Insurance Open will feature a competitive field with five top-10 players in the world heading to La Jolla.
Rahm has won twice previously on this course, including this event, and is the overwhelming favorite at +450 heading into Round 1. Xander Schauffele (+1100), Tony Finau (+1200), Justin Thomas (+1600), and Will Zalatoris (+1600) round out the top-five contenders at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Torrey Pines Course Preview
The Farmers Insurance Open will be played over two courses at Torrey Pines: the North and the South Course.
All players will play once on the North Course and South course on Wednesday and Thursday before the Cut. On the other hand, the final two rounds will be played on the monstrous South Course, which measures at 7,765 yards for a par-72 with Poa annua greens.
The North Course is slightly shorter, measuring at 7,258 yards for a par-72 with Bentgrass greens. It’s generally a little easier to play on.
However, the field has a tougher test with the South Course, which will be played on for three days.
The South Course is the longest course on the PGA Tour, which means length off the tee will be essential this weekend.
And due to rain, the course will play even longer this week.
The South Course features a thick rye rough that has seen over 4.83 inches of rain in the New Year and will provide a penalty for missing fairways. The South Course’s fairways are already the third most narrow on the Tour. In addition, the South Course hosts the sixth-smallest greens on the Tour with challenging green areas, approach play is going to be even more important.
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