In the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open on Wednesday, Kevin Yu fired an 8-under 64 on the North Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course, bogey-free, to lead Ryo Hisatsune and Patrick Cantlay by one stroke.
Situated on a bluff high above the Pacific Ocean, the municipal layout’s North Course often plays a few strokes softer than the South Course, which yielded the 8 lowest scores. Before the cut, players have 1 round on each course. The South Course will host the last 2 rounds of the competition.
No. 6 in the world Cantlay performed better than No. 5 Xander Schauffele and seventh-ranked and defending champion Max Homa, who both played the South Course. Cantlay had just one bogey. Local player Schauffele, who attended San Diego State, posted 3-under 69, while Homa shot 2-under 70 after making all 3 of his bogeys in the opening 7 holes.
Nicolai Højgaard of Denmark, who arrived on Monday from Dubai and was only able to play 9 holes on the North Course on Tuesday, had the best score on the South Course at 5-under 67. In order to avoid airing in front of the NFL conference championship games, The Farmers concludes on Saturday.
Yu, a 25-year-old Arizona State graduate, is aiming for his first victory on the PGA TOUR. Last week, he finished 2 shots behind Nick Dunlap, the first amateur winner on the PGA TOUR in 33 years , in a tie for 3rd place at The American Express.
“I failed last week and on Sunday bogeyed the final hole. However, I have been playing really well and am steadily gaining ground. I can have numerous opportunities to get on the green and attempt to make some putts if I hit a lot of fairways.” Yu said.
Cantlay escaped the roughs that got saturated in the storm that hit the city on Monday.
Though he participated in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2021, Cantlay who was born and raised in Orange County and attended UCLA hasn’t played at the Farmers since 2019.
“Obviously, this week’s weather is different. This week is going to be much wetter. The results ought to be significantly lower. However, you can have a lot of opportunities here when you play the golf course from the fairway.” Cantlay said.
Playing well on the 3 par 5s, he claimed, was the key to his round ; nonetheless, he 3-putted No. 17 for par, which he described as “kind of a bummer.” He made just 1 mistake on the par-3 No. 3.
“I had a lot of possibilities to make birdies today since I played a lot from the fairway and hit the ball pretty solidly. It is more difficult when the rough is as damp as it is. The water gets in the way, making it more difficult to get the golf ball to go. However, this rough is traditionally lengthy. I don’t believe I’ve ever actually played this golf course in short rough conditions.” he said.
“I played a lot from the fairway today, so I hope to continue doing so. Missing the fairway will undoubtedly result in a penalty.” Cantlay said.
With just one bogey, Japanese player Hisatsune, 21, is aiming for his first career victory on the PGA TOUR.
Alejandro Tosti, Aaron Rai, Thomas Detry, Shane Lowry, and Hideki Matsuyama all shot 66.
In Dubai, Højgaard tied for 7th place and only made one bogey on the fourth par-4.
“I had a great game out there today. I thought I was doing a great deal of quality work. I wish I had improved by a couple shots. In my opinion, I also gave myself every opportunity on the back 9. When you shoot 67 on the South Course, you have no right to complain.” Hojgaard said.
