Unusual weather at Farmers Insurance Open

Farmers Insurance Open started on January 28. Players who rotate on both North and South courses are par72 for both first rounds, belonging to the Torrey Pines golf complex. The local weather is forecast to be heavy rain for the second round, so the organizers can take a short cut off by activating preferred lies for both first rounds to ensure fair competition conditions.

The night before the second round on January 29, it rained. When the morning groups joined the first turn at 9am, the sun was mild, but the air was cold below 15 degrees Celsius. Not long after that, the wind began to blow strongly, especially in the coastal pits. By noon, it had started to rain as expected, making overall progress nearly an hour behind.

Lanto Griffin and Viktor Hovland hit the South pitch, starting at 10:30 from hole 10. When Griffin brushed his eagle 4 and 5 feet into hole 6, par5, sunlight was piercing through the scattered dark clouds. But 20 minutes later, he had to pick up hail on the green of hole 8, par3 to clear the way to put the ball.

With the green status at the time, Griffin took three putts to finish on bogey points. The American Golfer born in 1988 closed the round at 70 strokes, stood T2 with -8 after 36 holes. On the opening day, Griffin hit 66 sticks on North Stadium.

Viktor Hovland is from Norway, so cold is common. I’ve been in Oklahoma for the past few weeks, too, and it’s been cold, so I’ve been fine in the Torrey Pines. Hovland finished the second round with 65 strokes, scoring eight birdies and one bogey.

“In the past few weeks, I have worn three or four layers of clothes while training, so it’s normal to be cold today with hail. And that’s the advantage on the field,” Hovland commented. The player born in 1997 is at the top of the table at -9, leading Griffin one stroke. Hovland had two PGA Tour championships, both last year, and Griffin had just one title in October 2019.

Adam Scott played an hour before the Hovland group, also from hole 10, South yard. At hole 2, par4, Scott was 136 yards away from the flag but used a 9 iron because of the wind. He got off the club with all his might but the ball flew only 125 yards. And even though it goes green, it kicks back and then slips out of the latch. Then, Scott chip in, 1.2 meters from the hole and then locked the par.

“The wind is not fierce, but because the temperature drops, it turns heavy. It makes the ball 30 yards shorter than normal. Under such conditions, there is only careful water to hit,” said Scott. All round, Scott hit 69 sticks, repeatedly mumbling the classic song in his homeland Australia – “Four Seasons in One Day” performed by Crowded House. Owner of 14 PGA Tour championships including the 2013 major Masters, also ranked T2 as Griffin.

This group also has second player in the world Jon Rahm, Tony Finau, Ryan Palmer and Patrick Reed. They are one step above T8 (score -7) including Will Gordon, Robby Shelton and Peter Malnati.

In the top 10 after 36 holes, there were five players hitting the second round at North Stadium, and the rest on South Stadium – the battlefield for the last two rounds.

Yesterday, Rahm hit North Stadium with 67 strokes. “North yard is easier today, South is very hard. The weather is so important. Fairway has narrowed the wind to one side and it rains many times, so whoever hits the North yard is very lucky,” Rahm comment.

Supporting Rahm’s comments is the transcript prepared by Robby Shelton. This player at North scored nine birdies and one bogey for the entire round of 64 strokes – hitting the ceiling from the start of the tournament. Thanks to that, he jumped 99 steps to T8. And though cold, Shelton does not add warm clothes. “Whenever I put on my jacket, I didn’t swing the stick well so I couldn’t stand the cold,” Shelton said.

Quoc Huy synthetic