SAN DIEGO — (AP) — The corporate boxes around the 18th green at Torrey Pines are just like they were three weeks ago except for the color — black instead of blue — and the logo. The rough is thicker from recent rain. Otherwise, the South Course looks to be every bit the beast it usually is.
Same course. New tournament.
The Genesis Invitational, one of the premier events on the PGA Tour because it is held at Riviera in Los Angeles, relocated to San Diego's popular public course because of the LA wildfires that destroyed so much of the Pacific Palisades community around Riv.
The familiarity only goes so far.
The 72-man field includes only 32 players who teed it up at the Farmers Insurance Open, including Harris English who is trying to join a most exclusive list. Tiger Woods (twice), Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan are the only players to win on a course twice in the one year.
The difference is they won U.S. Opens — Woods the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines (2008) and Pebble Beach (2000), Nicklaus at Pebble Beach (1972) and Hogan at Riviera (1948).
But the field also has 46 of the top 50 in the world, many who are playing only because the Genesis Invitational is a $20 million signature event, with $4 million going to the winner.
Rory McIlroy hasn't been to Torrey since it hosted the U.S. Open in 2021.
“I didn’t expect to be at Torrey this year but obviously everything happened in LA and they had to pivot quickly,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, it’s good to be back. It's a little bit of a different setup to the U.S. Open in ’21, it’s a lot softer and rough is thick and course is playing very long.”
McIlroy only played nine holes of the pro-am when his amateurs suggested that was enough in a cold, raw rain and marine layer that took away one of Torrey's best traits — endless views of the Pacific Ocean.
Asked whether it reminded him of a Farmers Insurance Open or a U.S. Open, it was no contest because of the recent rain. Yes, the rough is juicy and thick. The greens are plenty soft.
“But the course is going to play long, the rough is very, very penal, so there’s a premium of putting your ball in the fairway and then controlling the spin into the greens,” he said.
Scottie Scheffler can attest to the rough.
The world's No. 1 player hasn't been to Torrey Pines since a tie for 20th in 2022, the last tournament he played before he started winning. He was having a match with Gary Woodland on Tuesday afternoon when Scheffler's tee shot hit a tree on the par-5 18th.
What followed was a dozen people searching for the golf ball — Scheffler hates losing — and it eventually was found by his mother. All he could do from there was gouge a 7-iron down the fairway. Scheffler is adding a 5-wood to the bag this week to help with shots out of the rough.
For him, this doesn't feel like a regular Farmers Insurance Open for a different reason.
“We're not playing the North,” he said, referring to the other course used in the opening rounds three weeks ago. Now the ninth hole on the North is a short-game area.
“But I think it will play like the Farmers,” he said. “It will remind me of what it was then. It's thick rough. The course is playing long because it's soft. It's going to rain and be cold. The South is a brutal course for four days, physically.”
Scheffler had a late start to his season after puncturing his right hand while making ravioli, which required minor surgery and stitches. This will be his third event — a top 10 at Pebble Beach in his debut, an early charge Sunday after a 41 on the back nine in Phoenix.
“I feel like I got two weeks under my belt,” he said. “I thought about adding an event to get some reps in, but I feel like I'm in a good spot.”
McIlroy is in a great spot. He began the PGA Tour portion of his global schedule by winning for the first time at Pebble Beach, another soft course with rain and plenty of wind that led him to play three-quarter shots to manage his game. It worked beautifully in a two-shot victory.
“Feel like I'm in good form, obviously, coming off the back of Pebble,” McIlroy said. “Just trying to keep it rolling.”
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