2013 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Discussion Thread

[mvmac]

Hey guys, the tour moves to Torrey Pines this week in San Diego.  Unfortunately I won't be able to make it to Torrey since the PGA Show is this week.  But my son Stephen was able to go today and took these pics and swings, enjoy!  Thanks Stephen !

Like most kids, Fowler is his favorite player and got to watch him play 9 holes.  He said Fowler often stopped after every shot to sign autographs or take pictures.

Power Rankings: Farmers Insurance Open

Rank Player Comment Bubba WATSON Backed up his victory here in 2011 with a T13 last year. Under par in his last eight rounds on the property. Also logged top-10s at Torrey Piney in 2007 and 2009. Hasn't played since a T4 at Kapalua, his 21st top 20 in his last 26 starts. Dustin JOHNSON A staple in this feature returns after withdrawing midway into his second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii due to flu-like symptoms. Won at Kapalua the previous Tuesday. Two top-20s with a T3 (2011) in five starts at Torrey Pines. Charles HOWELL III Ranks fifth in all-time earnings at Torrey Pines, highest among non-winners. He's 10-for-10 with six top-15s, including a pair of runner-up finishes. He's started 2013 with a T3 and a playoff loss. His actual scoring average in eight rounds is 65.75. Nick WATNEY The most recent champion (2009) to sandwich his title with top-10s, one prior and two since. Opened his season with a T13 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions to extend his streak of top-20s to five (dating back last fall). Brandt SNEDEKER Recorded the first of two wins here on the road to becoming the 2012 FedExCup champion. Ranked T33 in GIR at Torrey Pines but ninth in strokes gained-putting. Also led the field in the all-around. Four top 10s in six appearances. Keegan BRADLEY Two top-25s in as many appearances at Torrey Pines. Led the field in total driving en route to last year's T22, but ranked T45 in greens hit and 34th in strokes gained-putting. Started 2013 with a share of fourth place at Kapalua. Tiger WOODS Six-time winner at Torrey Pines has played just once in the last four editions, settling for a T44 in 2011. Last week's missed cut in Abu Dhabi prevented him from sitting higher in this feature, but he netted nine top-10s in 19 TOUR starts last year. Scott PIERCY Took a week off after a pair of top 15s on the Aloha Swing. In his last two starts at Torrey Pines (2010, 2012), he's posted top-20s but ranked outside the top 45 in both starts in fairways hit and GIR. Placed inside the top five in total putts, however. Phil MICKELSON The three-time champion has 10 top 10s in 23 appearances at Torrey Pines. His latest was a runner-up in 2011. He's coming off a T37 in his 2013 debut at the Humana Challenge where he shot 17-under in his last three rounds. Hunter MAHAN When greens in regulation on difficult courses carries additional weight, you'd expect this sharpshooter to succeed. Sure enough, he's tied for sixth in the last two editions; also shared 11th place in 2009. Opened the year with a T26 at Kapalua. Marc LEISHMAN Polished off a career-best T9 at Waialae with a bogey-free run of 10-under on his last 30 holes. Top-25s in four of his last five starts worldwide; had none in his previous nine. Co-runner-up at Torrey Pines in 2010; placed T9 in 2011. Bill HAAS Owns the kind of track record here that the trend of champions supports. In eight appearances, he's logged five top-20s. Both of his last two starts resulted in top-10s, including a career-best T4 last year. Scott STALLINGS Suffered a disappointing close to last week's Humana Challenge, but his T4 is his fourth top 15 in five starts dating back to the Fall Series. He now has eight top-25s in his last 12 starts. Missed the cut at Torrey Pines in his only appearance in 2010. John ROLLINS After concluding 2012 with no better than a T35 in 10 starts, he's opened this season with a pair of top 20s. Last week's T16 at the Humana Challenge featured 26 birdies. Four top-10s in 12 starts at Torrey Pines, including a solo third last year. Nicolas COLSAERTS First-timer at Torrey Pines making his PGA TOUR rookie debut. Opened 2013 with a T9 at the Volvo Golf Champions to bridge his solid form from last year. Led the European Tour in 20

[Rfordeagle]

Cool pics...  Gimme a sleeper, Jason Day to make some serious noise in this one!

[Deryck Griffith]

Thanks for sharing.  Great videos

[Thrash13]

Originally Posted by Rfordeagle

Cool pics...  Gimme a sleeper, Jason Day to make some serious noise in this one!

I think it's going to be a big year for Jason Day.  He had a great 2011 season, and while he struggled badly in 2012, he started putting things back together during the fall.  He is way too talented to struggle again this year, so I expect great things from the Aussie.  I'm excited to see how this tournament goes.  The field is very strong, and the golf course is much tougher than the course has been the past couple weeks on Tour.  I'm hoping all the big guns are near the top of the leaderboard Sunday.

P.S.- I think I should take a picture of the Power Rankings because Charles Howell III hasn't ever been above Tiger and Phil.  At least he has a great record at this venue, including a couple runner-up finishes of course.  LOL.

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by Thrash13

I think it's going to be a big year for Jason Day.  He had a great 2011 season, and while he struggled badly in 2012, he started putting things back together during the fall.  He is way too talented to struggle again this year, so I expect great things from the Aussie.

I agree with you.  Didn't he have a minor injury last season?  Plus, he became a father for the first time and it was an emotional thing for him.

Hopefully he bounces back.  I like his personality.

[clarkeycats]

Great pics, and vids. I would like to see Mickelson win this weekend, but with all this tax thing going on, it might be a distraction. It's a pretty strong field so we should see some great golf.

[Ernest Jones]

That's quite the collection of lob wedges in Ricky's bag. Is he planning on throwing them to the gallery?

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

That's quite the collection of lob wedges in Ricky's bag. Is he planning on throwing them to the gallery?

And one of them is a "Call Me Maybe" wedge?  What's the story behind that?  Stephen ... go back and find out for us!

[Club Rat]

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Rickie Fowler has always been comfortable in his own skin.

Check out the loud colors, the designs, the hats, the Golf Boys video, the Captain Jack Sparrow look that recently gave way to a razor.

He always has marched to the beat of his own drum.

So it should come as no surprise to look at the back of his 60-degree Titleist wedge. In wanting to have a little bit of fun,

Fowler paid homage to a young singer and stamped the title of her hit single into the metal.

In the past, he's had multiple RF stamps proliferate his wedges.

He has had two of his nicknames — Sleek and Mongoose — prominently displayed on the back of his wedges, too.

"Wedges have always been somewhat blank on the back, which gives you more room than other clubs,"

Fowler said. "It's your own little canvas where you can do whatever you want with it."

Interesting.

Club Rat

[Ernest Jones]

And one of them is a "Call Me Maybe" wedge?  What's the story behind that?  Stephen ... go back and find out for us!

Yeah, if you're going to throw wedges into the gallery you should put you phone number on them for the cuties. Then again, if you're throwing wedges into the gallery maybe you better not, you know, for insurance purposes.

[TimG3394]

Good work Stephen. Love seeing this type of stuff.

[mcfc_nick]

i'll take Mr. Bradley.

[mcfc_nick]

Keegan that is, not Michael haha

[Pakoh]

[Beachcomber]

Here is a video of Charlie Wi's posterior driver swing.

I have some other photos and a video of Vijay I'll put up later today.

[Beachcomber]

One other quick comment.  Lot's of R1's on tour this year...

[Golfingdad]

Hey Beach and Pakoh ... love the pics!  Keep 'em coming!

How do they play their practice rounds?  Did they all just play the course like a normal round, or do they hit multiple balls from the tee, fairway, do they wander around the green chipping from various spots, do they skip around different holes, and any other fun facts you can share.

I've been to a handful of events, but never made it out during practice rounds.

Thanks!  Have fun out there today!

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Hey Beach and Pakoh ... love the pics!  Keep 'em coming!

How do they play their practice rounds?  Did they all just play the course like a normal round, or do they hit multiple balls from the tee, fairway, do they wander around the green chipping from various spots, do they skip around different holes, and any other fun facts you can share.

I've been to a handful of events, but never made it out during practice rounds.

Thanks!  Have fun out there today!

They play the hole from various spots and methods...  From what I saw they do the following:

(1.) Hit a club off the tee box - if they like the line... They go with it.  If they didn't, they may hit another ball (same club, different shot shape) or sometimes they would change the club - like go from Driver to 3W or 3W to Hybrid, etc.  When I filmed Charlie - he took three tee shots.  As he walked off the tee - his exact words were 'Mo betta, mo betta, mo betta!'  These dudes are very relaxed and having fun which was nice to see.

(2.) Some guys are with just their caddy... Some guys are with another touring pro (twosome)... Very few were playing as a threesome or foursome.

(3.) On par 5's they would play the hole two ways... Drive - go for it in two.  Drive - lay-up.  Kind of play the hole with different approach shots and take some notes on what clubs to use or what marks to hit.

(4.) Some of the guys, like Vjay and Ryo for instance, would take balls and throw them into different collection areas in-front or a green side bunker and hit a few shots.  These two seemed to be more deliberate with their short game - hitting a lot of different shots from around the greens.

(5.) Once up on the green - their caddies would have these white laminated circles - cut to the size of a hole - and they would throw them down on previous or past pin placement zones.  And the pro would chip and or roll putts to those various pins.  Typically there were four pin placement areas that the caddy would throw something down on.  Some had the laminated circles, some would just put a golf tee down, others would throw a putter head cover.  And then the tour pro would roll putts to those areas.

(6.) There was hardly anyone around... So it was very easy to walk up and watch.  And if you wanted to say something to one of the guys after a shot - they would talk to you.  Mostly small talk.  Like Bads hit an errant tee shot on #18 of the North course.  The ball ended up in the rough - but it was on flat ground... Whereas the fairway is sloped from left to right.  His caddy told me to throw him the ball, as they were going to play the shot from the fairway (he hit two ball from the tee).  And I responded 'You sure, it's a pretty good lie down here... Nice and flat!' with a smile.  Bads laughed and said 'He would have to remember that.'  I heard Pat Perez and John Daly jawing with a spectator - laughing it up.  Perez dropping a few 'F-bombs' in the mix.  Then Kyle Stanley and I chatted about his new Nike kicks.  He was wearing the new Nike Lunars which looked pretty pimp.  And then David Chappral's caddy talked to Pakoh and I about California laws - like no cellphone use while driving, but yet they let motorcyclist weave in and through traffic.  So all in all... Lots of small talk and just watching some amazing golf.

(7.) The practice putting green was where most of the pros putt - and everyone is just mingling and shooting the .  Lots of business deals being worked on those putting areas.  Next time I go, I'm going to go to the putting area and stalk it until I see TW.  And then follow him around.  I didn't see him.  We heard he was around, but could never find him.  He was at the other end of the driving range - where normal spectators couldn't gain access.  And after talking to folks around the course, Tiger only played four holes.  He played 15, 16, 17 and 18 on the South Course.  So that kind of shows you how these guys can just go anywhere on the course and do whatever they want.  They really don't have any firm tee times, so they pretty much can go out when they want, or where they want.  We saw guys skipping holes, or jumping from one area to another.  At one time Vijay was playing as a single, then the next time we saw him a few holes later, he had joined up with several others.

(8.) These pros - their swings are freakishly good.  When I'm watching them in person, they make the swing look so effortless.  Their heads are steady, they look nice and balanced.  It is really a work of art how these guys play the game.  And watching them play on a course like Torrey Pines... Wow.  I'm going to make this an annual thing and go check these guys out when they come through San Diego.