SAN DIEGO — Jon Rahm is in danger of missing the cut in the $8.7 million Farmers Insurance Open today after shooting a 1-over 73 on Torrey Pines Golf Course’s South Course following victories in his past two starts on the PGA Tour.
The field will be reduced to the low 65 plus ties at the conclusion of Thursday’s second round. Rahm is among 12 golfers in the 156-player field tied for 116th, nine strokes off the lead, shared by Americans Brent Grant and Sam Ryder and Englishman Aaron Rai at 8-under 64. There are 21 golfers tied for 50th at 2-under.
Rahm has made the cut in 21 consecutive tournaments, the longest active streak on the tour.
The Spaniard who is third on the Official World Golf Ranking had a double-bogey on the par-4 seventh hole, bogeys on the par-4 12th and 15th holes and birdies on the second and fifth holes, both par-4s, and the par-3 16th.
“With the tee shots I hit on 6, 7, 12 and 13, I was 3 over par,” said Rahm, who earned his first PGA Tour win at the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open and won his first career major title at the 2021 U.S. Open, which was held on Torrey Pines’ South Course.
“In any other given round that I’ve played here in the past, I’m actually playing that at least even par to under par, so it’s easily a three- to five-shot swing and that’s the difference.”
Rahm’s second shot on the seventh hole flew over the green and went out of bounds.
“The rough is thick as always,” Rahm said. “No. 7 was arguably the best swing of the day (but) that cost me two shots.
“I’ve hit that shot over 25 times in the past with the same wind and I’ve never seen a ball get pin high, and today I don’t know what happened. Somehow we ended up flying the pin by 10 yards in the hazard. If it just flies the green and stays in the rough, it’s OK, but that was costly.”
The round ended Rahm’s streak of 12 consecutive under-par scores to start the 2022-23 season.
The next highest-ranked player in the field, Xander Schauffele is also in danger of missing the cut, as is Justin Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion.
Schauffele, a San Diego State and Scripps Ranch High School graduate who is ranked sixth, is among 24 players tied for 92nd at even 72, while Rose, like Rahm, shot a 1-over 73 on the South Course.
Schauffele had six birdies, including each of the final three holes he played, the seventh through the ninth, four bogeys and a double-bogey on the par-4 sixth.
Rose had four birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey on the par-5 ninth hole.
This is the first time any of the co-leaders have held or shared a lead after any round in their PGA Tour careers. They all played on the North Course, as did Brendan Steele, who is in fourth at 7-under, one stroke off the lead.
Grant is a 26-year-old rookie making his 14th start on the tour. His 64 was a career-low and came four days after he missed the cut in The American Express at 12-over 228 for three rounds, finishing last in the field of 156.
“There were a lot of distractions last week,” said Grant, who was playing in The American Express for the first time. “I had family and friends and we were kind of partying around a little bit. But it is what it is and my body doesn’t feel any different, the swing’s not any different, I just happened to make more putts.”
Grant had nine birdies Wednesday, including four on his first five holes, and a bogey on the par-4 sixth.
Grant played in the Farmers Insurance Open last year, missing the cut after shooting a 2-over 146 for two rounds.
When asked what he learned from that Grant responded, “You learn a lot of patience.”
“You understand that hitting it in the fairway is the No. 1 goal no matter what,” said Grant, who was raised in Hawaii and attended BYU-Hawaii. “Then you can take it on from there. And also understanding that bad shots are going to happen, you just have to make sure you either respond well or don’t hit them in places where it’s really tough to get them up and down.”
Grant earned his PGA Tour card by finishing 15th on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Finals eligibility points list. He has made two cuts on the PGA Tour, tying for 35th in the Butterfield Bermuda Classic in October and tying for 54th in the RSM Classic in November.
The 27-year-old Rai started his bogey-free round on the back nine with a birdie on the par-5 10th hole, paring each of the next six holes, and birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. He also birdied the par-4 second and fourth holes, the par-5 fifth, and concluded the round with birdies on the par-3 eighth hole and par-5 ninth, for a career-low first-round score on the tour.
“Definitely played great all around,” said Rai, who has three top-10 finishes in his 44 previous starts on the PGA Tour, including tying for sixth in the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open, his career-best result in an individual event on the PGA Tour. (He tied for fourth at the 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner David Lipsky.)
“Really drove it great off the tee, which is probably the most important thing to at least give ourselves an opportunity with those approach shots. As soon as you miss the fairway here with anything more than a short iron is very, very difficult. So that was key today, drove it very well. Hit a lot of real good iron shots and made a few putts around the turn there, so all in all a very good round, very good start.”
The 33-year-old Ryder tied his career-low first-round score on the PGA Tour. He began his bogey-free round with an eagle on the 10th hole, had three birdies from the 14th through 17th holes, and three more from the fourth through seventh holes.
“It was pretty stress-free, it was fun,” said Ryder, who has 15 top- 10 finishes in his 146 previous PGA Tour starts, including twice tying for second. “I’ve been working hard since the start of the new year and felt good about my game.”
Since 1983 — the earliest records are available — two first-round leaders or co-leaders have gone on to win the Farmers Insurance Open, George Burns in 1987 and Patrick Reed in 2021.
The golfers who played the North Course Wednesday will play the South Course Thursday, while those who played the South Course will play the North Course. The final two rounds will be played on the South Course.
The scoring average on the North Course was 2.481 strokes lower than the South Course. The lowest scores on the South Course were 6-under-66s by Andrew Novak and Sam Stevens.
For the second consecutive year, the tournament began on a Wednesday, one day earlier than usual, and will conclude Saturday to avoid a conflict with Sunday’s telecasts of the NFL conference championship games, American television’s most-watched programming outside of Super Bowl Sunday.
