Farmers Insurance Open: The top ten performances at Torrey Pines
By Bill Felber
The 2019 Farmers Insurance Open saw some outstanding performances at Torrey Pines. Let’s take a look at ten of the best statistical performances of the week.
With the season debut of Tiger Woods at the Farmers Insurance Open, most all of the PGA Tour’s big names have begun their seasons.
What did we learn in San Diego about how their performances compare with their hopes and expectations?
The Farmers field was an impressive one, producing a top 10 that included four major champions – winner Justin Rose as well as Adam Scott, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy. Woods didn’t crack the top 10, but he did produce a final round 67 that moved him into a respectable tie for 20th.
There were also, however, disappointments. Jordan Spieth survived the cut, but played unremarkably overall and finished mid-pack. Rookie fall tour sensation Cameron Champ couldn’t manage even that; he packed his bags Friday night.
Since the Farmers marks a sort of pivot point between the comparatively meaningless succession of fall tour events and the winter-spring buildup to The PLAYERS Championship in March, it is a good time to deliver a status report on players. Today’s report features ten names including many of the best-known: Woods, Spieth, and Rose, the world’s number one.
But in a nod to the great mass of aspirational tour players who labor in relative anonymity, we’ve also included a report on the status of two lesser-knowns. One is a second-year pro in the midst of a hot streak, the other a classic tour ‘grinder’ representative of the Everyman golfing class.
In each case, the idea is to compare their performance in San Diego – as computed by the Shots Gained formula – with their full-season performance. In a few cases, that full season may be 2019 or – if they haven’t played enough to develop a reliable data base – 2018. For a handful of others, like Spieth, who have slumped recently, we’ve based the comparison on a previous season when they were at their best.
The introductory data on each page includes the player’s name, their finish at the Farmers Insurance Open, plus their score relative to par and total.