Farmers Insurance: An incredible opening round of golf

The Farmers Insurance Open has the most talent at a PGA Tour event so far in 2020. It didn’t disappoint, providing everything you would want during an opening round.

There are a lot of big names at the Farmers Insurance Open this week. The great thing about golf is that regardless of the strength of the field, there are always some lesser-known or unknown players that shine periodically throughout the week. Round One did exactly that, as most golf fans are likely unfamiliar with a few of the names at the top of the leaderboard.

Start off at the top of the leaderboard. Almost everyone knows who Keegan Bradley is, although he isn’t a superstar. He is tied for the lead at -6 with Sebastian Cappelen. Cappelen is a rookie on Tour this year, and someone that I had not heard of before the first round. He has one top 30 finish this season, placing T-6th last week at the American Express.

That wasn’t enough to stop him to open the Farmers Insurance Open. Cappelen would fire off eight birdies and two bogeys on his way to an opening-round 66.

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As we start to look down the leaderboard, we start truly getting the mix of superstars and unknowns. Looks at some of the players at -5. Rory McIlroy is here, and is one of the top five stars in golf, if not top two or three. Then you have Matthew NeSmith and Xin-Jun Zhang tied with him. NeSmith had the most interesting round of the three, shooting two bogeys, three birdies, and two eagles. You know it’s a good day when you make an eagle… making two is just straight-up special.

It continues at -4, as many peoples pick to win the tournament, Jon Rahm, sits here. Rahmbo offset a birdie and bogey on the front nine, picking up all his strokes on the back with a -4 32. Tied with him are Vincent Whaley and Brandon Wu, players that only diehards are likely familiar with. To be honest, the names are slightly familiar to me, but I couldn’t tell you a thing about either of them.

That is what is great about golf though. You are constantly hearing about new players, and because of the variance and unpredictability of golf, there are always opportunities to learn more about these players.

Whaley is a rookie on Tour and is looking for his first top 25 finish. Out of Georgia Tech, the 24-year-old finished 25th, the last qualifying spot on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019 to earn his card for the current PGA Tour season.

Brandon Wu is even lesser-known, as this is only his fifth event, all coming on Sponsors exemptions. He did finish T-17th at the Houston Open earlier this season and has spent some time on the European Tour as well, albeit as an Amateur.

Maybe it’s just me, but I always enjoy taking a look at the bottom of the leaderboard as well. Normally there are some unknowns down there, and it isn’t surprising to see those you are unfamiliar with struggle during a PGA Tour event. There are some surprising big names at the bottom though.

Francesco Molinari shot a +7, and is tied for second to last, otherwise known at 152nd place. Right below (above?) him is Lucas Bjerregaard, who shot a +6. Currently in last is Patrick Martin, who had two terrible stretches in the opening round. He had a bogey-double-double-bogey stretch, as well as a double-bogey-bogey stretch. He sits at +10, and is playing Friday just for fun.

For those of you who came to this article expecting to hear about Tiger Woods, don’t worry. I didn’t forget about the GOAT. I was just saving him for last.

If you are like me and cannot get enough talk about Tiger, there are two great places to check out this week, and one of them is a good go-to any time of the year. First off his the live blog over on golf.com, which details each shot that Tiger hits during the round. Next up is Tiger Tracker on Twitter, which does more of the same, except this one is extra nice as you can turn the alerts on for the account, so you get each update sent to your phone.

Tiger didn’t play great to open the Farmers Insurance Open but still managed his way to an opening-round 69, finishing -3 and only three shots back. This should worry the rest of the field. Remember, Tiger Woods has won a boatload of times at Torrey Pines. If he can score well while not playing well, the rest of the field could be in trouble if Tiger puts a round together.

Could you see him shooting 64 during the second round and being at the top of the leaderboard? I sure know I could.

Next. Golf Tips: Enjoying and spending less time on the beach. dark

Make sure to check out the grouping of Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm, and Collin Morikawa as they tee off at 10:40 pacific time, going off the first tee. If the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open is anything at all like the opening round, we are in for another great day of golf.

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