MOVING DAY MEMO: Unfamiliar Names Lead at a Familiar Torrey Pines

The storied grounds of Torrey Pines.

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of the USA’s most famous muni?

Tiger’s US Open win on one leg? Jon Rahm’s first major? Whatever it is, Torrey Pines is always one of the most anticipated stops on tour, as golf makes its return back to national TV.

And with that comes Jim Nantz’s calming voice filling your living room from…Kansas City, Missouri?

I’m not one to give the PGA tour much credit, but I have to give them props for not trying to compete with the NFL. Making the Farmers a Saturday finish was a truly well-calculated move.

So, alright! Torrey Pines, lots of big names in the field, looks like we’re gonna get a lot of stars at the top of the leaderboard!

Not exactly, through the first two rounds, there’s been a lot of unfamiliar names in the hunt.

Here are some of my favorite clips so far from Torrey Pines.

First off, we have our first ball-in-rough video of the year! Good grief.

Ace watch! Kyle Westmoreland threw a bounce pass in on 16. Unfortunately, he missed the cut, but a great moment for the former Air Force captain and Tour rookie.

Thomas Detry hates golf now.

Not to completely reinforce that we need this ALL THE TIME, but this is awesome and I could not even imagine thinking this way.

ROUND ONE

A trio of players who have never won on tour were the stars of the day; Sam Ryder (a somewhat familiar name), Aaron Rai, and Brent Grant (some not-so-familiar names) all shot 8-under 64s.

Sahith Theegala, Brendan Steele, Harry Higgs, Gary Woodland, Collin Morikawa, and defending champion Luke List were some notable names that ended the day within 3 shots of the lead.

Torrey Pines’ favorite Spaniard, Jon Rahm, had his first down round in what seemed to be a decade throwing up a 1-over-par, 73. His comment after the round: “Not good.”

Can’t win them all, Jon.

ROUND TWO

Sam Ryder has undoubtedly been the story of the tournament. He followed up his stellar Wednesday with a gritty 68 on Thursday, giving himself a 3-shot lead over Brendan Steele.

Steele himself had a great back nine, birdieing 17 and 18 to put himself alone in second place.

Argentinian Estanislao Goya tied for the round of the day with a surprising 67 for a total of -7. He sits alone in third with six players tied one shot behind him at -6.

The hottest player in golf, Jon Rahm, was that aforementioned ‘other guy’ who shot -5 on Thursday. He quietly sits in a tie for 14th and well within striking distance at -4.

Notables to miss the cut included: Jason Dufner, Harris English, and Will Zalatoris.

Find Friday’s third-round streaming schedule here and the tee times here.