Brandt Snedeker (The Associated Press)
Snedeker had a flawless start to his title defense in the Farmers Insurance Open by playing bogey-free on the North Course for a 7-under 65 and a share of the lead with K.J. Choi on Thursday. The advantage after one day goes to Choi, who birdied three of his last four holes on the tough South Course for his 65.
Tiger Woods, a seven-time champion at Torrey Pines as a pro, looked as if he might join them. Woods was one shot off the lead with five holes to play on the South until he stumbled in the final hour of a cloudy day with two bogeys and had to scramble to save par on the par-5 18th for a 68.
“I made a few mistakes out there, but I made some nice plays as well,” Woods said.
He three-putted for double bogey on the fourth hole, and then responded with a 12-footer for birdie, an eagle by holing a bunker shot on the par-5 sixth, and birdie putts on the eighth and ninth holes to get back into the game.
Phil Mickelson had quite the taxing day with a 72 on the North, which played about 1½ strokes easier than the course that hosted a U.S. Open in 2008.
Snedeker already is developing quite the love affair with this municipal course along the Pacific Bluffs. As a rookie, he was 10 under through 10 holes and had to settle for a 61 on the North Course.
He finished third that year.
Then, he rallied from seven shots behind in the final round, got into a playoff when Kyle Stanley made triple bogey on the 18th and won on the second playoff hole.
One year later, he was right back at it.
“It’s funny, you look at all the golf courses I should play well on, this should not be one of them,” Snedeker said. “This is a long, difficult golf course with lots of rough and hitting a lot of iron shots. My strength is driving and putting, so it doesn’t really add up well around year. But for some reason, it’s been good to me.”
It was even more of a mystery for Choi.
He is not a regular at Torrey Pines and decided not to come last year until he heard from his host family in San Diego that the South Korean community wanted to see him play. Choi put on quite a show. He finally got some height and spin into shots while warming up on the range, and he converted that into the best round on the South.
He ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine — he started on No. 10 — and no shot was more pleasing than a wedge into a light crosswind on the 15th hole that settled inches from the cup.
“Best shot ever on the South Course — ever,” he said, grinning.
Of the eight players at 66, only Josh Teater posted his on the South Course. Of the PGA Tour events that use multiple courses, few of them are as different as the South and North at Torrey Pines, although the difference in scoring average has been greater in recent years.
Charles Howell III summed it up best after his 66 on the North.
“The real one is tomorrow,” Howell said.
Howell lost in a playoff last week in the Humana Challenge, and he started his season with a tie for third at the Sony Open. Whatever disappointment he felt in the California desert, he was able to shake off quickly. And he wasn’t alone.
Scott Stallings lost a five-shot lead in the Humana Challenge and bogeyed the par-5 closing hole to miss the playoff. He bounced back with a 66.
And there was Woods.
He started his season by missing the cut in Abu Dhabi when he was docked two shots at the end of his round for a rules violation on the fifth hole. He was on more comfortable territory at Torrey Pines, though he says he didn’t hit the ball much differently.
“Last week’s conditions were a lot more difficult and the fairways were narrow and the wind was howling,” Woods said. “I felt like I was doing a lot of good things right last week — unfortunately, only for a few days, but I doing a lot of good things right. And I came out here today and basically did the same thing.”
He missed birdie putts of 8, 15 and 12 feet on the back nine, along with two par putts from inside 8 feet.
Woods now goes to the North Course to figure out where he is before anyone can get a true sense of how this tournament is shaping up.
Snedeker said this week that any records set by Woods should have an asterisk because they’re typically not done by normal players. He didn’t say anything about repeating at Torrey Pines, where Woods once won five times in four years including the U.S. Open.
“I think he’s won here more times than I’ve won on tour, so I think he knows the place pretty well,” Snedeker said. “I think he’s very similar to me. He loves putting on these greens. ... We’ve got three more days to go. There’s 155 guys I’m still worried about besides him, so we have a lot more guys to worry about.”
Woods played with Rickie Fowler, who had a 77 and was tied for last place.
Mike Weir was among those who had a 66 on the North Course and appeared to be in great shape to make his first cut since 2011.
FARMERS
INSURANCE OPEN SCORES
Thursday
First Round
Brandt Snedeker 33-32—65n
K.J. Choi 33-32—65s
Josh Teater 35-31—66s
Adam Hadwin 34-32—66n
Luke List 33-33—66n
Ross Fisher 32-34—66n
Billy Horschel 33-33—66n
Charles Howell III 33-33—66n
Mike Weir 33-33—66n
Scott Stallings 33-33—66n
Tag Ridings 35-32—67s
Bo Van Pelt 33-34—67n
Jimmy Walker 32-35—67n
Jerry Kelly 35-32—67n
Justin Hicks 31-36—67s
Brendan Steele 32-35—67n
John Mallinger 32-35—67n
David Lynn 34-33—67n
Peter Tomasulo 33-34—67n
Steve Marino 34-34—68s
Graham DeLaet 34-34—68n
Ryo Ishikawa 33-35—68n
Vijay Singh 34-34—68n
Bryce Molder 32-36—68n
D.H. Lee 35-33—68n
Brian Stuard 35-33—68n
Steve LeBrun 35-33—68n
Harris English 32-36—68s
Michael Letzig 34-34—68s
Cameron Tringale 35-33—68n
James Driscoll 34-34—68n
Tiger Woods 32-36—68s
Justin Leonard 33-35—68n
Hank Kuehne 35-33—68n
Luke Guthrie 34-34—68s
John Senden 34-35—69s
Nicholas Thompson 36-33—69n
Will Claxton 36-33—69n
Nicolas Colsaerts 34-35—69n
John Huh 34-35—69s
Lucas Glover 34-35—69s
Dustin Johnson 33-36—69n
Martin Flores 34-35—69s
Matt Every 36-33—69s
Eric Meierdierks 35-34—69n
Tom Gillis 34-35—69s
Colt Knost 33-36—69n
Robert Karlsson 35-34—69n
Nick Watney 36-33—69s
Hunter Mahan 36-33—69s
Bill Haas 34-35—69s
J.J. Henry 35-34—69n
Stuart Appleby 35-34—69n
Casey Wittenberg 33-36—69s
Jim Herman 33-36—69n
Brad Fritsch 34-35—69n
Ricky Barnes 35-35—70s
Angel Cabrera 35-35—70s
Jhonattan Vegas 36-34—70n
Keegan Bradley 35-35—70n
Y.E. Yang 35-35—70s
Michael McCabe 35-35—70s
Steven Fox 35-35—70n
Scott Gardiner 34-36—70n
John Rollins 37-33—70s
Charley Hoffman 34-36—70n
Sang-Moon Bae 37-33—70s
Jonas Blixt 34-36—70n
Stephen Ames 35-35—70n
Kevin Chappell 36-34—70n
Derek Ernst 35-35—70s
Charlie Wi 35-36—71s
Seung-Yul Noh 35-36—71s
Marc Leishman 35-36—71s
Michael Bradley 36-35—71n
Aaron Baddeley 34-37—71n
James Hahn 35-36—71s
Lee Williams 36-35—71s
Morgan Hoffmann 38-33—71n
Patrick Cantlay 35-36—71n
Robert Streb 34-37—71n
Jeff Klauk 34-37—71s
Chez Reavie 35-36—71s
Jeff Overton 35-36—71n
Michael Thompson 35-36—71n
Stewart Cink 34-37—71n
Roberto Castro 37-34—71s
Erik Compton 36-35—71s
Aaron Watkins 36-35—71n
David Hearn 35-37—72s
Gary Woodland 36-36—72s
Ben Crane 36-36—72s
Martin Laird 36-36—72s
Phil Mickelson 37-35—72n
Shawn Stefani 33-39—72s
Jin Park 34-38—72s
Doug LaBelle II 34-38—72s
David Lingmerth 35-37—72s
Henrik Norlander 36-36—72n
Pat Perez 35-37—72s
Darron Stiles 36-36—72n
Neal Lancaster 35-37—72n
Daniel Summerhays 36-36—72n
Ben Curtis 38-34—72s
Trevor Immelman 39-33—72s
Robert Garrigus 36-36—72s
Bud Cauley 34-38—72n
Alistair Presnell 34-38—72s
Bobby Gates 34-38—72s
Justin Bolli 36-36—72s
Richard H. Lee 33-39—72n
Jordan Spieth 36-36—72n
Rod Pampling 38-35—73s
J.B. Holmes 35-38—73n
Jeff Gove 36-37—73s
Greg Chalmers 37-36—73n
Jason Day 36-37—73n
Tommy Gainey 36-37—73n
D.A. Points 37-36—73s
Ben Kohles 39-34—73s
Paul Haley II 36-37—73s
Patrick Reed 37-36—73s
Matt Jones 36-38—74s
Brandt Jobe 35-39—74n
John Daly 37-37—74s
Scott Piercy 35-39—74s
Billy Mayfair 36-38—74n
Andres Gonzales 38-36—74n
David Mathis 36-38—74n
Brian Harman 36-38—74s
Brendon de Jonge 38-36—74s
Boo Weekley 38-36—74s
Jason Kokrak 39-35—74s
Greg Owen 37-37—74s
John Merrick 37-37—74n
Cameron Percy 38-36—74n
Andrew Svoboda 39-35—74s
Troy Matteson 37-38—75s
Fabian Gomez 40-35—75n
Brad Adamonis 37-38—75s
Donald Constable 39-36—75n
Blake Adams 37-38—75n
Kyle Stanley 38-37—75s
Sean O’Hair 36-39—75s
Jon Fiedler 37-38—75n
Mark Baker 38-37—75n
Charlie Beljan 41-35—76s
Robert Allenby 38-38—76s
Camilo Villegas 39-37—76s
Tim Herron 37-39—76s
Scott Langley 40-36—76n
Steven Bowditch 40-36—76s
Andres Romero 36-40—76s
Troy Kelly 40-37—77s
Rickie Fowler 38-39—77s
Geoff Ogilvy 40-37—77s
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