The 70th anniversary edition of the $8.4 million Farmers Insurance Open begins Wednesday at Torrey Pines Golf Course, one day earlier than usual.
The tournament has been shifted to a Wednesday through Saturday format to avoid a conflict with Sunday's telecasts of the NFL conference championship games. The scheduled Saturday finish is the first on the PGA Tour since the 1996 Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Tee times will be pushed back so CBS' telecasts of the final two rounds Friday and Saturday end just before the start of prime time in the Eastern and Central time zones where the bulk of the nation's population lives. Play is expected to end at approximately 4 p.m. today and Thursday and around 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The 156-player field includes 25 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, led by Spaniard Jon Rahm, the world's top-ranked men's golfer. Rahm won the 2021 U.S. Open on Torrey Pines' South Course and his first PGA Tour victory came at the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open.
Rahm finished in an eight-way tie for 14th in The American Express which concluded Sunday in La Quinta, nine shots behind winner Hudson Swafford.
"Last week was not my best week, didn't feel good swing wise," Rahm said. "Nothing really felt good. Putting felt about as bad as it can feel and I somehow still managed to sneak in a top-15, so that gives me a lot of confidence knowing what I'm working on is going on the right track and when I'm having a bad week I can still post a score.
"Hopefully I can tidy up a couple details in the next few weeks, but hopefully I can start playing good this week."
The field also includes two of the three other 2021 major tournament winners — PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson, who was born and raised in San Diego and now lives in Rancho Santa Fe, and Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, along with 2021 Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele, a San Diego State and Scripps Ranch High School graduate.
Schauffele had his best finish in his six starts at the Farmers Insurance Open in 2021, tying for second after missing the cut in four of his first five appearances in the tournament.
British Open champion Collin Morikawa opted to bypass the tournament in favor of the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic.
The field will be reduced to the top 70 players and ties following conclusion of the second round. The first two rounds are played on both the North and South courses. The final two rounds will be played on the South Course.
The winner will receive $1.512 million.
The tournament is 100% mobile entry for the first time. After buying their tickets (and/or parking pass) fans need to add them to their phone's wallet for their confirmation email.
Grounds tickets are $75 today and Thursday and $85 Friday and Saturday.
All active duty military members, along with retired members, reservists, veterans, and dependents are eligible for a 20% discount on the price of grounds tickets today and Thursday after logging on to GovX.com to verify military service and receiving a unique promo code.
Fans 60 and older will receive a 20% discount on regular grounds tickets today and Thursday by selecting senior when purchasing tickets. Identification may be requested at the gates.
Children 12 and under receive complimentary admission each day of the tournament when accompanied by a ticketed adult. Each ticketed adult may bring up to two children, who do not need a ticket to enter.
The tournament will be televised on Golf Channel from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. today, noon-4 p.m. Thursday, noon-2 p.m. Friday and 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday and on CBS from 2-5 p.m. Friday and 1:30-5 p.m. Saturday. Additional coverage will be streamed on the ESPN+ service from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. today and Thursday and 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
