The Farmers Insurance Open
It’s safe to say Jon Rahm is the undisputed best player in the world right now. Rahm has yet again captured another victory in just three events thus far this calendar year. This man is actually unstoppable right now. He is gaining strokes all over the golf course, last week he was top three in strokes gained total, tee to green and he’s leading in strokes gained off the tee. The real kicker was last week he hit over 80% of his greens in regulation. That is just silly. I could drop Rahm’s stats all day long, he’s pretty much leading the charge in almost all categories during last week’s event. Just this calendar year alone Rahm is collectively 54 under par through just eight rounds. That is just impeccable golf through and through. Hats off to Rahm, this man is not slowing down anytime soon.
In Korn Ferry Tour action this week, the tour starts up its second event in the Bahamas. This week the Great Abaco Classic rages on as the game’s upcoming bright stars vie for a chance to become a Korn Ferry Tour winner. Through three rounds Ben Silverman holds a two shot lead at 13 under par. Silverman is closely followed by career journeyman Rafael Campos at 11 under. Upon the conclusion of this week’s event, the tour jumps over to Panama for The Panama Championship at the beginning of February.
Moving right along, as of this week the LIV golf tour has released their upcoming schedule and there are a few surprises on the docket. First and foremost the LIV Tour is heading to Orange County National in Orlando Florida. This is a particularly good move for LIV and fan participation because the event will be held instantly after the PGA Tour Florida swing ends the week prior. Another big plus is that central Florida is a major golf hub. Lastly, this course will absolutely be ripped apart by these players. The likes of Cam Smith and Dustin Johnson will be 20-25 under par easily. Personally, I'm excited to see how these top tour pros fare against Orange County, it should be a shoot out, but before we get there the PGA Tour heads to San Diego, California for the Farmers Insurance Open.
This may come with some backlash but Torrey Pines is an absolute snooze fest. I’m sure this triggers golf fans but personally, I find the course rather boring. My other issue is we see a top ranked course once a year. In my opinion, Torrey Pines should host the U.S. Open when its turn comes around in the cycle and that's it. Things got especially bad when we saw the Torrey twice in 2021, once at the Farmers and the other later in the year at the U.S. Open. This just simply cannot happen. In no way should we see the same course twice in the same year, especially for a major championship. With that being said Torrey Pines is a household name and regardless fans will watch it on TV and come out to view amazing golf. Diving deeper into this week’s event, the field at the Farmer’s is very solid. Most notably competing this week are Max Homa, Will Zalatoris, Sahith Theegala, Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm, Tony Finau, and Justin Thomas. Obviously, Rahm is playing and he has won here before so he is clearly the heavy favorite, however, look towards Xander or Tony to make a charge, each is due for a win. (Mike)
Doubling down on my take from last week and agreeing with Mike here, the California swing leaves so much to be desired. Last week we watched a birdie fest which is some of the most boring golf to watch on the planet. This week we get to see Torrey Pines again. I agree wholeheartedly with Mike that Torrey should be used for the US Open and nothing else. On a different day, I would argue that it does not deserve that either. Outside of Riviera, the California swings is one of my least favorite times of the PGA year. I think adding another Hawaii event and adding an event elsewhere on the west coast would provide much more for the fans.
That being said, I can only see one guy winning this week. Jon Rahm is on a different level right now. Torrey is a place he plays well and coming off a win he has all of the momentum. It is impossible for me to pick against him this week. I also think Xander will have another top five, but he is a fraud so I see very little chance he walks away Sunday with a win. (Tyler)