The Associated Press
SAN DIEGO—Scott Brown and Phil Mickelson both had reason to believe it could be a long day on the South Course at Torrey Pines.
It turned out just fine yesterday in the Farmers Insurance Open, especially for Brown.
Brown hit into a hazard and made bogey on the first par-five he faced and was two-over through six holes.
But he finished with eight birdies over his last 11 holes for a six-under 66, giving him a share of the lead with Andrew Loupe.
Only it felt much better for Brown because it was on the South, which played two-and-a-half shots harder than the North Course, where Loupe shot his 66.
“Extremely hard,” Brown said of the South, which already hosted one U.S. Open and has another coming in five years.
“But it’s fair.
“It’s just tough,” he added. “If you’re out of position, you just have to play for par or bogey.
“And you can’t make any big numbers out there because as soon as you get behind the 8-ball, you can’t press and try to make birdies,” Brown noted.
He did, anyway, including a 30 on the front nine.
Brown and Loupe had a one-shot lead over five players, including Billy Horschel, who all played the North Course.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. shot a one-under while Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask. shot an even-par 72.
Defending champ Jason Day, who missed the pro-am because of the ’flu, made his tee time but not a lot of birdies.
He shot 72 on the North Course yesterday.
That was one shot better than Rickie Fowler, who won Sunday in Abu Dhabi but couldn’t buy a putt on the North Course in his round of 73.
“Couldn’t get anything going,” Fowler noted. “Couldn’t make a putt.
“So looking forward to getting on the South greens, that’s for sure.”
Mickelson, whose last win at Torrey Pines was 15 years ago, didn’t have the ideal start, either.
On the second-easiest par-four on the South Course, he hit into a fairway bunker, caught the lip trying to get out, hit his third shot just over the green, and failed to get up-and-down—making double bogey.
“I thought anything in the 60s would have been a good score,” Mickelson said.
“It’s a very difficult golf course.
“But after doubling the second, I was able to kind of just keep things calm until I made a few birdies, and it was a good back nine,” he added.
Of the 33 players who shots in the 60s yesterday, only 12 of the scores came on the South Course.
K.J. Choi and Chesson Hadley each had a 68.
This tournament typically isn’t sorted out until the weekend because of the disparity of the courses, though the North no longer is a pushover.
It has tighter fairways with thick rough.
The scoring difference comes largely from the par-fives, which all are reachable with good tee shots.
That’s where Brown is headed today with the same plan—keep it in the fairway and keep big numbers off his card.
