Conditions had been best on the cliffs of La Jolla Wednesday on the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open. Without a breath of wind to take care of, gamers had been in a position to assault pins at each the tough South Course and accessible North Course. While Sam Ryder, Aaron Rai, and Brent Grant took possession of the first-round lead courtesy of 8-under 64s on the North Course, it was greater title in Justin Thomas who took management of the event.
Firing a 4-under 68, the two-time PGA Champion signed for the second-lowest spherical of the day on the South Course. In the midst of a lull for the reason that summer season months, Thomas got here into his second begin of the yr with out a top-10 end in a full-field occasion for the reason that Canadian Open.
With his iron numbers receding each so barely, the pristine method play now we have grown accustomed to seeing from Thomas was effectively obvious in Round 1. Ranking second in strokes gained tee to inexperienced and fourth in strokes gained method amongst these on the South Course, Thomas will try to shut the hole between he and the leaders in what is anticipated to be a windy second spherical.
The leaders
T1. Sam Ryder, Aaron Rai, Brent Grant (-8)
This is a reasonably eclectic group that includes a long-time PGA Tour participant, a rookie and a DP World Tour winner. Rai was in rivalry at this event a yr in the past and performs effectively in horrendous circumstances — as seen by his 2020 Scottish Open victory — so he ought to be proper at dwelling tomorrow and should maintain probably the most endurance.Â
“I think the temperature and also how the wind affects the ball is a little closer to what I would have grown up with in the U.K. The ball doesn’t travel quite as far here compared to other places in America. The wind feels a little bit heavier also,” Rai stated of his consolation at Torrey Pines. “So I guess I just see the shots a little bit clearer where sometimes when it’s hot in the States and when there’s 5, 10-mile-an-hour wind, the ball can just fly straight through, whereas here I feel like you can use the wind as a little bit of a buffer, which probably just suits my eye a little better, so that probably helps me tee to green.”
Other contenders
4. Brendan Steele (-7)
T5. Sahith Theegala, Hayden Buckley, Sam Stevens, Andre Novak, Garrick Higgo, Gary Woodland (-6)
T11. Luke List, Collin Morikawa, S.H. Kim, Ben Griffin, Vincent Norrman, Taylor Montgomery, Lanto Griffin, Harry Higgs (-5)
He simply retains on doing it. Continuing a stellar freshman marketing campaign that has included 9 straight made cuts and eight top-15 finishes, Montgomery arrived at Torrey Pines contemporary off a title run in Palm Springs. Hitting his tee shot on the 71st into the water and rinsing his hopes of successful The American Express, a letdown felt nearly inevitable for one of the best putter on the PGA Tour. Instead, Montgomery is again on the primary web page of the leaderboard with eyes on greater than a top-15 end.
What occurred to Jon Rahm?
The world No. 3 appeared proper at dwelling early in his first spherical when he made two birdies on his first 5 holes. On the par-5 sixth in two, Rahm would find yourself three-putting for par at the start of a 20-minute stretch that derailed his day. Hitting his method shot into the next gap into the penalty space, a double-bogey ensued, wiping out all of his earlier work.
With two bogeys and a birdie to spherical out his day, Rahm finally signed for a 1-over 73 and sits 9 strokes off the lead. Marking his first over-par spherical in 150 days, Rahm will try and rebound on the North Course on Thursday and play himself again into rivalry.
A story of two programs
The South Course performed precisely 2.5 strokes tougher than the North on Wednesday, and it’ll play even harder on Thursday. With winds anticipated to succeed in 30 mph and gusts probably as much as 40 mph, gamers must maintain on for expensive life. Whether this drives up the scoring common on the North Course as effectively would be the query heading into Round 2, because it may very effectively widen the margin between the 2.Â
Scoring averages in relation to par from Round 1
- North Course: -2.27
- South Course: +0.23
2023 Farmers Insurance Open up to date odds and picks
Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook
- Taylor Montgomery: 21/4
- Justin Thomas: 17/2
- Sungjae Im: 10-1
- Collin Morikawa: 10-1
- Will Zalatoris: 35/2
- Max Homa: 35/2
- Jon Rahm: 20-1
- Sahith Theegala: 20-1
- Aaron Rai: 22-1
- Jason Day: 22-1
- Si Woo Kim: 23-1
- Ben Griffin: 25-1
I simply need to take a second to understand Rahm at 20-1 with higher odds than the person he trails by 9 strokes. Yes, there’s a methods to go on this event, however I not imagine Rahm will seize his third straight title. Instead, I look to Homa at 35/2. His spherical was considerably underwhelming, however I like his sport in powerful circumstances. A pair guys in entrance of him on the percentages board, Im and Morikawa, are inclined to wrestle with the wind, so there may be some room to maneuver up from the 4-under quantity he’s at regardless of the massive names.