SAN DIEGO — The corporate boxes around the 18th green at Torrey Pines are just like they were three weeks ago except for the color (black instead of blue) and the logo. The rough is thicker from recent rain. Otherwise, the South Course looks to be every bit the beast it usually is.
Same course. New tournament.
The Genesis Invitational, one of the premier events on the PGA Tour because it is held at venerable Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, relocated to San Diego’s popular public course this year because of the wildfires that destroyed so much of the Pacific Palisades community around the L.A. venue.
The familiarity only goes so far.
The 72-man field set to tee off Thursday includes only 32 players who teed it up at the Farmers Insurance Open last month, including Baylor School graduate Harris English, who is trying to join a most exclusive list after his recent win at Torrey Pines gave him five career victories. The only players in PGA Tour history to win on the same course twice in the same year are Tiger Woods (twice), Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan.
The difference is they won a U.S. Open title for one of those victories in each case: Woods at Torrey Pines (2008) and Pebble Beach Golf Links (2000), Nicklaus at Pebble Beach (1972) and Hogan at Riviera (1948).
The field also has 46 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, many who are competing only because the Genesis Invitational is a $20 million signature event, with $4 million going to the winner.
Rory McIlroy, who earned the 27th win of his PGA Tour career two weeks ago at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, hasn’t been to Torrey Pines since it hosted the U.S. Open in 2021.
“I didn’t expect to be at Torrey this year, but obviously everything happened in L.A. and they had to pivot quickly,” the four-time major winner from Northern Ireland said. “Yeah, it’s good to be back. It’s a little bit of a different setup to the U.S. Open in ’21, it’s a lot softer and rough is thick and course is playing very long.”
McIlroy played only nine holes of the pro-am when his amateurs suggested that was enough in a cold, raw rain with fog that took away one of Torrey Pines’ best traits: endless views of the Pacific Ocean.
Asked whether it reminded him of more of the Farmers Insurance Open or a U.S. Open, it was no contest because of the recent rain. Yes, the rough is juicy and thick. The greens are plenty soft.
“But the course is going to play long, the rough is very, very penal, so there’s a premium of putting your ball in the fairway and then controlling the spin into the greens,” McIlroy said.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler can attest to the rough.
The two-time Masters champion hasn’t been to Torrey Pines since he tied for 20th in 2022, the last tournament he played before he started winning — a lot. Scheffler was having a match with Gary Woodland on Tuesday afternoon when the No. 1 player’s tee shot hit a tree on the par-5 18th.
What followed was a dozen people searching for the golf ball — Scheffler hates losing — and it eventually was found by his mother. All he could do from there was gouge a 7-iron down the fairway. Scheffler is adding a 5-wood to the bag this week to help with shots out of the rough.
For him, this doesn’t feel like a regular Farmers Insurance Open for a different reason.
“We’re not playing the North,” he said, referring to the other course used in the opening rounds three weeks ago. Now the ninth hole on the North is a short-game area.
“But I think it will play like the Farmers,” he said. “It will remind me of what it was then. It’s thick rough. The course is playing long because it’s soft. It’s going to rain and be cold. The South is a brutal course for four days, physically.”
Scheffler had a late start to his season after puncturing his right hand while making ravioli for Christmas dinner, which required minor surgery and stitches. This will be his third event of 2025, following a top-10 finish at Pebble Beach, then an early charge Sunday after a 41 on the back nine at the Phoenix Open.
“I feel like I got two weeks under my belt,” he said. “I thought about adding an event to get some reps in, but I feel like I’m in a good spot.”
McIlroy is in a great spot. He began the PGA Tour portion of his global schedule by winning for the first time at Pebble Beach, another soft course with rain and plenty of wind that led him to play three-quarter shots to manage his game. It worked beautifully in a two-shot victory.
“Feel like I’m in good form, obviously, coming off the back of Pebble,” McIlroy said. “Just trying to keep it rolling.”