The Farmers Insurance Open begins Thursday morning at Torrey Pines, which means, at least for a few hours, the volume will be turned down on talk of the tournament’s future.
That wasn’t the case Wednesday, however.
This is the 74th edition of the tournament, the 59th straight at Torrey Pines. But with no title sponsor after Sunday, when Farmers departs after 17 years, and the PGA Tour expected to implement schedule changes beginning next year, questions have been bouncing around this week like a putt on Torrey’s poa annua greens.
Multiple players expressed an appreciation for the golf course, with the word “iconic” used more than once, and the tournament.
Perhaps no statement, though, was more important than that of Harris English, the defending champion. English this week was one of 16 players named to the Player Advisory Council, which vets and recommends changes to the PGA Tour Policy Board. Eight of the other council members also are in the Farmers’ field.
“I would hate for it to go away,” English said Wednesday. “This is one of the cornerstone events on the PGA Tour. I’ll do anything as a PGA Tour member, a past champion, to help find a sponsor to help keep this tournament here at Torrey Pines. You have a lot of guys that feel the same way I do that love this place.
“Such an iconic place here at Torrey. Farmers has done an unbelievable job running this event and putting on this event. … It would be a shame for us to lose this event. I’ll do anything in my power to help keep it here.”
Some PGA Tour tournaments are expected to be eliminated and others moved around the calendar. But Farmers Insurance Open CEO Marty Gorsich said earlier in the week he was “very confident” the tournament would continue. It can’t hurt that Tiger Woods, who won the event seven times between 1999 and 2013, is chairman of the Future Competition Committee, which is considering strategies for a new schedule.
One possibility, according to multiple reports, is for Sentry, which is signed for a signature event through 2035, to take over sponsorship of the Farmers if, as some expect, its season-opening tournament in Hawaii is discontinued. Perhaps Torrey Pines could kick off the season in future years, or as Sports Business Journal reported Wednesday, it’s possible it could become part of the tour’s postseason.
Whatever happens, count Xander Schauffele among those who want – and expect – Torrey Pines to continue on the PGA Tour.
Schauffele admitted being biased, considering he was born a couple miles away from the course at Scripps Memorial Hospital and grew up here, but he said, “I think I would feel like Torrey’s safe if you kind of look at the schedule … just because this property’s iconic. …
“It’s a tough golf course, and it usually has pretty good winners on it. I think Tiger single-handedly has made this property incredibly special in terms of history in golf.”
