Kevin Yu Shines at first Round in Farmers Insurance Open 2024
In the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open 2024 on Wednesday, Taiwan’s Kevin Yu recorded a bogey-free, 8-under 64 on the North Course at Torrey Pines to lead Ryo Hisatsune and Patrick Cantlay by one stroke.
The North Course, which often plays a couple of strokes easier than the South Course on the municipal layouts on a hill high above the Pacific Ocean, yielded the eight lowest scores. Players get one round on each course prior to the cut.. The South Course will host the last two rounds of competition.
No. 6 in the world Cantlay performed better than No. 5 Xander Schauffele and seventh-ranked and defending champion Max Homa, who both played the South Course. Cantlay had just one bogey. Local player Schauffele, who attended San Diego State, posted 3-under 69, while Homa, who shot 2-under 70, made all three of his bogeys in the opening seven holes.
Max Homa, who made his eighth Farmers Insurance Open appearance last year after defeating Keegan Bradley in two rounds, is returning to defend his title. If he were to win it all again, he would become the first player to win four straight titles at Torrey Pines since Tiger Woods did so from 2005 to 2008.
Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark, who arrived on Monday from Dubai and was just able to play nine holes on the North Course on Tuesday, had the best score on the South Course at 5-under 67. In order to avoid airing in front of the NFL conference championship games, The Farmers concludes on Saturday.
Yu, a 25-year-old former Arizona State player, is aiming for his first victory on the PGA Tour. Last week, he finished two shots behind Kevin Dunlap, the first amateur winner on the PGA Tour in thirty-three years, in a tie for third place at The American Express.
“I bogeyed the final hole on Sunday after failing to make it last week. However, I’ve been playing really well and I’m simply getting stronger,” Yu remarked. “I can have many opportunities to get on the green and try to make some putts if I hit a lot of fairways.”
Cantlay escaped the roughs that got overexposed in the storm that hit the city on Monday.
Though he participated in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2021, Cantlay—who was born and raised in Orange County and attended UCLA—hasn’t played at the Farmers since 2019.
Cantlay remarked, “Obviously, different conditions this week.” This week will see a lot more precipitation. The results ought to be significantly lower. However, you can take several chances here and play the golf game from the fairway.
Playing well on the three par 5s, he claimed, was the key to his round at Farmers Insurance Open 2024; nonetheless, he three-putted No. 17 for par, which he described as “kind of a bummer.” He made just one mistake on the par-3 No. 3.
Three birdies in his first four holes.@Patrick_Cantlay is rolling it early @FarmersInsOpen. pic.twitter.com/ZSAGRJC0BQ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 24, 2024
He claimed, “I played a lot from the fairway and struck the ball very solidly, which provided me a lot of chances to make birdie today.” It’s more challenging when the terrain is as damp as it is. The water gets in the way, making it more difficult to get the golf ball to go. However, this rough is traditionally lengthy. I don’t believe I’ve ever actually played this golf course in short rough conditions.
“I played quite a lot from the fairway today, so I aim to keep that up. There’s definitely a cost for missing the fairway.”
Hisatsune, a 21-year-old Japanese player who is vying for his maiden victory on the PGA Tour, only had one birdie.
Alejandro Tosti, Aaron Rai, Thomas Detry, Shane Lowry, and Hideki Matsuyama all shot 66.
Only one bogey occurred for Hojgaard, who finished for eighth in Dubai, at the par-4 fourth hole.
He declared, “I played extremely well out there today.” “I thought I was producing a lot of excellent work and accomplishing a lot of wonderful stuff. I wish I had improved by a couple photos. In my opinion, I also gave myself every opportunity on the back nine. When you score a 67 on the South Course, you have no right to complain.
The leader board at the end of round 1 was as follow https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/1750315045471314236?s=20
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