Kevin Yu waited until the very end of the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open on Wednesday to get the best of presumed first-round leader, Patrick Cantlay, who had shot 65. Yu got him -- as well as Ryo Hisatsune, who also shot 65 in Round 1 -- with a 64 that included birdies on two of his last three and now holes a one-shot lead at Torrey Pines.
Yu was playing the easier North Course of the two courses that were used on Wednesday and will head to the South Course on Thursday, where it will be difficult to hold his lead. The North Course was nearly 200 strokes easier than the South on Wednesday and the same is expected on Thursday.
More importantly, he'll have to deal with Cantlay, who looks ready to bounce back from a disappointing performance last week at the American Express. Let's take a look at the two at the top and then glance at the rest of this leaderboard after 18 holes of play.
The leaders
1. Kevin Yu (-8)
T2. Ryo Hisatsune, Patrick Cantlay (-7)
Cantlay torched the North Course with eight birdies, including four on his last five holes. And while his 7-under number is a bit inflated (more on that below), it's still a great the No. 6 player in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Cantlay pointed to hitting 11 of 14 fairways (which led to hitting 15 of 18 greens in regulation) as the reason for his success early at Torrey Pines.
"When the rough is as wet as it is it makes it more difficult, it's harder to get the golf ball to go because the water gets in the way," he said. "But the rough is classically long here. I don't think I've played this golf course ever really when the rough's short. There's definitely a penalty for missing the fairway and, like I said, today I played a lot from the fairway so hope to keep that up."
Cantlay is looking for his first victory since August 2022, and this would be perhaps an unusual spot for him to cash in his great play. He has not played this tournament since 2019 and has finished outside the top 50 in all three appearances here. Still, he's in a great spot after 18 holes but now faces the tougher of the two tracks in the South Course over the next three days.
And he's got some company.
Other contenders
T4. Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry, Thomas Detry, Aaron Rai, Alejandry Tosti (-6)
T9. Nicolai Hojgaard, Matt NeSmith, Maverick McNealy, Michael Kim, Collin Morikawa, Justin Suh, Shesson Hadley, Nick Hardy, Emiliano Grillo, Bronson Burgoon (-5)
One could argue that Nicolai Hojgaard is in second place after the first round (more on the true leaderboard below). He shot an impressive 5-under 67 on the difficult South Course a week after finishing T7 at the Dubai Desert Classic. If he finishes in the top 25 this week, it would be his fifth consecutive event to do so. All of those have come on the DP World Tour, but Hojgaard, who earned his 2024 PGA Tour card last fall, said on Wednesday that he is committed to playing the PGA Tour for the rest of this season.
He also said that he was influenced by his Ryder Cup appearance in Rome.
"There's a lot of things you learn from that week," Hojgaard said. "You see the best players in the world, how they work in a week like that, how they prepare. Even though it's a team event and you want to be together all the time, you have to do your individual preparation and do your stuff because in the end it depends on an individual performance from each player.
"It was pretty cool to see them up close. There's definitely some things I probably was missing a little bit in my approach to the game. I just learned a lot that week and kind of was a turning point last season. ... Just go internal. I felt like that's something I'm going to carry on this season. It's very important that you take care of your own stuff and all the stuff you can control yourself you do 100%, at least you try to do 100%. I feel like that's the approach now not because I wasn't doing it before, but I'm just a bit more aware of it now."
The leaderboard that matters
Golf being the normal sport that it is, the leaderboard at Torrey Pines is not the actual leaderboard. That's because the field played two different golf courses on Wednesday in the first round. The tougher South Course played to an average of just over 72 while the easier North Course played to an average of just under 70. For the real leaderboard, we turn away from scores and to strokes gained. Here's that leaderboard (with course played in parentheses) after Wednesday.
- Kevin Yu: 5.7
- Nicolai Hojgaard: 5.0
- Nick Hardy: 5.0
- Patrick Cantlay: 4.7
- Ryo Hisatsune: 4.7
- Austin Eckroat: 4.0
- Stephen Jaeger: 4.0
- Scott Stalling: 4.0
- Jacob Bridgeman: 4.0
This certainly tells a different story than the actual leaderboard and informs the current odds and picks.
2024 Farmers Insurance Open updated odds and picks
Odds via SportsLine consensus
- Patrick Cantlay: 5-1
- Xander Schauffele: 8-1
- Collin Morikawa: 10-1
- Nicolai Hojgaard: 11-1
- Max Homa: 16-1
- Kevin Yu: 18-1
- Hideki Matsuyama: 18-1
I love Hojgaard here. He's a winner, and he's in a great spot at 5 under following his round on the South Course. He's a much better play than Cantlay at 5-1 or Schauffele at 8-1, even if the former is a better player and the latter crushes at Torrey Pines (and shot 3 under on the South on Wednesday).
Rick Gehman and Kyle Porter recap Round 1 of the Farmers Insurance Open. Follow & listen to The First Cut onApple PodcastsandSpotify.
As an expert and enthusiast, I don't have personal experiences or emotions, but I can provide you with information on the concepts mentioned in the article you shared. Let's break it down:
Farmers Insurance Open
The Farmers Insurance Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is held annually at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California. The tournament features a field of top professional golfers competing over four rounds of play. The tournament is known for its challenging courses and attracts a strong field of players.
Torrey Pines Golf Course
Torrey Pines Golf Course is a public golf course located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. It is owned and operated by the City of San Diego. The course has two 18-hole championship courses: the North Course and the South Course. The South Course is considered the more challenging of the two and has hosted multiple major golf championships, including the U.S. Open.
Kevin Yu
Kevin Yu is a professional golfer who participated in the Farmers Insurance Open. In the first round of the tournament, he shot a 64, which included birdies on two of his last three holes. This performance gave him a one-shot lead at the end of the round. It's worth noting that the leaderboard mentioned in the article reflects the scores on the two different courses played during the first round, and the strokes gained leaderboard provides a more accurate comparison of players' performances.
Patrick Cantlay
Patrick Cantlay is another professional golfer who participated in the Farmers Insurance Open. In the first round, he shot a 65 on the North Course, which included eight birdies, four of which were on his last five holes. He finished the round one shot behind Kevin Yu. Cantlay is currently ranked 6th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Strokes Gained
The strokes gained statistic is a measure used in golf to evaluate a player's performance relative to the field. It compares a player's performance on each shot to the average performance of all players in the field on similar shots. Strokes gained can be calculated for different aspects of the game, such as driving, approach shots, and putting. The strokes gained leaderboard mentioned in the article provides a more accurate assessment of players' performances by taking into account the difficulty of the courses they played.
Other Contenders
The article also mentions several other golfers who are in contention after the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open. Some of these players include Ryo Hisatsune, Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry, Thomas Detry, Aaron Rai, and Alejandry Tosti, among others. Their performances in the first round have put them in a good position to compete for the tournament title.
Please note that the information provided above is based on the content of the article you shared. If you have any specific questions or need further information, feel free to ask!
