SAN DIEGO — Jon Rahm bagged his first tour victory at Torrey Pines. He won a major here. Including the 2021 U.S. Open, Rahm’s treks up and down the North and South courses accounts for $5.25 million of his $39.6 million career earnings.
In other words, the 28-year-old Spaniard understood he had a windblown North Course right where he wanted it as he lined up his tee shot on the par-5 No. 5. At the time, he was on the wrong side of the projected cut line.
“I knew that’s probably on any given day the most scorable part of the golf course,” Rahm said after his back-nine surge on Thursday carried him to within eight shots of the lead. “Holes 5 through 9, with or without wind, is where you can take advantage of the course.”
Did he ever.
Even through his first 13 holes, Rahm shaved five strokes off his score beginning with an eagle on 5 that moved him from tied for 79th and perhaps a short stay in San Diego to firmly in the weekend field. He followed with three straight birdies before scrambling to save par on his final hole (No. 9) as his 5-under 67 moved him into a tie for 14th and more than made up for the 1-over he turned in on the South a day earlier.
“The goal is to win,” said Rahm, who hasn’t missed a cut since September 2021 and owns the longest active cut streak at 22. “(The cut line) would have come into mind maybe in the last few holes had I been even par. Like I said, I knew going into 5 through 9 to take care of the par 5s, take care of the short par-4 7, everything would be all right.
“I was playing with the mindset of catching up to the leaders as much as possible.”
Torrey Pines isn’t the only reason for Rahm’s confidence.
He arrived this week the winner of his first two starts this calendar year — the Sentry Tournament of Champions and last week’s American Express in the desert — and looking to join Dustin Johnson (2018), Rory McIlroy (2014) and Tiger Woods (2008) as the only golfers in the last 15 years to win three straight starts.
A birdie-birdie start moved Rahm under par for the tournament, but he gave a stroke back with a bogey on the par-3 12th and another on the par-4 18th.
As he reflected on the run that carried him back onto the fringe of contention, Rahm recalled the 6-iron he pulled out of his bag for his second shot on 5, 191 yards from the flag.
“Thank God I learned from my mistake on (18),” Rahm said, “because (of what) the compass said and based on what had happened all day, the wind was down off the left and I hit my shot and it was in off the left. That’s how I ended up short right (on 18). We got to the hole, it seemed like (the wind) was supposed to be helping but it really wasn’t. And you’re starting the ball so far left that it’s mainly into the wind. It’s usually more of a soft 6-iron. I asked (my caddie), ‘Are you OK if I take a little bit off of it,’ and he said, ‘No, it’s all of it.’
“And that’s where a great caddie comes into play I hit exactly the shot we thought and gave myself an amazing chance for an eagle.”
Rahm indeed drained the 20-foot putt, one of just three eagles on No. 5 on a windy Thursday. It started a surge that keeps him in the conversation heading into the weekend.
What more could he ask for?
“What I shot today,” Rahm said, ‘man, I’m going to be skipping out of the golf course today because it’s a great round of golf.”
Locals watch
Charley Hoffman (Poway High School) imploded on the South Course, shooting 8 over to miss the cut even-par cut by four strokes. It’s the 11th time that he’s missed the cut in 25 starts here (he withdrew in 2021 and did not play here last year). Hoffman also has three top-10 finishes at the Farmers, the last in 2020 (T-9).
The South Course also bounced J.J. Spaun (San Diego State), Joey Vrzich (Christian High School) and Harrison Kingsley (USD, Murrieta Valley High School). Spaun shot 6 over on Day 2 to move to 4 over and Vrzich shot 8 over to move to 5 over. Davis went 7 over and exited the tournament at 9 over.
Meantime, Xander Schauffele (San Diego State) shot 1-under on the South to move into a tie for 36th at 1-under for the tournament while Michael Kim (Torrey Pines High School) relied on a 3-under Round 1 start on the north to survive shooting 2 over on the South. He is also tied for 36th through Day 2.
It’s windy out
With winds gusting up to 30 mph early in the day, scoring naturally ballooned across the board. The North averaged 73.18 on Thursday after sitting at 69.73 on Wednesday, while the more challenging South jumped from 72.22 to 75.895 on Day 2.
“Today was definitely a lot tougher,” said rookie Taylor Montgomery, who is tied for fourth after shooting 5-under on the South on Wednesday and 1-under on the North on Thursday. “Just with the wind, it was tough to get it right. Most of your holes were crosswinds, so it just made it really difficult to judge. Sometimes I felt like the wind took the ball and sometimes it didn’t. There’s a lot of lag putting today.”
Notable
— Rahm’s 5-under on the North Course was tied for the low round of day with Tano Goya of Argentina, also on the North. Goya is in third place in his first start at Torrey Pines and 14th ever on tour (ninth this season). Goya shot 2-under on the South Course on Wednesday.
— Rickie Fowler made the cut for just the third time in his last seven starts here, shooting even on both days to sit in a tie for 54th. Fowler began his PGA run at Torrey Pines with two top-10 finishes in his first four starts in the Farmers
— A day after bagging his first ace at any level, Kyle Westmoreland shot 3 over on the North Course to drop 1 over for the tournament and miss the even-par cut.
