SAN DIEGO — Someone forgot to tell the players moving day came early this week at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open.
Just 18 of the 79 players who made the cut were under par on Friday on the South Course at Torrey Pines, and the low rounds of the day were a pair of 4-under 68s from Ryan Brehm and Will Zalatoris.
The third round featured the return of the CBS walk-and-talk with a San Diego native, a new swing analysis tool, the return of a rising PGA Tour star and a gritty golf course fit for a testy Saturday finale. Here’s what you missed from the third round of the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Farmers Insurance Open: Photos
Potential first-time winners flock to top of leaderboard
Thomas Detry didn’t think he could get a worse break on Friday than when his approach shot hit a sprinkler head on the 10th hole and flew a good 20 yards over the green. Then he got to the 18th hole.
With a two-shot lead at 12 under, Detry laid up on the par-5 closing hole and found the green with his third shot. The Belgian put too much spin on his approach shot to the front pin and watched his ball roll right off the front edge and into the pond guarding the green. After a double bogey, Detry signed for a 1-over 73 and now sits two shots back in fourth place entering the final round.
“It’s really tough, honestly. I’ve been working on a lot of things mentally as well and I feel I’m doing everything the right way and it still seems to happen,” said Detry after the round. “It’s very tough, but in hindsight, I did a lot of good things today. I made some mistakes and stayed patient. I made some great birdies coming back down the stretch. The last couple of holes are tough here. I drove the ball great, I made some nice putts for birdie.”
“I just have to face adversity and just try to learn from it again, I guess,” he continued. “More real things that you can learn from it again, you know. Yeah, I felt like I really did everything the right way on the last couple holes and it really didn’t pay off and it was an expensive one, yeah.
Meanwhile, Stephan Jaeger (73) made birdie on the 18th to take the 54-hole lead at 11 under, one shot clear of Matthieu Pavon (72) and Nicolai Hojgaard (73). None of the players T-5 or better on the leaderboard have won yet on the PGA Tour, which could make for an interesting final round.
Zalatoris finding his form
In his third event back from injury, Will Zalatoris has continued to improve following a missed cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii and a T-34 last week at the American Express.
Zalatoris birdied two of his last four holes on Thursday to make the cut on the number at Torrey Pines and came out swinging on Friday with his second consecutive round of 4-under 68, tied for the low round of the day.
Known to have some issues with his putter, the 27-year-old gained more than two strokes on the greens in the third round and looks comfortable back on the course following a season-ending back surgery in April of 2023. After three rounds he currently sits T-10 at 7 under.
36-foot birdie putt for @WillZalatoris 👏 pic.twitter.com/VHhdjwtIcc
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 26, 2024
Return of the CBS walk-and-talk
Torrey Pines High School graduate Michael Kim was the first CBS walk-and-talk interview of the 2024 season. Despite going bogey-double bogey on the two previous holes, Kim was just fine on the mic and gave an interesting explanation for his lay-up shot on the par-5 13th hole. He went on to make par.
MORE: What’s next for golf broadcasts one year after first walk-and-talk?
.@Mike_kim714 joins us for our first Walk and Talk of the season 🎤 pic.twitter.com/AHwpbtP05A
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) January 26, 2024
Torrey shows its teeth
Last year the South Course at Torrey Pines was the fourth most difficult by score on Tour behind a trio of major championship venues with a cumulative total of 1.623 strokes over par.
Wednesday’s first round aside, the South Course is back to its regular business once again in 2024. Preferred lies and soft greens led the South to a rare under-par day with a 71.960 scoring average in round one, but returned to the black numbers on Thursday with a 72.235 scoring average. Thick rough and wind blew the scoring average another shot higher to 73.545 in Friday’s third round.
“The greens are really bumpy, sort of just back to sunny San Diego, I guess, and some people walking around on the property,” said San Diego native Xander Schauffele. “Hopefully they’re a little bit smoother tomorrow, but if not, you’ve got to sort of hit it as close as possible and really try not to put too much stress on your round.”
“With all the rain and obviously the heat the last couple of days, I think the rough is juicier than ever,” added Detry. “Obviously the greens with being that many players making the cut and people walking on those greens, the greens being soft as well, it’s not easy to make putts out there.”
This year’s cumulative strokes over par, you ask? 0.580.
Immelman knows his stuff
A great color analyst should either teach the viewer something about the game they don’t know, or at the very least be able to make complex topics easy to understand. Trevor Immelman can do both.
Now in his second year in the big chair alongside the legendary Jim Nantz, Immelman broke down a pair of golf swings using a new technology on the CBS broadcast and it was everything a golf nerd could ask for and more.
Breaking down swings like never before 🏌️♂️@TrevorImmelman highlights the swings of @TomDetry and @TonyFinauGolf in real time @FarmersInsOpen. pic.twitter.com/kAlr0KW1IS
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 26, 2024
