Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg shot a 9-under-par 63 on the Torrey Pines North Course to take a two-shot lead after the opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open on Wednesday in San Diego.
Danny Walker and Hayden Springer each delivered an opening round of 7 under to tie for second place. Walker had the best score of the day on the more difficult South Course.
A group of four tied for fourth place at 6 under consists of Lanto Griffin, Zac Blair, Zach Johnson and South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter. All four played the North Course.
Aberg opened his round on the back nine and got off to a fast start with birdies on his first three holes and four of his first five. He delivered an eagle 3 in the 520-yard 17th hole (his eighth of the day) and shot a 30 on his opening nine holes.
After another birdie on his 10th hole of the day, Aberg delivered his only bogey on the 495-yard par-4 second hole, then finished his day with three more birdies.
“Felt like I was driving the ball really well,” Aberg said after his lowest-scoring opening round as a member of the PGA Tour. “Golf becomes a lot easier when you can do that. Even though North is a little bit easier than South, it still presents its challenges and you’ve still got to hit the shots. Super happy with the way we kind of came out of the gates today and played some good golf.”
Walker carded his 65 while hitting all 18 greens in regulation to become just the 12th player to accomplish the feat on the South Course since 1980. The PGA Tour rookie is the first to do it since Martin Laird was 18-for-18 in the third round in 2019.
“Yeah, it was just fairways and greens. One of those days where driver was working (and) really just never forced the issue out there,” Walker said. “Was really just trying to hit the middle of the green a lot of times and then rolled in some putts.”
Springer used his own fast start to wind up 7 under par. He was 3 under through two holes after an eagle 3 at No. 10 of the North Course, which was his first hole of the day.
“We’re just going to try to plan to figure out where those (safe) spots are and then just be patient,” said Springer, who made it into the tournament as an alternate. “That’s the biggest thing out there. You can make some birdies, but you can also make some mistakes. Just trying to be patient and put it in the right spots.”
Aberg, 25, has one victory on the PGA Tour, winning the RSM Classic in November 2023 at St. Simons Island, Ga. He also won the Omega European Masters in September 2023 in Switzerland.
Defending champion Matthieu Pavon of France struggled to a 1-over 73 on the South Course and is tied for 100th place.
The four-day tournament concludes Saturday, eschewing a traditional Sunday finish in order to avoid going up against the AFC and NFC championship games on television.
–Field Level Media
