Australian Marc Leishman came from back in the field on the final day to win the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open January 26. He shot a 7-under-par 65 to win by 1 over Jon Rahm, 3rd-round leader and winner of the tournament in 2017.
With my duties as hole captain of 9 South on the Torrey Pines course finished, I sat in the volunteer tent and watched the final holes on television. Leishman had finished his round with a 2-shot lead over Rahm as Rahm played the 18th. In winning in 2017, Rahm had sunk a 60-foot putt on the 18th for an eagle. This year, his second shot landed eerily close to the same spot on the green as in 2017, giving him almost the same putt.
If Rahm had sunk another eagle putt, he would have been in a playoff with Leishman. That would have required many marshals, including me, to stay longer. I had nothing against Rahm, but I was rooting for a miss. His putt was closer than was comfortable, but it missed and he got a birdie. I got to go home.
My five-day stint at the tournament began Wednesday, January 22, the day of the pro-am. Toughest day of the tournament for volunteers — dawn to dusk. For the first time in my life, I believe, I was in line for gas at Costco before the gas pumps opened. Below is the scene at 5:20 am at the Escondido Costco. Already a line. :0
Wednesday is the day on which the marshals and I adjust to changes in our duties on the hole and to train new marshals. There was good and bad news in terms of changes, the most significant being that parking lot shuttles would be using the cart path and spectators would also be permitted on that East side. The changes required some initial adjustment, but they seemed to have little substantial effect, at least on what we needed to do.
For me, at least, the golf during the tournament is almost immaterial. My “world” consists of the 615 yards 9 South runs, the surrounding nearby area of the course, and the marshals who are assigned. On that first day, Wednesday, I spend nearly all the day walking to various marshal positions, talking with people, checking out conditions, trying to resolve issues that might arise. On that date, I walked 20,153 steps covering 7.7 miles. Broke my domestic PR set last year at the tournament, but still fell short of the 9+ miles I walked on a day in Berlin last June.
The weather played some games with us this year, though nothing like the conditions in 2016 that suspended play for the day. This time, it was just fog. Just fog, he says. In 2013, fog delayed the start of play on Saturday. I sat on the tee of 11 South, a par-3, watching the green appear briefly then disappear. Play was continually delayed during the day . . . and never took place that day. I was there on the tee from about 7 am until mid-afternoon, when play was finally cancelled.
On Thursday, fog rolled in quite quickly, but left after about 25 minutes. The picture below shows the difference, looking at the 9th green.
Fog also delayed the start of play on Saturday, but only for about an hour.
As has been the case whenever Tiger plays the tournament, celebrity trumps golf and he attracts bigger crowds than even the tournament leaders. The ninth and 18th holes somewhat overlap at Torrey Pines South, with the 9th tee heading south and 18th tee heading north. Here’s a photo shot from the 9th tee of the crowd at the 18th tee when Tiger’s group was up, at back left.
The only real photo of Tiger I got was from the back and far away. Marshals are to avoid using our “inside the ropes” status to take photos, so this photo was “subtle.” It’s Sunday, so it’s red shirt for Tiger.
This photo also shows one of the changes made to 9S in preparation for the US Open, which is to be held at Torrey Pines in 2021. A large area is now behind the green to collect shots that are too long. Shooting from it onto a green that slopes away the area adds to the difficulty of the hole.
There is also a new sand trap short of the green on the right that occupies some of the fairway. A report I saw said it was to encourage players to try to reach the green in two. During this tournament, I saw only two players — Rory McElroy and Bubba Watson — reach the green with their second shot.
Here’s a TV schematic showing the changes in 9S from last year.
And here, just because I like raptors, is a TV screen shot of two of Torrey Pines’s locals.
Volunteers at the Farmers for the past three years are given priority as volunteers at the US Open at Torrey Pines. I submitted my application yesterday. There is also another Farmers Insurance Open scheduled for January 2021, so watch for what I hope will be two interesting reports on golf and nice photos next year.