Collin Morikawa is latest star to WD on West Coast, pulling out of Torrey Pines

The early California events on the PGA Tour’s West Coast Swing are having a tough go of it with the withdrawal or absence of some of the game’s top players. The American Express, played last week in La Quinta, lost World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (hand injury) and No. 2 Xander Schauffele (reported medical issue). And this week, after Schauffele didn’t enter his hometown event at Torrey Pines without sharing any reason publicly, the highest-ranked remaining player in the Farmers Insurance Open, No. 4 Collin Morkawa, has withdrawn, citing illness.

Morikawa’s only start this year came in the season-opening Sentry in Maui, where the two-time major champ played strongly, shooting 32 under to finish solo second by three shots to Hideki Matsuyama. As with Schauffele, Morikawa’s last playing appearance was in the indoor simulator TGL, where his Los Angeles Golf Club team beat Tiger Woods’ Jupiter team 12-1.

Despite being an L.A. native and Cal product, Morikawa hasn’t played the Farmers very often, with only three appearances. He finished T-21 in 2020, solo third in ’23 when fellow Cal Bear Max Homa won, and missed the cut last year by shooting 67 on the Torrey Pines North Course and 75 on the South.

Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion and current World No. 5, is now the highest-ranked player in the Farmers Open, followed by No. 6 Ludvig Aberg. Others in the top 25 entered are Keegan Bradley (11), Sahith Theegala (13), Sungjae Im (19), Aaron Rai (22) and Tony Finau (25).

The reigning Farmers champion is France’s Matthieu Pavon, who is ranked No. 33.

Because of the NFL conference championship games being played on Sunday, the Farmers Open will be contested Wednesday through Saturday for the fourth straight year. The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is the next week, followed by the WM Phoenix Open that finishes on Super Bowl Sunday. The Genesis Invitational wraps up the West Coast Swing Feb. 13-16, though a replacement venue has not been named after the event was pulled from Riviera Country Club due to the L.A. wildfires.