Big Salad
The Torrey Pines rough looks downright sinister ahead of this week’s Genesis Invitational
A few weeks ago, golf fans watched Harris English win the Farmers Insurance Open with a hard-fought final round 73. Clearly, Torrey Pines’ polarizing South Course didn’t play nice, with big-name pros dropping like flies throughout the weekend, but if you thought that setup was tough, just wait until you see what it looks like for this week’s relocated Genesis Invitational.
Punitive doesn’t quite do it justice. In fact, we’d go as far as to call the rough at Torrey this week straight-up sadistic. As PGA Tour pro (and friend of the pod!) Ben Griffin illustrated on Monday, a missed fairway, even by a single yard, will expose players to a world of pain and suffering.
In Griffin’s demonstration, his trusty Maxfli disappears entirely from just a few feet away, devoured by some of the thickest cabbage we’ve seen since hair metal’s heyday. Needless to say, if thought this week’s Genesis was going to go a little easier on the field considering the change in venue due to the L.A. wildfires, think again.
But wait, it gets worse. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for San Diego County coastal areas effective 1 p.m. Thursday through early Friday morning, with an atmospheric river expected to dump over quarter inch of rain on La Jolla along with 28-mph wind gusts. Though the precipitation should subside by the start of play on Friday, expect the long stuff to play more like kudzu than kikuyu come the weekend.