Mickelson, Day among Farmers casualties

Making his PGA Tour debut is Ireland’s rookie European Tour pro Paul Dunne, who earned an invite with his performance at St Andrews, where, while still an amateur, he led The Open after three days.

Day pulled out of yesterday’s pro-am due to flu-like symptoms, and there has been plenty of speculation as to how sick Day really is.

Day is set to play alongside Americans Harris English and J.B. Holmes in the first two rounds.

If it is any consolation, Day will be joined on the sideline by No. 4 Rickie Fowler and No. 7 Justin Rose, two of the tournament’s headliners that won’t be playing this weekend.

Moving down the leaderboard, Phil Mickelson continued to look strong.

So on a picturesque Thursday by the sea, where the breezes were soft and the sun was shining for the first round of the Farmers, a double-bogey 6 on his second hole of the South Course was far from a dark cloud.

Victory at Torrey Pines in this tournament a year ago was the catalyst to his own rise in 2015. The rough on the North Course is thick enough that players couldn’t see their golf balls from a few paces away in some spots. Mickelson was supposed to redesign the course and had grandiose plans to bring the gorgeous canyons into view, only for the California Fair Political Practices commission to rule that anyone involved in the design of a project can not follow through on the work.

“It was not what I expected, but better than I’m used to”, he said. I like it in that direction actually. “It makes no sense”. Fowler ended last year with a third-place finish in the Hero World Challenge, and he began this year with a fifth-place finish at Kapalua. Torrey will present a stiffer test. He won in Abu Dhabi, furthering his reputation as a guy who can get the job done when it’s close.

The PGA champion got sick last Friday after a week in the desert working on his game and didn’t touch a club again until the opening round Thursday. And winning tends to negate fatigue. Choi was a bit of a surprise, having not won on the PGA TOUR in almost five years. “It was a brutal day out there”, Grace said. Spieth took his share, too, posting a top-five finish after an indifferent second round.

Mickelson said he remained confident in his swing and encouraged with his game. You can’t live and die by one week, ” said Day. “If you’re out of position you’re immediately playing for par”. And you certainly don’t embellish and create a false amount just for your own benefit.

Mickelson said Wednesday that it was “high school stuff” and that Ruffels will have to stop that now that he’s on tour. That’s a nice way to go into his winter hibernation.

“I am confident on this golf course”, Woodland said.