We're about three months away from the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course.
In the coming weeks, the field of participating PGA pros will start to round into shape.
Getting top name golfers into each PGA tournament on the annual circuit is harder than ever, but the Farmers Open advantage is the natural beauty of the Torrey Pines course and the challenges it presents to the world's best golfers.
In essence, Torrey Pines sells itself.
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"These golfers, at their core, are competitors. They want to win, and they want to be challenged, and Torrey is a challenge year after year," says Marty Gorsich, CEO of the Century Club, which puts on the Farmers Open.
"It doesn't matter what the purse is, these golfers want to play against the best at the hardest places to play, the most challenging places to play. You walk around and say, 'I'm a tour winner at this course or that course.' If you say you're a tour winner at Torrey Pines, there's a special badge of honor, and there's only a handful of courses that really carry that. We are fortunate to have one of those, so the best of the best want to come and hang their name on and be on the leader board at a place like Torrey Pines."
The best of the best used to be Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. As long as a PGA tournament had one or both of them, you were set. However, as Woods and Mickelson have faded from the top of the golf world, Gorsich says the focus of his job running the Farmers Open has shifted in recent years.
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"The reality is people aren't coming out to Torrey spending their golf dollars, they're spending their entertainment dollar. So, what can I guarantee? I guarantee the ocean is here, I guarantee the food, the drink, the people watching, the socialization. Even in the days of Tiger and Phil, you couldn't guarantee they'd make the cut and even be there the last two days. So making it all about one person or one reason to come, we feel like we've really focused in on all these great things we can guarantee to make you have an amazing days out here and come join us. Whoever the winner is, the golf is just kind of the cherry on top."
Tickets for the 2025 Farmers Open went on sale on Oct. 22. To purchase tickets or for general tournament information, visit the Farmers Open website.