After reports of Genesis to Torrey Pines, several PGA Tour pros wouldn’t mind

A Torrey double?

“No pushback from me,” Ludvig Åberg said. “Bring it here, please.”

Åberg wasn’t alone with his sentiment on Tuesday at Torrey Pines Golf Course, host of this week’s Farmers Insurance Open and, per multiple reports, the likely replacement venue for next month’s Genesis Invitational. Golfweek was among the outlets that reported the PGA Tour was in the “final stages of negotiations” to move Tiger Woods’ signature event down Interstate 5 to La Jolla, California – and to a course, the South, on which Woods has won eight times, including the 2008 U.S. Open.

The PGA Tour previously announced that this year’s Genesis would keep its Feb. 13-16 dates but wouldn’t be contested at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, which has been devastated by a wildfire that began earlier this month. While the club was unharmed, the surrounding area sustained significant damage from the 23,000-acre fire, which has killed 10 people and destroyed nearly 6,000 structures.

Torrey’s South Course, which previously hosted both the Farmers and U.S. Open in 2021, would be an “easy fit,” according to San Diego native Charley Hoffman.

“Obviously, as a hometown kid, I’m wishing it comes here,” Hoffman said. “If it’s in Florida, Palm Springs or somewhere else, I’m still trying to work my way into that event to try to play against the best in the world. But I think the platform here in San Diego would be a very logical place to put it. But there’s so many logistics moving an event three or four weeks out – hotels, volunteers, rebranding the site. There’s so much the Tour has to do. That’s a tough task and I know they’re up for it, but no matter where they go it’s going to be a tough task to get everything figured out.

“It does make the most sense to go, I think I read, 123 miles south to go to San Diego, especially this is a major championship golf course. It’s going to play like a major championship this week if we don’t get any rain. It’s firm, it’s fast, the grass is long. You can keep that for another two weeks for sure. It does make sense.”

Other options that had been rumored include PGA West’s Stadium Course and TPC Scottsdale, two other West Coast swing venues. It’s unlikely the PGA Tour would go to a course not already in its rotation because of logistical reasons and the short timeframe.

This week’s Farmers, which precedes a run of two signature events plus the popular WM Phoenix Open between them, is noticeably lacking star power, at least according to the Official World Golf Ranking. After recent withdrawals from Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa, just two top-10 players are teeing it up – No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama and No. 6 Åberg.

Hosting the $20 million, limited-field Genesis would certainly attract the big names to Torrey Pines.

“I love it because I’ve had good memories here,” said Jason Day, a two-time Farmers champ. “If it comes here, I can understand why they’ve come here. Obviously, Tiger’s had a huge amount of success here, it’s not that far from L.A., it’s just down the road, the infrastructure’s here already. It just depends on if the city wants to hold it and what that would look like. Then that is obviously one way of getting the players to come back to San Diego is have a signature event in your backyard, which would be nice.”

During Day’s presser, a PGA Tour media official clarified, “an official decision hasn’t been made on that particular event where it’s going to be relocated.”

To which Day immediately chimed in: “But I would like it here.”