Farmers Insurance Open 2019: Jon Rahm Shoots 10 Under, Leads After Round 1

Tyler ConwayJan 24, 2019

Jon Rahm rarely gets mentioned in conversations for being one of the world's most prominent players.

Maybe that's about to change.

The Spaniard carded 10-under 62 in Thursday's opening round of the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open, giving him a one-stroke lead over Justin Rose and Doug Ghim. C.T. Pan (-8) and Jordan Spieth (-7) round out the top five at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego.

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Rahm shot an incredible 29 on the back nine (his front), nailing eagles on the Nos. 10 and 17. His only blip on the round was a bogey on the par-three third, but he bounced back to birdie four of his final five holes.

Rahm told Golf Channel:

"It's definitely a golf course that suits my strengths. You have to strike it well off the tee, really well with the irons and that's what I did all day. Taking superb advantage of the par-fives is where everything came together.

"I didn't make many mistakes, but the ones I made I was able to fix quickly. Some of them actually ended up as birdies. A lot of good momentum going on, especially starting the day with an eagle."

Rahm, the world's seventh-ranked golfer, doesn't have much breathing room with the world No. 1 right at his heels. Rose shot a near-flawless round to shoot 63, carding seven birdies and an eagle on No. 10 without a single bogey. He hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation while driving the ball accurately off the tee.

"The putter is something I've been leaning toward for a while," Rose said, per Christopher Powers of Golf Digest. "Obviously [I] couldn't contractually do it until this year. The new Honma sticks are working beautifully, put the driver in as well, drove it unbelievably well today. I was able to take advantage of the par fives, and putted it good enough to shoot nine under."

Tiger Woods looks like he may be straddling the cut line come Friday. Woods shot a two-under 70, putting him in a tie for 53rd. Playing in Woods' favor is that he was on the South Course on Thursday, which played harder in Round 1.

Still, Woods hit only half of his fairways, two-thirds of his greens and struggled on the putting surface. He looked much more like a guy playing his first competitive round of 2019 than someone playing one of his favorite courses.

Woods said:

"I felt pretty comfortable with everything today. I felt like I drove it halfway decent today and irons were good but not great. Playing at competitive speed again, I didn't quite hit all my irons pin high like I normally do. That's something hopefully I'll have a better handle on tomorrow. It was nice to have some juice flow in the system again, it's been a while."

Thursday Leaderboard

1. Jon Rahm (-10)

T-2. Justin Rose (-9)

T-2. Doug Ghim (-9)

4. C.T. Pan (-8)

5. Jordan Spieth (-7)

T-6. Brandon Hagy (-6)

T-6. Bud Cauley (-6)

T-6. Chris Stroud (-6)

T-6. Charles Howell III (-6)

T-6. Richy Werenski (-6)

T-6. Billy Horschel (-6)