2011 Farmers Insurance Open Scouting Report

The view from the 5th tee looking toward the North. Brrrr! (Click to enlarge and get really depressed if you live outside of SoCal!)I write to you having donned a sweater as the sun sets and the winter chill finally dropped the temperature below 70 here in La Jolla. But, battling the barely discernable breeze, lush turf and bright sun, I toured parts of Torrey Pines North and South today. I can safely say the courses have never looked better. The combination of heavy December rains, warm weather most of January and the addition of Paul Cushing as superintendent has the place looking remarkable.

A few notes, for what it's worth:

- The greens are stimping just over 12 and they've actually had to slow them down a bit. Staffers were out applying water this afternoon on hot spots, an almost unfathomable notion just a few weeks after the deluge.

Rough on the 5th hole helps accent the artistic bunkering (Click to enlarge at your own peril)- The rough is extremely dense and a solid three inches. You might gravitate to a fairways and greens guy for your fantasy pick this week.

- Even with a few new back tees, the supreme conditioning of the North has it ripe for a super low score. The native push-up soil greens on the North look much smoother than the USGA greens on the South.

- The weather forecast is perfect for the rest of the week, though some possible winds and weekend cooling into the mid-60s with a wind chill making it feel like the low 60s, might mean players will have to keep their sweaters on all day. Again, that's for your fantasy players who have the stat breakdowns on sub-par rounds with sweater versus without.