SAN DIEGO — Ludwig Oberg and Lanto Griffin tied for the lead in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Thursday as high winds forced an 86-minute delay and kept dozens of players from racing. Complete the second round.
First-round leader Aberg shot a 75, 3-over par, while Griffin shot 72 on the South Course, matching Aberg's 6-under 138.
Danny Walker shot 5 under and Chris Gotterup tied his best score of the day with a 69 and tied with Hayden Springer Shot 4 under with Sungjae Im.
Players battled strong, erratic wind gusts in excess of 35 mph on the famed coastal course, which is better known for its foggy marine layer than damaging weather. A few gusts of wind blew the stationary ball and ripped off the hat from the head before officials suspended play.
“Throw the score out the window,” said Griffin, who earned his PGA Tour card at Q-school last month. “[On] On a normal day, a score of 72 would be considered good on this golf course, but today it was a slog. ….walk to [the 13th] Off the tee, the wind can be 35 miles an hour, so there are some shots like the 13th tee that are pretty brutal, [or the] The No. 9 tee box plays directly off the left side. It's a feeling of hanging on for dear life, trying to save par on most holes and make a birdie or two.
The delay started at 2:05 pm local time and lasted until 6:31 pm, forcing runners to race quickly in light winds in an effort to complete the race.
The North Course is closer to the ocean, so the wind can be especially brutal for players like world No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama, who can only watch in disgust as his well-thought-out putts miss their intended destination. Matsuyama still shot 75 and made the cut at 1 under.
In the first round, the score of the less difficult North Course (70.13) was significantly better than that of the South Course (72.16). Thursday's scores were much higher on both the South Course (75.53) and the North Course (75.2) due to the wind.
“It's very difficult,” said Eric Kerr, who finished the second round with a 71 before play was suspended, three shots off the lead. “It started blowing like our second or third hole, so we had strong winds for six holes. Then it almost disappeared and changed direction for a couple of holes. Very tricky and very unique. I Know it can blow a bit here, but it seems to be particularly windy [was] Kind of changes direction, so that makes things difficult.
All afternoon, no one was able to play a bogey-free tournament while battling winds that blew dirt and sand into the Pacific Ocean.
A brush fire also broke out about 4 miles south of Torrey Pines and burned 3 acres near the UC San Diego campus, but was quickly stopped by 175 firefighters, according to San Diego Fire Rescue. The fire continued to spread.
Some players didn't wait until play resumed. Max Homa, the event's 2023 champion, withdrew during a layoff with three holes remaining, citing illness after a second straight dismal round.
Florida State amateur Luke Clanton moved up the leaderboard on the front nine but suffered three bogeys in the worst wind conditions. He elected to stop the day on the 17th hole when he teed off in the right rough, where he will resume his second round on Friday.
This report uses information from ESPN Research and the Associated Press.
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