Special Places - Torrey Pines

The opening skirmishes of the season-long battle for the number one ranking were played out in the first leg of the Desert Swing when only Tiger Woods out of the world top five was missing from the line-up for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. An imperious Martin Kaymer overwhelmed the field that included all four current Major champions, finishing eight shots clear and leapfrogging Woods into second place on the world rankings. Retief Goosen’s final round 64, the best of the day, lifted him to third in the event.

In the US, Jhonattan Vegas survived a three-way playoff to become the first rookie to secure the Bob Hope Classic, and the first Venezuelan winner on the PGA Tour. Now all eyes turn to Torrey Pines and the Farmers Insurance Open for the season debut of Tiger Woods as he returns to one of his happiest hunting grounds. This is an event Woods has won six times, and as the venue was the scene of his epic and remarkable triumph in the 2008 US Open - his last Major victory – expectations will be running high after the aberration of last year’s unprecedented winless season.

The Torrey Pines Golf Course complex is a public facility run by the City of San Diego, and is located along the Pacific coast in the super-affluent community of La Jolla, in the northern reaches of the San Diego municipality. The facility has two courses credited to designer William F. Bell, the North and the South, and both opened for play in 1957. The pros play a round on each course and then the cut is made with the South Course hosting the final two rounds. Although both layouts are perched atop towering cliffs and offer spectacular views out over the rugged Pacific coastline, the jewel in the crown is the South Course. Reconstructed in 2001 by award-winning architect Rees Jones, son of legendary designer Robert Trent Jones, the South Course is the longest course played in a regular PGA Tour event and measures 6956 metres with a par of 72.

The back nine is hypnotically picturesque, with 12, 13, 14, 16 and 17 hugging the cliff tops. The challenging 530m par 5 finishing hole is the season-long Kodak Challenge hole for the event. Memorably, it is also the hole that Tiger Woods had to birdie to force a playoff in the 2008 US Open and birdie again in the playoff to reach sudden death. Ben Crane is the Farmers Insurance Open defending champion.