‘Back When Tiger Was Playing And Winning, It Was The Event To Come To’ - Has The Farmers Insurance Open Declined?

Prior to the start of the Farmers Insurance Open, a number of big names withdrew from the event at Torrey Pines, including Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Akshay Bhatia and Will Zalatoris.

It now means only five of the world's top 20 will be present in San Diego and, given that the tournament was dominated by seven-time winner, Tiger Woods, some have questioned the magnitude of the event since the Hall of Famer was strolling its fairways.

A two-time winner of the Farmers Insurance Open, Jason Day is a big fan of the tournament, as well as being a good friend of Woods', but acknowledges that the popularity of the event in Torrey Pines has reduced over time, claiming "it’s unfortunate."

Speaking in his press conference on Tuesday, the former Major winner stated: "Back when Tiger was playing and winning, it was the event to come to because of not only how big the tournament was, but what Tiger brought to the event as well, the crowds were huge. But with that being said... I'm very loyal to this area, I'm very loyal to this golf tournament. I love this area, I love the people here. I also love the golf tournament and I love the golf course. I've had a lot of good memories here so that's why I'm very loyal to this place.

"I don't want it to get to a point where we've just kind of forgotten about it because to me, personally, I think of like the wins that Tiger won, like even myself and what that felt like. I remember when I won the playoff against J.B. Holmes on the 16th hole and we were driving back and there were just lines of people down 18 like yelling out, and I feel like the crowds have gotten a little bit less since then.

"It's unfortunate, but I'm hoping that we can change that. I don't know how to change that and give you an answer other than I feel like I'll always be back here. I've missed some years, but I definitely will always support this tournament."

Another player to speak about the impact of Woods is Charley Hoffman, who is making his 27th appearance in the tournament. Having been present for over three decades, the four-time PGA Tour winner claims that the reason for the loss of interest in the event stems from the fact that "the community of San Diego took for granted that Tiger Woods virtually showed up every single year at this event."

He went on to add "(he was) the best player in the world, and competed to win almost every time he played here. We took it for granted. Now a lot of these tournaments, if you had Tiger Woods two or three times through the history of the event, they would be happy... As someone who's played here for over 30 years, you took it for granted that Tiger Woods was going to show up here and the city of San Diego was going to have the best player in the world each and every year at its event.

"We're in reality now with what every other city has to deal with without Tiger Woods or the best player in the world playing here. Unfortunately, Xander, one of the best players in the world, has an injury. He's traditionally played here. Xander's trying to get ready to win more Major championships, there's no reason to push it early in the year and hurt himself more. You're going to see guys taking this week off if it stays on this date, no question."

Lodged in the middle of a seven-week West Coast Swing, which also features three $20 million Signature Events, the Farmers Insurance Open also runs with a Wednesday - Saturday schedule instead of the usual Thursday - Sunday, with the reason due to the NFL's Conference Championship games being on a Sunday.

Speaking about the scheduling, Day stated: "You have Pebble Beach next week and then WM Phoenix Open and then the Genesis Invitational. They're three pretty big tournaments in a row, and do you want to play four big tournaments?

"Pebble's obviously a Signature Event and most guys aren't going to miss that. Waste Management is a total beast in itself because it's a mentally grueling week as well, and then you've got another Signature Event after that in L.A. So do you want to put yourself through a very, very mentally grueling week this week and then play another three events?

"I think most guys' thresholds are around three, two to three weeks in a row. Maybe they (organizers) could spread it out a little bit, or change the way that the tournament's run out on the West Coast, maybe that might help it a little bit. I think the Wednesday start, obviously finishing on Saturday and then competing against the NFL is very difficult."