Justin Rose leads at Torrey Pines with a 62 on the North course.
SAN DIEGO — Justin Rose had opportunities for birdies on nearly every hole Thursday, achieving a remarkable 10-under 62 on the North course at Torrey Pines, which placed him one stroke ahead in the Farmers Insurance Open on a day that also saw the return of Brooks Koepka from LIV Golf.
Rose did not make the cut in his 2026 debut at The American Express last week. Although the North course is generally more forgiving, his performance was impressive. Even without birdies on two of the par 5s, he still managed an excellent score before moving on to the South course.
Justin Lower, who is anxiously awaiting the birth of twins with his wife, recorded a 63 on the North. Hideki Matsuyama and Max Greyserman both finished with a score of 64.
Séamus Power achieved the lowest score of 65 on the South course, which has previously hosted two U.S. Opens and had an average score of 72.482. The North course’s average score was 69.139. Among the 22 players who scored 67 or lower, only Power and Max McGreevy (66) played on the South.
“The North Course is clearly one you want to capitalize on, and it’s fantastic to do that today,” Rose remarked.
He made par on his final hole at the par-5 ninth, landing in a bunker, escaping to about 4 feet, and missing the birdie attempt. However, he only faced one scramble situation, on the 451-yard 14th hole, and maintained a clean scorecard.
Lower lost his full card last year when the PGA Tour limited full status to the top 100 in the FedEx Cup, down from 125 in prior years. He qualified for Torrey Pines due to the 147-man field spread across two courses, making this an opportunity he aims to maximize.
And it’s a significant moment. He already has a 3-year-old child, and now his wife is about to give birth to twins.
“To be completely honest, my mind isn’t fully here,” Lower stated. “My wife is 34 weeks pregnant with twins, and I’m just trying to get home on Monday to assist as much as I can. Fortunately, we have family nearby. Yes, she’s going through a lot right now. Life is about to become very real if it wasn’t already.”
Xander Schauffele, who was born just across the road from Torrey Pines, played for the first time since his victory in Japan last fall. He holds the longest active cut streak at 72 and faced challenges early on the South, being 3 over through 11 holes.
However, he made a birdie from a fairway bunker on the 12th hole, hit the pin with a shot from the back bunker to set up a birdie on the par-5 13th, and concluded his round with a chip that hit the pin on the 18th as the ball rolled toward the flag.
This resulted in a score of 73, slightly above average given the difficulty of the South course.
“I was pleased with my resilience,” Schauffele commented. “But I only hit three fairways, and the North course is also challenging from the rough. Any of those players at 8 or 9 under on the North are likely hitting more than two or three fairways.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
