One of the most beloved stops on the PGA Tour for both fans and players is at Torrey Pines for the Farmers Insurance Open. And during most years that meant the tournament took place during the open week of NFL football between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl.
But with the NFL moving to a 17th game this year the entire calendar changed, and now the Farmers takes place during the same weekend as the AFC and NFC Championship games. And with CBS as the primary the broadcaster for the AFC, there was an unavoidable conflict.
So the Farmers decided to protect their television partner of CBS as much as possible, and moved the tournament to a Wednesday-Saturday affair instead of the normal Thursday-Sunday rotation. This will be the only PGA event on this year’s schedule to start on a Wednesday or finish on Saturday.
This is expected to become an annual tradition for this tournament, and while it compresses the calendar for traveling players, the best in the world don’t seem to mind; 12 of the Top 20 players via the World Golf Rankings will compete, including World No. 1 Jon Rahm. And two-time winner and native San Diegan Phil Mickelson is back for his 29th appearance.