Tiger Woods' Return to Torrey Pines Could Be the Start of Something Big

SAN DIEGO -- OK, now we're talking.

The PGA Tour has come to beautiful and challenging Torrey Pines this week for the Farmers Insurance Open and was considerate enough to bring a nice bottle of pay-attention.

Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Anthony Kim, Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose are all entered -- and with no NFL to block the sun.

Just like golf's good ol' days, Woods will be the attention getter -- at least starting out.

Woods has owned Torrey Pines in the past. He has six victories in 11 starts here in PGA Tour play, in addition to the 2008 U.S. Open. But Woods hasn't played at Torrey Pines since that major championship, missing the Farmers in 2009 because of knee surgery and skipping it last year while taking a break from personal issues that led to divorce.

The personal turmoil left the former world No. 1 player without a victory in 2010, the first winless season of his career.

Now, after showing signs of regaining his game late last season, he arrives this week after extensive work with new swing coach Sean Foley and, most assuredly, a new hunger.

FLASHBACK

Even with Woods skipping last year's Farmers, he still managed to be a part of the final-round game story.

Ben Crane took the title by posting a final-day 2-under 70 to finish 13 under and one shot in front of Brandt Snedeker, Michael Sim and Marc Leishman, and then had to talk about the player who was not there.

The reason was a story in a gossip magazine that appeared a few months earlier, quoting Crane saying that Tiger was a "phony and fake." Except Crane had never spoken to Life & Style and had not given any interviews in months. He wasn't even at the tournament where the publication said the interview took place.

"Obviously, being in the news a month ago was bizarre," Crane said. "Someone made some stuff up that I said something about Tiger, which I didn't. To be in the news again? Yeah, my name keeps popping up. It's good to be [in the news] on a good note. ...

"And you can quote me on that."

It was all good for Crane, even if he wasn't totally aware of it during the day.

Going into the final day, he vowed to himself not to look at a leaderboard all day, and when he rapped in a 30-inch par putt on the 18th hole, Crane didn't even realize he had won until Ryuji Imada congratulated him.

"Did I win?" Crane asked.

THE GOLF COURSE

With 36 holes -- North and South courses -- Torrey Pines is considered one of the foremost municipal golf clubs in the country. Designed along the Pacific coastline, the complex sits on the edge of towering cliffs, giving golfers amazing views of the ocean, along with deep ravines and classic golf holes.

"Torrey Pines is one of the most beautiful places we're at all year," Crane said. "The golf course is in unbelievable shape, the best I've ever seen it, maybe including the U.S. Open. It's in unbelievable shape.

"Great weather, the greens are rolling very true this week, and the rough is long, so it's going to be a U.S. Open-like test of golf. I'm very excited to play it this way. Looks like we'll have good weather the rest of the way as well."

The South course, which hosted the 2008 U.S. Open, was designed by William F. Bell and redesigned by Rees Jones in 2001. It is now a par 72 course at 7,643 yards.

The North course is a par 72, 6,874 yards.

WORTH NOTING

The PGA Tour says it feeds names into a computer program and "random pairings'' are spit out. So imagine the odds of Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate, the two golfers who went 19 playoff holes to decide the 2008 U.S. Open that was played at Torrey Pines.

The two, who will be joined by Anthony Kim, have not played together since that historic U.S. Open that Woods won despite needing knee surgery.

"What a shocker," Mediate said. "The computer had a glitch.

"It's going to be fantastic. It's been a long time, so it will be a lot of fun."

BY THE NUMBERS

0: Players in the last eight years at Torrey Pines to post four consecutive rounds in the 60s.

11-4: Betting odds established by Bodog.com on Woods winning.

14-1: Betting odds established by same outlet on Phil Mickelson.

20: Years since a player made Torrey Pines his first PGA Tour career win. The last was Jay Don Blake in 1991.

22: Tournament appearances by local favorite Phil Mickelson, who has finished in the top five seven times, including victories in 1993, 2000 and 2001.

AND OUR WINNER IS ...

Tiger Woods.

Don't pull on Superman's cape and never spit into the wind.

Tiger haters, take cover. He's as good as ever, only now doing a slow burn with something to prove.

The fact he plays Torrey Pines like Jimi Hendrix played guitar is only a bonus.

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