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Sebastian Cappelen and Keegan Bradley both shot a 6-under 66 to lead a group of 20 players within two strokes of the lead after an eventful opening round in the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Cappelen and Bubba Watson are the only players on the top-10 of the leaderboard to have played the first round on the South Course, which predictably carried a higher scoring average than the North Course. That's not to say the North Course didn't show its teeth at times. Rory McIlroy shot a 67 in a round that he even described as "a little loose" at times with several opportunities missed. Cappelen and Watson will be the only players in the top-10 to get a shot at that course on Friday.
McIlroy offered some of the day's early highlights, rolling in four birdies on his first nine holes to stake his claim to a place at the top of the leaderboard. In total, his seven birdie performance with some improvement to be had served as a warning shot to the field. As the "best in the world" debate rages among fans, McIlroy is at the first big event of the West Coast swing ready to make a statement.
Tiger Woods, making his first PGA Tour start of 2020, closed strong during his first round of 3-under 69. Woods drove the ball well, took advantage of his final three par-5s and seemed to have his game in a good place to start the week at a course where he's had plentiful success over the years.
Woods, playing Rahm and Collin Morikawa, will tackle the South Course on Friday.
The leaderboard in its entirety features plenty of intriguing names that will be tested by heightened pressure on Friday. For those that played the North Course on Friday, maintaining their spot is going to require not only stability but playing better than the field to even shoot par on the South Course.
Here's how the top of the leaderboard looks heading into Friday's second round:
T1. Sebastian Cappelen (-6): The 29-year old is on a heater, logging the first top-10 of his PGA Tour career a week ago at the American Express. If he can keep this going and make it to the weekend, it will be one of the most profitable weeks of his professional life.
T1. Keegan Bradley (-6): Over the last couple of seasons, Bradley, at 33, has become a steady top-30 to top-50 player in the world. His last win was the 2018 BMW Championship, but he finished T2 at the Travelers Championship and T12 at the Sony Open earlier this month. Don't overlook the four-time winner as a real threat to win this week at Torrey Pines.
T3. Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson, Sungjae Im, Byeong Hun An, Kevin Tway, Joel Dahmen, Xinjun Zhang, Matthew NeSmith (-5): McIlroy has a chance to take over as the new No. 1 player in the world rankings with a win this weekend, but I think he's more focused on getting geared up for the 2020 season right now. McIlroy admitted his short game was a little bit rusty, and at this point in his career, the focus is on having his game primed to make a run at the four major championships of the year.
T11. Jon Rahm, Marc Leishman, Cameron Percy, Stewart Cink, Billy Horschel, J.B. Holmes, Dominic Bozzelli, Cameron Tringale, Vincent Whaley, Brandon Wu (-4): Rahm looked like he was shot out of a rocket to start his round, putting down birdies on four of his first nine holes. But that pace slowed and frustration kicked as he battled to even par on his final nine holes of the day. Rahm is arguably the best non-Tiger player in the field at Torrey Pines, and if he can settle into a consistent rhythm, there might not be a more dangerous player in the event.
T21. Tiger Woods, Brandt Snedeker, Charley Hoffman and 11 more (-3): As we pointed out in the Tiger recap, it's easy to get lost in the few misses because of the high standard we have for the Big Cat. Woods' game checked all the right boxes for not only finishing near the top but contending to win this weekend.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way Thursday updating this story with scores, analysis and highlights from Round 1, particularly while Woods is on the course. Be sure to check out the live updating Farmers Insurance Open leaderboard.
