Farmers Insurance Open Round 1: Justin Rose Fires a Bogey-Free 62 to Lead Torrey Pines

Justin Rose showed up at Torrey Pines a week after missing the cut in the desert and spent Thursday afternoon making the North Course look like a pitch-and-putt.

Rose shot a bogey-free 10-under 62 on the North to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open. Justin Lower is alone in second at 9 under after a 63, also on the North. Hideki Matsuyama and Max Greyserman both posted 64 on the North to sit two back, and Seamus Power owns the best card from the tougher South Course, a 65 that has him three behind alongside Maverick McNealy and Stephan Jaeger.

Ten Under, Zero Drama

The remarkable part of Rose's round is how little of it was rescue work. According to the AP, he had a birdie look on all but one hole, and the only time he needed to scramble came at the 451-yard 14th. Everything else was fairways, greens and chances.

The strange part is where the shots did not come. Rose failed to birdie either of the two par 5s he played on the North, the holes that are supposed to be the freebies. His last one, the par-5 ninth, ended with a bunker shot to about 4 feet and a missed birdie putt. The 62 could have been lower.

"North Course clearly is one that you want to try to make the most of and it's great to do that today for sure," Rose said, per the AP.

One week after a missed cut at The American Express in his 2026 debut, he has the lowest score in the field.

Lower's Mind Is Somewhere Else

The best story chasing Rose belongs to Lower, and it has very little to do with golf. Lower lost full PGA TOUR status last year when the number of fully exempt cards was cut from 125 to 100 on the FedExCup list. He got into this week's event because Torrey Pines uses two courses, which lets the field stretch to 147 players.

He made the most of it, including an eagle at the ninth on the North, with his attention split. Lower has a 3-year-old at home and a wife who is 34 weeks pregnant with twins.

"If I'm being really truthful with everyone, my mind's not really here," Lower said, per the AP.

For a player fighting for status, a 63 with your head somewhere else might be the freest swing of the year.

The Tale of Two Courses

To understand Thursday at Torrey, look at the averages. The North played to 69.139. The South, a two-time U.S. Open venue, played to 72.482. That is more than three shots of difference between the two halves of the draw.

The leaderboard reflects it. Of the 22 players who shot 67 or better, only two did it on the South: Power with his 65 and Max McGreevy with a 66. Both players have earned a real edge on everyone stacked up on the North, because Friday they swap to the easier track while the North crowd heads into the teeth of the South.

Matsuyama and Greyserman at 8 under look great on the board. Power at 7 under after surviving the South might be in a better spot.

Koepka's First Day Back

The other headline of the day had nothing to do with the lead. Brooks Koepka, the five-time major champion, played his first PGA TOUR event since leaving LIV Golf and shot 1-over 73 on the South.

There were flashes. He bombed a 301-yard drive on the first hole and stuck the approach to 10 feet. But the birdies would not come. Koepka went 1 over on the par 5s and did not make a birdie until an 8-foot putt on the 18th, his final hole, to close the day.

"From the first tee on, it was great. It actually made me settle down a little bit," Koepka said, per the AP.

A 73 on the South is no disaster with the course averaging nearly 72.5, but it leaves Koepka 11 behind Rose and needing a good Friday on the North.

Stars Fighting the Rough

Xander Schauffele, who was born across the road from Torrey Pines, matched Koepka's 73 on the South in his first start since winning in Japan last fall. He was 3 over through 11 before birdies on 12 and the par-5 13th, then hit the pin with a chip on the 18th. Schauffele, who brings the longest active cut streak on TOUR at 72 straight, was blunt about where his round went wrong.

"But I only hit three fairways, and the North Course also is hard from the rough," Schauffele said, per the AP.

The best single shot of the day came from Tony Finau. Sitting 3 over after three bogeys in four holes, Finau holed his tee shot from 215 yards at the par-3 16th on the South for the first ace of the 2026 PGA TOUR season, according to the TOUR. It was the fourth ace of Finau's career and only the third ever recorded in competition on that hole. Finau birdied the next hole and signed for an even-par 72.

The Friday Swap

Thursday was about who took advantage of the North. Friday is about who survives the South, where Rose and Lower head next while Power and McGreevy get their turn on the scoring course.

Koepka and Schauffele both need to make up ground to stick around. For Rose, the assignment is simple and hard at once: keep the card clean on a course that rarely allows it.

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 1 recap, Finau ace report and leaderboard), AP. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.