LA JOLLA, Calif. — Xander Schauffele was born and raised in San Diego. He grew up playing Torrey Pines and has traversed the grounds since he was a teenager. It’s one of his favorite stops on the PGA Tour.
However, Torrey Pines’ spot on the future PGA Tour schedule is up in the air.
The Farmers Insurance Open kicks off Thursday at the famous municipal course in San Diego. The PGA Tour has played the Farmers since 1968, though the insurance company’s run as sponsor will come to an end after this year. Not only does the PGA Tour have to find a new title sponsor for 2027 and beyond, it has to determine where the event fits on the PGA Tour schedule.
In the age of scarcity on the PGA Tour, plenty of events are possibly on the chopping block ahead of the 2027 schedule change. Rumors are swirling around the Tour’s future start date around or even after the Super Bowl and ending in August. That means plenty of tournaments, like the Hawaiian Swing and American Express, among many others, could be on the chopping block.
But Torrey Pines? Schauffele doesn’t think that even needs to be a possibility.
“I think I would feel like Torrey’s safe if you kind of look at the schedule just from it should find a home just because this property’s iconic,” Schauffele said. “It’s a beautiful property, it’s a big property, it’s a tough golf course, and it usually has pretty good winners on it. I think Tiger single-handedly has made this property incredibly special in terms of a history in golf, just tying back to the ’08 U.S. Open. You look at pretty golf courses that we have on Tour, I’d say Torrey’s one of them.”
Schauffele isn’t the only player with San Diego connections to vouch for Torrey Pines. Current U.S. Open champion and former San Diego State Aztec J.J. Spaun is also a big fan of the property. So is defending Farmers winner Harris English.
As reported previously, Sentry may be in line to fill the sponsorship void at Torrey Pines, especially if the Tour cuts ties with its season-opening event at Kapalua. And on Wednesday, Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter reported the Tour has had conversations about moving Torrey Pines to the postseason portion of the schedule.
“I wouldn’t be shocked if it was somewhere on the schedule,” Schauffele said. “I couldn’t answer when or who would want to be a sponsor or something of that nature, but I think it’s a strong enough course and a big enough course, a championship course to be on the schedule still.”
The PGA Tour could lose as many as 10 or more events, depending on how CEO Brian Rolapp, Tiger Woods and those involved in the process of changing the schedule determine what is best for the future of the Tour. In an era of scarcity, the fewer events there are means more times the best players are playing together.
For some courses and events, that puts their future in jeopardy. For others, like Torrey Pines, expect the players to push hard to keep the tournament on the schedule.
“I would hate for it to go away,” English said. “This is one of the cornerstone events on the PGA Tour. I’ll do anything as a PGA Tour member, a past champion, to help find a sponsor to help keep this tournament here at Torrey Pines because you have a lot of guys that feel the same way I do that love this place. Such an iconic place here at Torrey.
“Farmers has done an unbelievable job running this event and putting on this event for I don’t know how many years they’ve been on board but a long time. It would be a shame for us to lose this event. I’ll do anything in my power to help keep it here.”
