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Levin & Stanley Share Top Spot in Farmers Insurance Open

As usual, there was a considerable discrepancy in the scores on the North and South courses at Torrey Pines during the opening round of Farmers Insurance Open. The $6 million PGA Tour event started Thursday at the 36-hole municipal facility in La Jolla, near San Diego.

Per tradition, by far the lowest scores were posted on North, which is 650 yards shorter than South, the host site of the 2008 U.S. Open. The players rotate between the two courses over the first two rounds, with play exclusively at South on the weekend.

Leading at the end of the day were Spencer Levin and Kyle Stanley, who each posted 10-under 62s on North. The top 14 scores were fired on North, with the low round at South - a 6-under 66 - carded by Marc Turnesa.

Levin was pleased with how his day went. "I drove the ball well today," said the Sacramento native of his 10-birdie round. "First couple weeks I played decent. At Sony, I think, 23rd. Made the cut last week but didn't finish very good, and then today - those two tournaments I didn't drive it particularly good. So I drove it well today and kind of set me up because I've been putting pretty good. So I had some putts for birdies instead of pars today, and kind of added up to a good score."

Stanley, a 24-year-old from Gig Harbor, Wash., had a bit more color on his scorecard. The former Clemson All-American had nine birdies, an eagle on the par-5 closing hole and a bogey. He said that he ironed out some problems with his game earlier in the week, and it showed Thursday.

"I didn't play very well last week, but I spent Monday up at Titleist and figured a few things out and started hitting it really well," Stanley said. "I played the pro-am on the North course yesterday. There were just a lot of birdie opportunities out there, so I knew there was a good score. Maybe not 10, but I'll take it."

Haas had 11 birdies in the opening round; his only blemish came on the sixth hole at North after a wayward tee shot on the par-3. "I just hit a bad iron shot," said the reigning FedEx Cup champion of the hole. "It plays 30 yards downhill, so the ball's in the air for a long time. And the wind was a little bit off the right. I occasionally can hit a hook and just told myself don't do that. Let's just go to the right side of the green is fine, and I just hung on to it even more than I should have. It was just a terrible shot.

"But easily could have made a four and not a five is what I should have done. I just tried to get cute with it and I didn't hit it hard enough out of the rough. Didn't even get it on the green."

In third place after a 63 is Bill Haas, while putting up 64s on North were Aussie Rod Pampling, Americans Josh Teater and John Huh, and Fiji's Vijay Singh. Australia's Greg Chalmers, Justin Leonard, Colombia's Camilo Villegas, Martin Flores and South Korean Sang-Moon Bae were tied for eighth after 65s.

Other scores included a 69 on North by defending champion Bubba Watson. After withdrawing midway through the second round in last week's Humana Challenge after experiencing back pain, Dustin Johnson rebounded with a six-birdie 66 on North.

The lanky, long-hitting South Carolinian said he felt good in the opening round; he shares 13th place with Pat Perez, Colt Knost and Turnesa. "I hit the ball well. Even though I missed a few fairways, but all the fairways I missed, it seemed like I was just a foot off. These fairways out here on the North were really tight. But I drove the ball, hit my irons really good. You know, I holed a couple putts."

Phil Mickelson would have settled for a lone double-bogey and a smattering of birdies on his scorecard. Playing in front of a hometown crowd at an event he's won three times and finished as runner-up twice, including last year, Mickelson disappointed the large gallery with a 5-over 77 on South. After four bogeys and a birdie on the front nine for a 3-over 39, "Lefty" posted three more bogeys before a birdie on the par-4 17th.

On the day, Mickelson hit only half the greens in regulation and, when he found the greens, needed 32 putts. He's tied for 147th and only two strokes from matching the high round of the day, a 79 on South by Tommy Gainey.

When asked what went wrong, a frustrated Mickelson said, "I'm not sure. I went in and had a good weekend, good final few rounds at (the Humana Challenge). I had some good days of practice and I was ready to play. I don't know what happened, I just wasn't able to focus. Obviously, I made some bad swings just in the wrong spots and so forth. But I felt like my game was ready heading in, and I don't know what to say about the score because it was pathetic."

J.B. Holmes, playing in his first tournament since undergoing brain surgery last year, carded a 4-over 76 on the South course. "I'm just learning to appreciate the situation I'm in a little bit more and just enjoy it," the 29-year-old Kentuckian told reporters Wednesday. "I've just got to get out here and play a little bit, and it will get back to normal. I'm still hitting it over 300 yards. It's not what I'm used to, but it's far enough to be able to get out here and play."

For all the scores, visit http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r004/.

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