Selling the Farm

Sepp Straka (22% selected) won in Palm Desert last week, edging Justin Thomas (70%) by a couple of shots.

Over in Dubai, LIV's Tyrrell Hatton (1 person selected) defeated a bunch of un-drafted golfers, with Rory McIlroy (58%) earning some back-door points.

This time of year used to have a lot more "juice," but as the PGA TOUR slowly rights the ship with its Signature Event experiment, these "normal" weeks will feel quite sleepy.

Case in point... the Farmers Insurance Open which starts today to avoid NFL Playoffs on Sunday.

The field is technically the worst it's been in over 30 years. Torrey Pines was typically the start of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson's seasons. Those names alone caused all the other stars to show up. And since TP South was used as a Major venue from time to time, every fan knew the layout of the course.

But without the "Signature" label, there's really no incentive for guys to get their ass kicked on a gruling track.

Scheffeler and Xander are out with injuries. Morikawa just WD'd. Cantlay and JT played TGL screen golf last night in Florida — so they were never going to show up.

Only Matsuyama and Ludvig are ranked in the top 10. I've never seen the strength of field for this tournament lower than the American Express.

And as a result, this is the final year with Farmers as a sponsor.

There are rumors the TOUR is going to return to Torrey Pines in three weeks to hold a Signature Event, as Riviera has been pulled from the schedule due to fires. But for now, this isn't must see tv.

We aren't farmers, bum-ba-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum.

Good luck!