Farmers Insurance Open: Past Winners, Stats & History

Held at the world famous Torrey Pines Golf Course, the Farmers Insurance Open is one of the biggest tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule and it regularly attracts a suitably strong field.

First played in 1952 when it was known as the San Diego Open, this tournament has had numerous name changes for sponsorship reason. Most notably, this event was backed by US car makers Buick between 1992 and 2009 when Farmers Insurance took their place.

Tiger Woods has won this an incredible 7 times including a 4-win streak between 2005 and 2008. Woods is 4 wins clear of fellow American Phil Mickelson on the list of the most successful winners.

Quick Facts

Farmers Insurance Open Recent Winners

Torrey Pines Golf Course

Torrey Pines is one of the most prestigious golf courses in America. It is always a very popular stop off on the PGA Tour so the field for the Farmers Insurance Open often has a particularly strong feel to it.

The South Course at Torrey Pines was used as the host venue for the 2008 and 2021 US Opens. In order for a course to even be considered for US Open hosting duties it must be a fearsome test of golf. That is certainly the case for Torrey Pines. The South Course is the longest on the PGA Tour, has incredibly penal rough and features greens which are both difficult to hit and to putt on thanks to their design and the Poa Annua grass which grows at unpredictable rates throughout the day.

The North Course has a similarly classical feel to the South but it is considerably less challenging and this is where players will look to do their scoring. Unfortunately for those golfers in the field, they’ll play only one round on the North Course and three on the South Course (assuming they make the halfway cut). A certain amount of power is required to cope with the length of the South Course but that must be paired with accuracy both off the tee and with approach shots into those demanding greens.

About the Farmers Insurance Open

The PGA Tour season is scheduled to include a number of different ‘swings’. These are runs of tournaments over the course of a few weeks which take place in the same locale. Three examples are the Florida Swing, the new Asian Swing which takes place at the start of the season and West Coast Swing.

The Farmers Insurance Open is arguably the most prestigious of the events on the West Coast Swing. It takes place at the infamous Torrey Pines, a fearsome test of golf which is set high up on the California cliffs above the Pacific Ocean.

Farmers Insurance are one of a number of companies to have sponsored this event since it was first held back in 1952 as the San Diego Open. Convair were the first sponsors and were followed by companies as varied as Wickes, Isuzu and Lehman Brothers. It has also moved around to a few different courses in the San Diego area before settling on the North and South Courses of Torrey Pines.

Star Quality Gives the Tournament a Boost

With Hollywood and Los Angeles, California is widely regarded as the home of the entertainment industry. Golf has long done a good job of using the pull of stars from the world of screen, stage and music to boost events. The San Diego International (as the Farmers Insurance Open was known in 1968) was an early mover in this regard by getting in the legendary crooner, Andy Williams, as a host for the event.

Williams was one of a number of celebrities who served as celebrity hosts of PGA Tour events at the time. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Sammy Davis Jr. all added star quality to golf tournaments and Williams decided he could do likewise, whilst turning San Diego into a hotbed of golf.

Many people played key roles in the growth of the Farmers Insurance Open as it developed into one of the most respected tournaments on the PGA Tour, but Williams holds a special place in the hearts of everybody involved with the event and with golf in San Diego in general.

Tiger’s Five In a Row

When you go through a list of people who had a significant positive impact on the Farmers Insurance Open it doesn’t take long before you get to Tiger Woods. The man that many believe to be the greatest golfer of all time has set a string of records at golf courses all around the world but few events have seen Tiger hunt as successfully as this.

Woods’ first tournament win in what was then the Buick Invitational came in 1999 in what was just his second start at Torrey Pines. His love affair continued through the years with seven wins in the Farmers Insurance Open including an incredible run of four victories on the spin between 2005 and 2008. That run of four wins is actually five when you factor in the 2008 US Open which was held at Torrey Pines and was won, rather predictably, by Woods. All of Tiger’s wins at Torrey Pines are detailed below.

• Farmers Insurance Open/Buick Invitational
  • 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013
• U.S. Open
  • 2008