By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
SAN DIEGO — It was a day of sunshine and fog, of birdies and bogeys and of a lead that couldn't be held until the final par putt.
That came from Jason Day on the second playoff hole of the Farmers Insurance Open that, without Tiger Woods (bad back, withdrawal) or Phil Mickelson (missed cut), may have lacked star power but didn't lack for excitement.
Copyright © 2015 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
SAN DIEGO — The first few minutes of the CBS telecast Saturday from the Farmers Insurance Open were videos of swings by Tiger Woods. Which might be all you need to know about the current state of PGA Tour golf.
Woods hasn't been here since Thursday, when he withdrew because of back spasms.
Copyright © 2015 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
SAN DIEGO — The Farmers Insurance Open lost its second star in two days when hometown guy Phil Mickelson, putting "beyond pathetic," missed the cut Friday. Tiger Woods withdrew from the PGA Tour event Thursday because of a bad back.
Mickelson, who grew up playing Torrey Pines, shot a par 72 on the easier North Course after a 2-over 74 Thursday on the South, the one on which Woods won the 2008 U.S. Open.
Copyright © 2015 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
SAN DIEGO — The questions about Tiger Woods before he teed off Thursday dealt with his game. Now, once again, they are about his back, and at age 39, his future.
Woods, in obvious pain, withdrew after only 11 holes in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, a course where he had flourished. He has eight wins here as a pro, including the 2008 U.S. Open, his last victory in a major.
Copyright © 2015 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Featured Columnist, Bleacher Report
SAN DIEGO — It seemed as symbolic as it was sad. There was the man, Eldrick Woods, the one and only Tiger, driving away into a coastal fog that, if it didn’t obscure his future—he’s done—it certainly did the future of golf.
Why does it always have to end like this for the great ones—injuries and ailments and worst of all an inability to perform with the magnificence they once did?
Copyright © 2015 Bleacher Report, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
Even the weather seems to be against Tiger Woods.
Coastal fog, not unusual this time of the year in southern California, delayed Woods -- and everyone else -- by two hours at the start of Wednesday's pro-am for the Farmers Insurance Open.
Copyright © 2015 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
For GlobalGolfPost.com
LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA -- This wasn't what the Farmers Insurance Open needed, the hometown kid -- well, he's no longer a kid and maybe this is the issue -- missing the cut. And, because that Tiger guy wasn't around, other than around the world, it left a void in the superstar category.
Phil Mickelson had won the tournament, once known as the Buick Invitational, three times. He was the biggest name at Torrey Pines. What a site and sight it is, rambling along the bluffs above the breaking surf.
His participation, however...
Copyright 2012 Global Golf Post