Strong Finish for Thompson

Michael Thompson tees off from the first tee in Saturday's final round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

by Roz Roberts III

 Michael Thompson had another strong round at the Farmers Insurance Open's final round on Saturday shooting a three under par 69 to finish tied for 11th.  Michael's round featured an eagle on #6 for the second day in a row and a near hole in one at the par 3 8th.  The only blemish on his scorecard in the fourth round was a double bogey on hole #4 after he hit his second shot into the hazard left of the green. 

Michael's round had several shots that just barely missed besides the near hole in one.  His bunker shot on hole 17 nearly fell into the hole after breaking away from the hole at the last moment.  He also had a birdie putt on 15 come up just a few inches short of the hole.  Despite the near misses, Michael's fourth round still moved him up eight spots on the leaderboard.  The tie for 11th also moves him up the Fedexcup points list to 46th.

Every aspect of Michael's game looked sharp this week.  His bunker play was spectacular where he was 9 for 9 in sand saves for the week including his birdie hole out on hole #14 and near hole out on #17 during the final round.  His bunker play led him  to being 1st in the tournament in strokes gained around the green (+5.188).  He was also strong off the tee where he was tied for 7th in driving accuracy and he was 9th in strokes gained tee to green (+6.520).

Michael's tie for 11th his his fourth top 15 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open in 10 starts.  He has made the cut in 7 of his 10 trips to San Diego not counting the US Open (which would make it 8 of 11).

Photos

Michael Thompson hits his second shot from the rough on hole #10  in Saturday's final round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

Videos

Michael Thompson eagles hole #6 in the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open.  It was his second eagle on that hole in two days.

 

Nearly Flawless!!!

Michael tees off from the fourth hole at Torrey Pines North.

by Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson put together a nearly flawless round of golf at the Farmers Insurance Open during Wednesday's first round.  He used a combination of driving accuracy,  strong iron play, putting and some timely scrambling to card an eight under par (64) on Torrey Pines North course and is currently in second place.  The North course is decidedly easier than the South course at Torrey Pines but Michael took full advantage on Wednesday.  

Thompson didn't miss a green in regulation until his 12th hole but he was still able to putt for birdie out of some short rough.  He didn't miss a fairway until the 13th hole where he also missed the green in regulation but he was able to get up and down for par.  The only problems he had were on the second shots of his par 5's.  He missed two of those off to the right where he ended up on adjacent holes.  However he was able to make a birdie on hole #9 and he was able to get back in play and make par on hole #10.    His driving was on point all day where he hit 12 out of 14 fairways (T1) and often was literally on the center cut of the fairway.  He also hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation (T11).  

Michael will once again be playing with Cam Davis and Sungjae Im.  They tee off at 10:30am PT from the tenth hole of the South Course for tomorrow's second round.  As a group they were a great watch on Wednesday.  In fact, both Michael and Cam Davis were tied for first place for a big chunk of the day until Davis had a double bogey on the par 5 17th hole. 

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Michael's Scorecard

Videos

 

Articles

Fear the beard: Unshaven Michael Thompson fires 64, trails Billy Horschel by one after first round of Farmers Insurance Open

Michael Thompson (64) has a manly beard and a very good reason for keeping it

Photos

Michael makes his birdie putt at hole #1 a the North Course at Torrey Pines during round #1.

Embed from Getty Images

Thompson Finishes in Style

Michael Thompson tees off from the tenth hole on the North Course at Torrey Pines in the Framers Insurance Open.

by Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson saved his best hole in round one of the Farmers Insurance Open for last.  A solid drive off the tee at the 9th hole on the North course left in a position to go for the green on the par 5 hole.  His approach came up just short of the green in the fairway and his chip managed to hit the flagstick and fall in the hole.  It was an exciting moment that erased a few dropped shots on his back nine and ultimately he finished the day at one under par in a tie for 50th.

Tomorrow Michael and his group will be first off the tee from the first hole at the newly renovated South Course at 9:00am PT.

Videos

Photos

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Michael's Scorecard

Torrey Pines is Now Even Longer

by Roz Roberts III

The South Course at Torrey Pines has always been one of the longer, most difficult courses on the PGA Tour but in preparation for the 2021 US Open, Rees Jones re-designed the South Course adding some bunkers and new tee boxes and the course can now play at a monster 7.765 yards...the longest of any course to host a PGA Tour event.  Starting tomorrow, Michael Thompson and the rest of the PGA Tour will get their first look at the renovations as the Farmers Insurance Open starts.

Michael will play his first round on the North Course which should play as the easier of the two courses although the North Course was renovated three years ago to make it harder as well.  Michael is grouped with Peter Malnati and Sam Ryder.  They tee off at 10:10am PT from the tenth hole of the North Course.

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Michael's Scorecard

Thompson Continues to Shine in San Diego

Michael Thompson strikes his tee shot on hole #4 at Torrey Pines South during round 3 of the Framers Insurance Open.  Michael birdied the hole.

by Roz Roberts III

For the second week in a row Michael Thompson is threatening the top of the leaderboard on the PGA Tour.  This week, three consecutive rounds in the 60's have Michael ten under par and tied for 11th heading into Sunday's final round at the Farmers Insurance Open.

The weather at Torrey Pines has been ideal with San Diego perfect 70 degree weather and calm winds so scoring has been unusually good.  The South Course has been averaging right around par (72) which is a shot or two better than the last several years.

Michael tees off on Sunday at 9:45am PT from the first hole with Hideki Matsuyama and Scott Brown.

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Michael's Scorecard

Moments From Torrey Pines 

Michael taps in his birdie on hole #3 of Torrey Pines South during Round #1.

Michael plays his second shot on hole #4 of Torrey Pines South during round #1. 

Michael looks over his birdie putt on hole #4 during round 1.

Michael hits his tee shot on hole #16 during round 1 of the Farmers Insurance Open.

Michael birdies hole #18 on the South Course during the Farmers Insurance Open.  He tips his hat to several female spectators who had been demanding that all players "take off their hats!"

Thompson Finds First Top 10 of the Season in the Desert

by Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson finished the Desert Classic with a birdie on the final hole to secure his first top 10 finish of the 2018/2019 season.  In the end, Michael finished tied for 9th at 18 under par.  Michael's final round was up and down for the first nine holes of the day where he had both an eagle and a double bogey over that stretch but he righted the ship on the back nine where he carded four birdies.

Michael will look to carry his momentum into this week's Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.  He tees off in the first group from the first hole on the South Course at Torrey Pines.  He is grouped with Nick Taylor and Brandon Hagy.  They tee off at 9am PT.


Online Links for Farmers
Leaderboard
Michael's Scorecard



Pictures and Videos from Round Four at the Desert Classic
The following videos aren't very good and I take full responsibility for their poor quality but they give some flavor to the tournament so I posted them anyways!

Michael's Tee Shot on the First Hole

Michael's Eagle on Hole #5

Michael's Birdie on Hole #18

Torrey Time!!!

by Roz Roberts III

It's my favorite non-major week on the entire PGA Tour schedule and tomorrow can't come soon enough!  The PGA Tour is in my home town of San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open and Michael Thompson is along for the ride.  And that means, so am I!

The Farmers is played at Torrey Pines Golf Course along the beautiful Pacific Ocean and utilizes both the North Course and the South Course.  Each player with play each course once on Thursday and Friday and after the cut the remaining field will play the South Course over the weekend.

The South Course is annually one of the hardest courses on Tour and is long....really, really long.  And it's length gets even more pronounced if there's a wind coming off the ocean.

The North Course has historically been roughly two shots easier than it's big brother to the South but renovations adding length and re-doing some greens evened out the scoring a bit last year.  It remains to be seen if that trend will continue this year or if the North Course will once again play significantly easier as players get more familiarity with the new greens. 

 Michael will tee off in the first group off the tenth hole on the North Course tomorrow at 9:00 am PT.  He is grouped with Ollie Schniederjans and Anirban Lahiri.

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Michael's Scorecard

Thompson Saves His Best for Last

Michael Thompson plays his shot from the fifth tee during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on January 29, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Source: Donald Miralle/Getty Images North America)

by Roz Roberts III

After three great rounds of one under par, Michael Thompson put together his best round of the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday.  He shot a four under par 68 and finished the tournament at seven under par (T14th).   It was Michael's third top 20 finish of the year.

Sunday's round was nearly flawless.  Michael only bogeyed one hole while he birdied five.  He was putting great all day as he was making long birdie putts and making crucial par saves.  Michael finished the tournament tied for third in fewest bogeys (only 7 for the week) and he didn't card a single double bogey or worse.  He also finished the tournament sixth in strokes gained putting and tied for 8th in driving accuracy.

I only saw 11 holes yesterday but between yesterday's round and today's I witnessed Michael card a single bogey over 29 holes and go seven under par over that stretch.  He made the hardest par 72 course on Tour look easy.  I think this might have been the most consistent four consecutive rounds I've ever seen him play live.  It bodes well for the rest of this 2016-2017 season.

Other Photos from Round 4

Michael Thompson plays his shot on the fourth green during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on January 29, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Source: Donald Miralle/Getty Images North America)

Michael Thompson plays his shot on the fourth green during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on January 29, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Source:my phone)

Michael Thompson plays his shot from the second green during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on January 29, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Source:My phone)

Michael Thompson plays his shot from the fourth tee during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on January 29, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Source:My phone)

Michael Thompson plays his shot from the fifth tee during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on January 29, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Source:My phone)

One Under - Again

Michael Thompson gets ready to putt for birdie on hole #13 on the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

by Roz Roberts III

For the third straight day at the Farmers Insurance Open, Michael Thompson carded a one under par 71.  He is currently three under par and tied for 34th.  Michael's day was full of highlights including two long putts he sank on consecutive holes.  He birdied hole #8 from over 46 feet and followed that up with a 38 foot par save on hole #9.

We didn't catch up with Michael's group until the 8th hole.  From that point of the round on he was bogey free and shot three under par.  He had a rough stretch early where he bogeyed three out of four holes but from the point we caught his round he was fantastic.  Besides the birdie bomb on hole #8, the most memorable hole of the day for me was the birdie he made on the most difficult hole on the course:  the 504 yard par four 12th hole.    He split the fairway with a 295 yard drive and he landed his 200 yard approach within four feet.  He paid off those two shots by making the short birdie putt.

Michael will tee off in Sunday's fourth round at 8:25am with Emiliano Grillo and Sebastian Munoz.

Online Links
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Michael's Scorecard

Another Solid Round in San Diego

Michael Thompson tees off from the 8th hole at the North Course at Torrey Pines

by Roz Roberts III

For the second day in a row, Michael Thompson  shot one under par (71) from at the Farmers Insurance Open.  He is now two under par for the tournament which has him tied for 35th.  His second round was once again characterized by great driving and solid all around play.  He missed a few birdie putts coming down the stretch but that was not uncommon as the greens once again were living up to there unpredictable reputation.  Round two played harder than round one because the wind was blowing throughout the day.

Michael will tee off bright and early on Saturday for round three.  He tees off from the first hole at 7:40am PT.  He will be playing with Beau Hossler and Kevin Tway.

Online Links
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Michael's Scorecard

More Photos From Round Two

Torrey South Is An Exercise in Patience

Michael's office was pretty spectacular today.  Torrey Pines South Course hole #4.

by Roz Roberts III

The South Course at Torrey Pines is a beast.  There's no two ways about it.  It's long.  Really long.  And to make things even worse, today's soft conditions didn't provide any roll on the fairways which made it play even longer.

Michael Thompson and his group played in one of the last groups off the first tee and they played through the windiest part of the day and had to deal with bumpy, crusty greens.  Despite all of the difficulties Michael managed to shoot one under par and played great all day.  

To put Michael's round into perspective, he scored better than all three off the players in the group in front of him:  Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, and Tiger Woods.  Everyone was missing short putts as the greens were rolling so erratically and the ball was bouncing and veering all over the place.  The difficulties meant that you had to stay patient and just roll with the punches.

Tomorrow's round is expected to play even tougher as the wind will be gusting up to 40mph.  Michael and his playing partners Jon Curran and Morgan Hoffman will be playing the North Course tomorrow at 9:40am PT.

Online Links
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Michael's Scorecard


Pictures From Round One

Michael Thompson drains his birdie putt on hole #6 on the South Course at Torrey Pines.

Michael Thompson signs autographs after round one at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Torrey Awaits

by Roz Roberts III

After a soggy week in Palm Desert, the sun will be shining this week on Michael Thompson and the rest of the PGA Tour as they compete in the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.  The weather should provide beautiful vistas of the California coast with plenty of sunshine.  The only weather concern will come on Friday when it is expected to be windy.

The Farmers will utilize both the North and South courses at Torrey Pines.  The South course is the more difficult of the two courses although recent changes on the North course have lengthened it.  The South course wass the highest scoring par 72 course on Tour last year.  It's narrow fairways, length, and long rough always provide a difficult test.

Michael will tee off at 10:50am PT from the first hole of the South course on Thursday.   He will be playing with Morgan Hoffman and Jon Curran.  They tee off intermediately after the featured group of Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, and Tiger Woods.

It should be an interesting exercise in patience as I follow Michael and his group while trying to navigate the crowds.  I will try to provide some live Tweets from the course.  The South course will have ShotLink coverage so you should be able to follow the leaderboard too.

Online Links
Leaderboard
Michael's Scorecard

Playing the Weekend (Again)!

Michael Thompson waits his turn to putt on the 5th hole at the Torrey Pines South Course during the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

by Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson has gotten into the habit of making the cut at PGA Tour events and that's a VERY good thing.  By making the cut at this week's Farmers Insurance Open, Michael has now made the cut in seven of the eight tournaments he's played in this PGA Tour season and he's made all three cuts in 2016.

Michael played the difficult South Course at Torrey Pines really well on Friday and ultimately carded a one under par 71 leaving him three under par and tied for 27th.  Michael played great all day until he had a tough stretch starting with the par 4 14th hole.  His tee shot went left into the rough and his second shot landed out of bounds.  He carded a double bogey and was facing another bogey on hole #15 after his bunker shot came out hot and left him with a 50 foot pitch for par.  He drained the pitch (see the video below) and that clutch and improbable par save provided his round a boost of needed momentum.  He gave himself three consecutive birdie chances on the final three holes and he was able to convert one of them on hole 17.

Michael will be teeing off at 8:40am PT from the first hole with Bud Cauley and Bronson Burgoon.

Video

Michael Thompson chips in for great par save at Farmers 

In the second round of the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open, Michael Thompson holes his 36-foot chip shot to save par on the par-4 15th hole on the South Course at Torrey Pines.

Michael Thompson pours in a 27-footer for birdie at Farmers 

In the second round of the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open, Michael Thompson sinks a 27-foot putt for birdie on the par-4 17th hole on the South Course at Torrey Pines.


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Michael's Scorecard

Thompson Posts Solid -2 at Torrey

Michael Thompson tees off from hole #13 on the North Course at Torrey Pines during round 1 of the Farmers Insurance Open.  January 28, 2016

by Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson posted a solid two under par 70 on the North Course at Torrey Pines during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open and is currently tied for 34th.  The scoring average on the North Course was 70.9 so he was a shot under that but he could easily have been four under or even lower.  He had a birdie putt on hole #4 all but fall to the bottom of the cup (see the video below) and he had birdie putts on holes #8 and #9 that just missed.  The birdie put on #9 looked good all the way to the hole and right before it reached the hole it broke hard to the left and just missed.

Michael's round from a stats point of view probably doesn't look great since he missed a lot of fairways early although he wasn't missing the fairways by much.  Even though he wasn't hitting a lot of fairways early in the round, he was hitting a lot of greens.  Towards the end of the round he began hitting fairways more consistently and had birdie opportunities on most of the final 5 holes including really good looks on the final three holes (he made the one on hole #7).

Tomorrow, Michael will be teeing off at 9am PT from the South Course.  The earlier tee time should help with the Poa Annua greens that become very bumpy in the afternoon as they bloom.

Video

Michael's birdie putt on hole #4 makes 180 degree turn rather than falling into the hole like it should have.  Come on ball!

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Michael's Scorecard

It's Torrey Time!

by Roz Roberts III

It's time for the ThompsonTide guys' favorite PGA Tour stop of the year: the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines!  The PGA Tour, with Michael Thompson in tow, has made its yearly stop in San Diego and we can't wait to watch Michael in person.

The FIO at Torrey Pines takes advantage of both the north and south courses along cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The north course is fairly short and easy by PGA Tour standards with the south course, the host of the 2008 US Open, is yearly one of the longest and most difficult courses on tour.
Michael gets his tournament under way on the north course teeing off from the tenth hole at 10:10am PT.  He is grouped with George McNeil and Johnson Wagner.

I will be on site an will attempt to provide live updates via Twitter.  Watch the right hand twitter feed window on this page or follow us on Twitter (@ThompsonTide) for updates.

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Michael's Scorecard

Seven Birdies in the Final Round Give Thompson Best Finish of the Year

Michael Thompson plays a shot out of the bunker on the fourth hole during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on February 8, 2015 in La Jolla, California.  (February 7, 2015 - Source: Josh Hedges/Getty Images North America)

by Roz Roberts III

It was an eventful final round at the Farmers Insurance Open for Michael Thompson.  He carded a remarkable seven birdies under difficult breezy conditions Sunday afternoon.  They were balanced by five bogeys but ultimately his two under par 70 was tied for the seventh best round of the day.  It moved him to six under par for the tournament which was good enough for a T11.  It was by far Michael's best finish of the young 2014-2015 PGA Tour season.

For the second straight day, Michael took advantage of the four par 5's at Torrey Pines South.  He birdied all four of them on Sunday.  The strong finish moved Michael up to 121st on the money list and 145th on the FedexCup points list.

This week he moves up the coast to the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on the beautiful Monterrey Peninsula in central California.

Michael Thompson plays his tee shot on the sixth hole during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on February 8, 2015 in La Jolla, California.  (February 7, 2015 - Source: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images North America) 

Michael Thompson and his caddie Matt Hughes wait on the fifth hole of Torrey Pines South  during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

Michael Thompson hits his third shot on the par 5 9th hole on Torrey Pines South during the fourth round of the Farmers Insurance Open.  He would end up birding the hole after his chip game to rest 7'6" form the hole.

Thompson Takes Advantage of Par 5's on Torrey South

Michael Thompson plays his tee shot on the second hole during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on February 7, 2015 in La Jolla, California.  (February 6, 2015 - Source: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images North America)

by Roz Roberts III

During Saturday's third round at the Farmers Insurance Open, Michael Thompson struggled on the par fours on the Torrey Pines South course but was superb on the par fives.  He finished the round at two over par and is currently tied for 21st.

On the day, Michael was six over par on the par fours which included a double bogey on the forth hole when he drove the ball left into the native scrub brush and had to take an unplayable lie penalty.  But while he struggled on the par fours, he excelled on the par fives.  He was four under par on the four par fives after making two birdies and an eagle.  His eagle came on his final hole of the day when his second shot from 260 yards came to rest a mere four feet 10 inches from the hole.




For Sunday's final round, Michael will be playing with with Brendon De Jonge and Jamie Donaldson.  They tee off from the first hole at 8:50am PT.

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Michael Scorecard
Michael on Shot Tracker
Live@ Streaming from the 13th and 16th Holes

Michael tees off from the first hole in the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open

Patience the Key to Thompson's Second Round

Michael Thompson prepares to play his tee shot on the 11th hole of the south course during round two of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course on February 6, 2015 in La Jolla, California.  (February 5, 2015 - Source: Josh Hedges/Getty Images North America)

by Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson fought his way through the South Course at Torrey Pines in the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open finishing his round at one over par.  He is six under par for the tournament and tied for sixth.

His round got off to a slow start after he had back to back bogeys on his second and third holes of the day.  The South Course at Torrey Pines is one of the most difficult and tour because of its length and penal rough.  Michael's dropped shots were the result of missing greens and fairways.

After his back to back bogeys Michael ground out seven straight pars including a nice par save on 17.  He then missed the green on hole number two which lead to a bogey and he followed that with another bogey on the par three third hole after missing the green to the left.  At that point Michael was sitting at four over par for the round.  He didn't panic but instead continued playing calm and steady.

He then had his best stretch of the day when he parred the forth hole and then ripped off three consecutive birdies.  He birdied the fifth hole after a perfect drive and approach that left him inside a foot for a tap in birdie.  He then birdied the par five sixth hole.  His drive on the seventh hole missed the fairway far to the left.  It was the first (and only) time Michael had been outside the ropes in the first two rounds.  He got a free drop to move away from a temporary structure and then hit an amazing recovery shot to 3 feet 8 inches.  He went on to par his remaining two holes.

Michael birdies hole #6.  His second of three consecutive birdies.

Michael will be paired with Spencer Levin and Marc Leishman for Saturday's third round.  They are scheduled to tee off at 9:30 PT.  However both of the first two rounds were delayed due to early morning fog.

Online Links
Leaderboard
Michael Scorecard
Michael on Shot Tracker
Live@ Streaming from the 13th and 16th Holes

Michael Thompson lines up a putt on the 13th green on the south course during round two of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course on February 6, 2015 in La Jolla, California.  (February 5, 2015 - Source: Josh Hedges/Getty Images North America) 

Michael Thompson plays his tee shot on the 14th hole of the south course during round two of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course on February 6, 2015 in La Jolla, California.  (February 5, 2015 - Source: Josh Hedges/Getty Images North America) 

Michael Thompson tees off from the fourth hole on the South Course at Torrey Pines.

Michael reads his putt on hole #2