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.

Online Links
Leaderboard
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

Torrey Pines Tidbit of the Day

by Roz Roberts III

Due to a two an a half hour fog delay earlier in the day, Michael Thompson and his group were 16 holes through their round when it really started to get dark.  Late afternoon fog wasn't helping either.  They played the short par three 17th hole and quickly moved to the 18th hole tee box.

A course official came up to Michael and his group (J.B Holmes and John Merrick) and asked them if they wanted to start the 18th before he blew the horn signaling the halting of play for darkness.  All three players indicated they wanted to finish.

Since Michael had just birdied the 17th hole he had the honor of teeing off.  He hit his tee shot and then the official blew the horn.  Since a member of the group had hit their tee shot, the entire group had the option of finishing play on that hole which is exactly what they did.

In very low light, all three players went on to birdie the par five 18th and finish their rounds.   A nice win-win to end the day.

Thompson Tears Up Torrey Pines North

Michael Thompson hits his tee shot from the second tee during round one of the Farmers Insurance Open on the North Course at Torrey Pines.

by Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson's first competitive round at Torrey Pines in a while was very successful.  The day started off slowly with two fog delays which moved his first round tee time at the Farmers Insurance Open by two and a half hours.  Despite the delay, Michael started fast out of the gate making birdies on his first two holes on the Torrey Pines North Course.

Michael jumped out to a fast start making birdies at the first two holes.

Over the course of the day, he poured in eight birdies and had decent birdie opportunities on all but three or four holes.  He shot seven under par which has him in second place with roughly 40 golfers still on the course needing to finish their first rounds.

Michael's tee shot on hole #5.

Despite scoring well, Michael's driver was slightly off, especially early in the day.  He didn't hit a fairway until the fifth hole but he was often just feet off the fairway.  His approaches out of the rough were superb all day and missed fairways didn't cost him at all.  In fact, his lone bogey came when a short par putt lipped out on the par three third hole.   As the day wore one, his driver started to find the fairways more regularly.

 

Michael and caddie Matt Hughes contemplate the second shot on hole #8.

He putted solidly all day and dropped lengthy birdie putts on hole 5 (~12 feet) and 17 (~20 feet).  The Poa Annua greens got more and more bumpy as the day went on as the grass grew but the difficult conditions didn't appear to bother Michael.

Michael's approach shot on hole #9 landed 6 inches from the hole setting up a tap in birdie.

Michael hits his tee shot on hole #15

Michael will be playing the South Course at Torrey Pines for Friday's second round.  He will once again be paired with John Merrick and J.B. Holmes.  They are scheduled to tee off from the tenth hole at 9am PT but fog delays remain a possibility.

Online Links
Leaderboard
Michael Scorecard
Michael on Shot Tracker (no Shot Tracker Data Available from the North Course)
Michael's Group on Shot Tracker
Live@ Streaming from the 13th and 16th Holes