2025 Farmers Insurance Open leaderboard: Ludvig Åberg leads by two at Torrey Pines after his 63 in Round 1

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Ludwig Aberg shot a 9-under 63 Wednesday at what he calls his favorite place in the world, taking a two-point lead over Danny Walker and Hayden Springer in the opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

Åberg took the first round lead on the PGA Tour for the first time after recording the best opening round score of his short career. The 25-year-old Swede took advantage of playing the easier northern course at Torrey Pines, hitting 16 of 18 greens in regulation while making eight birdies and an eagle on the coastal links.

“I like it when you hit a lot of drivers, and I feel like I did that a lot today, and I’ll probably do the same thing tomorrow,” Oberg said. “(I love) any golf course when it looks like this, when you have the scenery, and Torrey Pines is a really nice place.”

The 25-year-old Walker was impressive in his fourth PGA Tour career. He posted the best opening day round on the tougher South Course, where the scoring average was 72.487 compared to 70.218 on the North.

Walker and Springer finished one shot ahead of Lanto Griffin, Zach Blair, 48-year-old Zach Johnson and 20-year-old Aldrich Potgieter – all of whom played on the North Course.

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, the top-ranked player in the field and winner of The Sentry at Kapalua, shot 68 on the South Course.

Oberg, who finished ninth last year in his debut at Torrey Pines, began the new season with a fifth-place finish at Maui after undergoing knee surgery last fall. After winning the 2023 Tour Rookie of the Year honors, he went winless last year despite six top-five finishes, including second place at the Masters, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the BMW Championship.

While many of the top players aren’t at Torrey Pines this week, Oberg couldn’t wait to get out on the beautiful coastal course, calling San Diego “my favorite place in the world” earlier this week.

Åberg also said he would like the Genesis Invitational to be held here in three weeks. The tournament is expected to announce its 2025 home shortly after it was moved away from Riviera Country Club due to deadly wildfires that destroyed part of Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood, near the iconic course.

“I haven’t had any problems since the surgery, so it’s really great,” Oberg said. “I think Maui was the ultimate test for that. I had some blisters on my feet. That’s another story, but the knee has been holding up well. I’m really looking forward to getting back and playing a lot of tournaments. … I’m looking forward to a great stretch of golf.”

Walker, the rookie who earned his PGA Tour card on the Korn Ferry Tour, turned in a bogey-free round after missing his first two cuts of the season.

Johnson hasn’t won on Tour since the 2015 British Open at St. Andrews, but has made an impressive start at Torrey Pines after securing a sponsor’s exemption.

Defending champion Matteo Pavone shot 73 on South Court.

This popular tournament on San Diego’s North Shore has fewer stars in its field this year than usual. World number two and San Diego native Xander Scheufele did not enter, while fifth seed and Southern California native Collin Morikawa withdrew on Sunday, followed by former Torrey Pines runner-up Will Zalatoris on Wednesday morning.

The Farmers Insurance Open begins Wednesday and ends Saturday to avoid a final round conflict with the NFL Conference Championship games.