PGA Tour Rookie Achieves Rare Feat At Torrey Pines - That's Not Been Done In 5 Years

Danny Walker's 65 in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open wasn't enough to take the lead, but it was an eye-catching round and a rare achievement at Torrey Pines.

As the recent Korn Ferry Tour graduate managed to hit all 18 greens in regulation at the tougher South Course at Torrey Pines - something that's only previously been done 11 times during the event on that course and none since 2019.

That's quite an achievement for a player taking part in just his fourth ever PGA Tour event and third in his debut year holding a card.

The 29-year-old finished 28th in the Korn Ferry Tour standings to earn his PGA Tour card for the first time - and having missed the cut the last two weeks Walker is starting to settle into his new surroundings.

And settling in very nicely judging by the way he found every putting surface in regulation on the South Course, which was playing considerably harder than the North Course.

“One of those days where driver was working, really just never forced the issue out there,” said Walker. “Was really just trying to hit the middle of the green a lot of times and then rolled in some putts and that's how I shot a good score.

“The first two weeks I was definitely just stressing myself out too much. This was the first day I really just got myself to just relax and play golf and enjoy the day, just see targets and hit shots and not worry about too much.”

Not worrying certainly paid off for Walker, who is just two shots off leader Ludvig Aberg after the first round of the Farmers, but having played the much tougher course first.

The North Course played 2.27 strokes easier across the first round, with Aberg among 15 of the top 18 on the leaderboard to have played the North on Wednesday.

It could be the start of a huge week for Walker - who had mainly struggled around on mini tours along with playing on the PGA Tour Canada and Korn Ferry Tour since turning pro in 2018 - and even contemplated giving up the game three years ago.

But after pushing on he got his breakthrough last year, and now the 29-year-old already finds himself in contention just three tournaments into his rookie season on the PGA Tour.

Walker's only other previous PGA Tour event was the 2020 Bermuda Championship, where he shot 73-73 to miss the cut, but is now very much on track to make the weekend for the first time - and could be right there with the leaders if his second round goes as well.