Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy commit to 2019 Farmers Insurance Open field
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Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy commit to 2019 Farmers Insurance Open field

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Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are just two of the latest big names to commit to the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open, played next week at Torrey Pines Golf Courses just outside of San Diego.

Woods committed on Wednesday, well ahead of the Friday deadline, to mark his 2019 PGA Tour debut. Woods last officially played on the PGA Tour at the 2018 Tour Championship last September, when he won his 80th PGA Tour title in wire-to-wire fashion at East Lake in Atlanta. Woods lost to Phil Mickleson in extra holes at The Match in Las Vegas, and he competed in the unofficial Hero World Challenge in December.

Woods is a seven-time winner of this tournament, and he's dominated Torrey Pines perhaps more than any of the many golf courses he's owned over his lifetime of competitive golf. A Southern California native, Woods won his 14th -- and, to date, last -- major championship at Torrey Pines when he won the 2008 U.S. Open in a 19-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate on one good leg.

Last year, Woods barely made the cut at Torrey Pines, but he did secure four rounds in his 2018 debut to formally start an incredible PGA Tour comeback.

For his part, McIlroy will be making his Torrey Pines debut next week at the Farmers Insurance Open. McIlroy said last fall he intended to compete more frequently in the United States, particularly at the start of the calendar year. Whereas in the past McIlroy would likely had chosen to play at least one tournament during the European Tour Desert Swing in January, he instead started his year with his debut at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and will now play near San Diego for the first time.

Woods and McIlroy join a great field of top-30 players at Torrey, including defending champion Jason Day, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm, Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed, Marc Leishman, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, last year's playoff loser Alex Noren, Gary Woodland and Hideki Matsuyama.

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Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is founder and editor of Golf News Net. He has been writing and broadcasting about golf for nearly 20 years. Ballengee lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family. He is a scratch golfer...sometimes.

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