Tiger Woods would not be teeing it up at the Torrey Pines for the fourth time in a row, but his legacy will linger through it. The 82-time PGA Tour player has played the event seventeen times, out of which he has clinched the victory seven times. Notably, he once made a four-year streak.
The GOAT is known for many accolades, and this is one such record in his bright portfolio. With so many appearances made at the Famers Insurance Open, how much has the 15x major champion golfer earned through it, and for much was his highest check from the aforementioned tournament?
Overview of Tiger Woods’s 1996–2005 Farmers Insurance Open’s run
Tiger Woods debuted in 1996, and his Farmers Insurance Open or Buick Invitational (formerly known) debut was in 1998. A year after his iconic Masters victory, Woods finished T3 at Torrey Pines, amassing $109,000 in prize money.
Then came the next season. Remember, this is Woods at his prime, so in 1999, he upped his last year’s finish and won the event, earning $486,000. This was his first Buick Invitational victory, but quite literally, it was a start for something no one would have expected. Between 2000 and 2002, Woods’s record at the South Courses looked something like this: T2-T4-T5.
He earned over $100,000 in all three editions. But the breakthrough came again in 2003 when the 82-time winner won it again for $810,000. If two victories and four top-5 finishes over six editions were not enough, he carded another top-10 in 2004. So, in his past eleven appearances, he did not miss a single cut, won six times, and had five top-10 finishes.
But the exemplary Woods thing started in 2005. For four consecutive seasons, from 2005 to 2008, no one could steal away the Buick Invitational from Woods. Year after year, he showed his excellence at Torrey Pines. The total he earned through all his victories was $3.654 million. Even after a marvelous run, Woods did not earn his highest Farmers Insurance Open paycheck until four years later.
The highest Tiger Woods earned at Torrey Pines
After an extraordinary streak at the Farmer Insurance Open, Woods missed the next two editions (2009 and 2010). During that time, the GOAT was paving the way through the countless controversies that surrounded his career. He took an indefinite break in 2010. However, Tiger Woods did come back.
Coming back from downfalls has long been a part of his life. But he could not replicate the previous records. Woods was T44th on the leaderboard, earning his second-lowest prize money ($18,096) from the Farmers Insurance Open. He missed the event in 2012 and, after finding his charm again, entered the Torrey Pines to win the event one more time.
In 2013, when most would not have expected Woods to win, the golfer was four strokes ahead of Brandt Snedeker and Josh Teater. This was also his 75th title of the PGA Tour career, winning his highest at Torrey Pines, a whopping $1.098 million.
Over the next 10 editions, he missed the cut once, missed the event five times, and had one T80 and three top 20 finishes. Overall, through his seven victories, Tiger Woods earned $7,177,379. Comparatively, the amount might not be huge for the billionaire’s career, but it still is a massive amount won from a single title over the years.
With the 2024 Farmers Insurance coming up, who do you think will win the event this year? Let us know your picks in the comments below.
