[PHOTO: Lintao Zhang]

It figured to a be a happy and triumphant return to Torrey Pines for Xander Schauffele. The native San Diegan and world No.2 won two majors, the PGA Championship and Open Championship, last year, and now his hometown fans were expected to cheer him in the flesh at this week’s Farmers Insurance Open.

Sadly, the party won’t happen.

The Farmers Open field was finalised on Saturday and Schauffele was not on the list, surprising even the tournament organisers who had expected him to enter. It’s not an official withdrawal because Schauffele never signed up, but his absence will follow his WD from this past week’s American Express tournament in La Quinta, California.

Unlike the recent holiday injuries reported by Scottie Scheffler (hand) and Viktor Hovland (broken toe), Schauffele has been mum on his status. Medical reasons were cited for his American Express withdrawal.

Schauffele’s absence has stirred speculation that something has been amiss since he appeared in the inaugural match of the indoor simulator league TGL on January 8. The previous week, Schauffele competed in the PGA Tour’s season opener, The Sentry, and was not sharp, finishing T-30 in an event he has excelled in before. Schauffele’s TGL team, New York GC, is scheduled to play this Wednesday (Australian time) against Atlanta Drive GC, but he was not set to be in the line-up, presumably to be able to play in the Farmers.

Schauffele the San Diego State University alum who grew up playing the Torrey Pines South and North courses that host the Farmers, had competed in the event for nine straight years. He missed four of the first five cuts, but had rallied for four top-13 finishes in the past four starts, including a T-2 in 2021 when Patrick Reed won. Schauffele tied for ninth last year.

With Schaffele out, the Farmers has three players from the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking – Collin Morikawa (4), Hideki Matsuyama (5) and Ludvig Åberg (6). Three more from the top 20 are Keegan Bradley (11), Sahith Theegala (13) and Sungjae Im (19).

The Farmers will be played Wednesday through Saturday, US time, and the defending champion is Frenchman Matthieu Pavon.