Justin Rose's bogey-free round give him Torrey Pines lead, Koepka makes PGA tour return

[p]Five-time major winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/koepka-brooks/t0xtKfZH/"]Koepka[/a]'s return - after he jumped ship to the divisive Saudi-backed LIV Golf league that rocked the global game - had dominated the build-up to the Farmers' Insurance Open.[/p][p]Koepka, who hadn't played a non-major PGA Tour event since the 2022 WGC Match Play, carded a one-over par 73 on Torrey Pines' South Course, where he said his reception from fans helped quell his first-tee nerves.[/p][p][b]"I just cared about my perception, what people thought or what the fans thought," [/b]Koepka said.[b] [/b][/p][p][b]"It's easy when you're around the players and they come and talk to you or you talk to them, or caddies or people around here, but everybody else, I wasn't sure."[/b][/p][p]In the end, he said, the fans were "awesome".[/p][p][b]"It was very cool to hear 'welcome back,' it was pretty much every hole."[/b][/p][embed guid="6a621c07-5641-40eb-8809-0183ef243e62" url="https://x.com/i/status/2017043047733756207" social-type="twitter" /][p]Playing the tougher of two courses in use over the first two rounds, Koepka found a fairway bunker on the way to a bogey at the fourth and dropped another shot at the 13th.[/p][p]He made his lone birdie of the day at the par-five 18th, where his second shot went through the green, but he chipped to eight feet and made the putt.[/p][p]"I felt like it was pretty good," Koepka said, noting he hadn't played a competitive round in 14 weeks.[/p][p]"I struck it really well. I didn't hit enough fairways ... didn't really make any putts besides 18 right there.[/p][p][b]"It's been a while since I played competitive golf, so I like the way I'm playing, I just need to kind of play my way into it."[/b][/p][p]Koepka's move back to the PGA Tour, which had banned players who jumped to LIV, comes under a new returning member program that includes limitations on eligibility for some top events, and a five-year forfeiture of rights to participate in the PGA's player equity program.[/p][p]Koepka, who is also making a $5 million charitable donation as one of the conditions of his reinstatement, said the speed at which the puzzle pieces fell in place had "kind of blown my mind".[/p][p][b]"I'm just grateful to be out here and have a chance to compete with these guys," [/b]he said.[/p][p]He'll need to go low on Friday to have a chance to make the cut.[/p][h2]Rose 'good enough'[/h2][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rose-justin/rR1fSdat/"]Rose[/a], the 2013 US Open champion, torched the North Course with 10 birdies, just missing an 11th at his final hole, the par-five ninth, that would have given him the course record.[/p][p]"It's funny how you can walk off frustrated for sure," said Rose, who said he second-guessed himself on the tricky birdie putt.[/p][p][b]"But, listen, I made my share out there today. My process was fantastic. I feel like I managed my game really, really well today.[/b][/p][p][b]"I didn't feel like I played perfect golf so it's a good reminder that you don't always have to play perfect golf, but it was good enough," [/b]added Rose, who was one stroke in front of American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lower-justin/QVvaDfNQ/"]Justin Lower[/a].[/p][embed guid="ecfeccc8-73df-4224-b0fc-35ad412d05f8" url="https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/2017030336891216324?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Japan's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/matsuyama-hideki/GOHJOEb5/"]Hideki Matsuyama[/a] picked up five strokes in his last five holes with an eagle and three birdies to grab a share of third on eight-under 64, tied with American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/greyserman-max/OCT1sJvF/"]Max Greyserman[/a].[/p][p]Ireland's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/power-seamus/G2pauSLr/"]Seamus Power[/a] had the round of the day on the South Course, carding a seven-under 65 to share fifth place alongside Germany's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jaeger-stephan/hSDmUNMd/"]Stephan Jaeger[/a] and American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcnealy-maverick/0zWorABC/"]Maverick McNealy[/a].[/p]