Wind torments golfers during second round of Farmers Insurance Open; Lanto Griffin, Ludvig Aberg share clubhouse lead

• January 24, 2025

The wind whipped up and took the scores with it on Thursday in the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

Wind gusts reached more than 35 mph — enough to move balls on the green and force an 86-minute suspension of play that prevented the round from being completed.

With 29 golfers still on the course when darkness came, the clubhouse leaders were Ludvig Aberg and Lanto Griffin. Both were at 6-under midway through the tournament.

First-round co-leader Aberg shot a 3-over 75 on the South Course, allowing Griffin to draw even with an even-par 72 on the South.

“Throw the score out the window — a normal day 72’s good on this golf course and today was just head-down grind,” Griffin said. “The goal on the back — I didn’t make a birdie on the front — the goal on the back nine was just to make a birdie, get some momentum going.”

Griffin called the conditions “brutal” when winds gusted to an estimated 35 mph as he walked to the tee box on the 614-yard 13th hole.

“So it was kind of hang on for dear life, try and save pars on the majority of the holes and sprinkle in a birdie or two,” he said.

Danny Walker was a stroke behind the leaders following a 2-over 74 on the North.

“A crazy day, for sure,” Walker said. “One of those days where you can’t even think about what you’re shooting, just got to do your best to hit every shot and just accept whatever happens. So much of where the ball’s going to go is just out of your control. Did my best to just keep a level head and just take it one shot at a time. It’s all you could do.”

Three other players — Hayden Springer, Chris Gotterup and Sungjae Im — are two strokes behind he leaders.

Gotterup moved into contention by posting one of the low rounds of the day, a 3-under 69 on the North. Jason Day (tied for 26th, five strokes back) also had a 69 on the North. No one else could make such a claim.

The best score on the South also was a 3-under 69, carded by Jackson Suber, who was tied for 14th at 2-under for the tournament.

Amateur Luke Clanton, a Florida State junior, played himself onto the leaderboard by shooting 1-under through 16 holes on the South. That placed him with six others at 3 under, though Clanton and Will Gordon still have to finish their rounds.

Clanton has a chance at the Farmers to earn his PGA Tour card through the tour’s Accelerated program, which allows top college players to earn tour cards based on what they do in amateur, college and pro golf events. A top-five finish in the Farmers would get Clanton three points, getting him to the 20 points needed to receive his card.

The second round was scheduled to be completed Friday morning at 7:30. The third round will begin moments thereafter for the 65 players (and ties) who survive the cut that is projected at plus-1. The final two rounds are played on the South Course.

Defending champion Matthieu Pavon will not be among them after shooting a second-day 80 (North) that put him at 9-over for the tournament. Max Homa, the 2023 Farmers champion, withdrew during the wind delay with three holes to play. Homa was 4-over for the day and 9-over for the tournament when he withdrew.

​ Orange County Register 

Bryce Miller: Wind-whipped Torrey Pines leads to delay, consternation at Farmers Insurance Open

• January 24, 2025

There’s nice Torrey Pines and naughty Torrey Pines.

The nice version involves clear skies, hang gliders lazily dotting the horizon and a whisper of wind. It’s a living, breathing postcard hugging the cliffside above the deep blue Pacific Ocean.

The naughty version pours sugar into your gas tank and rats you out to the IRS.

Torrey came out with a back-alley scowl Thursday in the wind-whipped second round of the Farmers Insurance Open that was delayed at one point for 1 hour and 25 minutes.

It was diplomatically rude to all, from the long hitters to short putts.

Flagsticks leaned like willows, straining to hold their ground. A large tree limb fell on the South Course’s 18th hole, barely missing fans. Drives resembled those in disc golf.

There was so much of the blustery stuff that a course employee with a leaf blower zig-zagged between players on the putting green during the delay in a valiant effort to clear debris.

Welcome to Torrey Pines and golf in a blender.

“Just a crazy day, for sure,” said Danny Walker, who survived the flipped script on the normally behaved North Course with a 2-over to stand in third place at 5-under. “One of those days where you can’t even think about what you’re shooting, just got to do your best to hit every shot and just accept whatever happens.

“So much of where the ball’s going to go is just out of your control.”

Gusts pushed past 35 mph on a day that tested club and anger control equally.

A day earlier 86 players finished under par. On Thursday in 2024, 99 did the same. When darkness left 29 players on the course this lap, the number plummeted.

To 13.

First-round leader Ludvig Aberg, who is tied halfway through at 6-under with Lanto Griffin, watched a round of 3-over thin his early lead.

“I don’t remember the last time it was that hard to get close to the pins,” Aberg said.

Wild and wooly as Santa Ana winds uncorked the full arsenal. Asked to gauge it against other experiences in his club-swinging lifetime, Walker could not contain it to the United States.

“The only thing I can compare it to is maybe playing in the Bahamas,” he said.

The day even threw a curveball at the weather guy.

Tour meteorologist Kyle Koval said the conditions pestering players Thursday have only been recorded one or two other times in the last 20 years at the Farmers.

The winds raced in from the east, rather than the normal inland approach off the ocean.

The scorecard-scrambling result: The normally tame North Course, exposed most to the wind at a higher elevation than the technically tougher South Course, showed teeth of its own.

“Easterly winds reaching the ocean is very uncommon,” Koval said. “A lot of times you will see these winds stay about 15 to 20 miles farther east. So it takes a very unique pattern for them to reach the coast.

“To see anything over 20 (mph) coming off the land is very uncommon.”

Also uncommon?

Seeing a player with the chops of Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion with 11 Tour wins, ranked No. 4 in the world, tossed about like a rag doll on the North Course.

On Wednesday, Matsuyama shot 68 on the South to sit at 4-under. On Thursday: 75.

You wondered if the day might scar 19-year-old amateur Jackson Koivun and spur golf nightmares. Koivun shot a 76 on the North, then was asked how the conditions compared to the most difficult he’s faced.

“It’s pretty far up there,” he said.

Well, it didn’t snow. There were no locusts. Beyond that, silver linings seemed as rare as finding penguins in Death Valley.

S.H. Kim, a three-time Tour runner-up, double-bogeyed No. 3 South before bogeying four of the next five holes on the way to an 84. Martin Laird, a four-time Tour winner from wind-savvy Scotland, posted an 81.

Pain did not discriminate.

“The way the wind was blowing,” said Carson Young, after a dizzying 6-over Thursday, “it was almost impossible to hit it close.”

Koval, the weather guy, said Friday will be a return to Wednesday’s civilized conditions.

No penguins, either.

​ Orange County Register 

Thorpedo Anna, Californians shine at Eclipse Awards

• January 24, 2025

The road to thoroughbred racing’s Eclipse Awards ceremony in Florida on Thursday night went through California.

Thorpedo Anna, named Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly for 2024, led the usual long list of honorees who capped their seasons with definitive victories at the Breeders’ Cup, which was held at Del Mar last November.

Champion older male on dirt National Treasure, male sprinter Straight No Chaser and 2-year-old male Citizen Bull made up an unusually long list of divisional Eclipse winners who were trained at Santa Anita and Del Mar.

The results announced at a dinner televised from Palm Beach, Florida, made 2024 a bounce-back season for California’s best racehorses even though it was a hard year for the state’s racing industry.

In 2023, California horses had failed to win an Eclipse in any of the 11 flat-racing equine categories, represented the end of a steep decline from the five California horses honored in 2018 (when Triple Crown winner Justify was Horse of the Year), from the three in 2020 (when Authentic was Horse of the Year) and 2021, and even from the one in 2022 (when Flightline took the top prize).

So California racing people were relieved and hopeful when the early-January announcement of Eclipse finalists – top-three vote-getters in each category – showed horses based here having a chance at as many as four championships.

“It’s good to have California horses in the discussion,” Santa Anita director of racing Jason Egan said last Saturday.

Of the four, only male-on-turf championship contender Johannes came up short, finishing second to globetrotting Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Rebel’s Romance, 89 first-place votes to 81 in the closest balloting of the year by racing journalists and executives.

The others romped in the voting, Bob Baffert-trained National Treasure getting 148 first-place votes to fellow Californian Full Serrano’s 19 in the older-males division, Baffert-trained Citizen Bull getting 204 to Chancer McPatrick’s two for 2-year-old male, and Dan Blacker-trained Straight No Chaser getting 125 to Cogburn’s 38 and California-bred star The Chosen Vron’s 23 for male sprinter.

California can also take partial credit for Flavien Prat winning his first Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey, since Prat calls Southern California home and began his year at Santa Anita as usual in 2024 before conquering the nation with records for graded stakes wins (56) and overall stakes wins (82).

The two Breeders’ Cup winners Prat rode at Del Mar on Nov. 2 both won Eclipse Awards, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner for Sierra Leone voted champion 3-year-old male and Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Moira voted champion female on turf.

Sierra Leone helped Chad Brown win the Eclipse for outstanding trainer for the fifth time, Brown receiving 101 first-place votes to Ken McPeek’s 88.

“I finally beat Kenny McPeek in a photo,” Brown said in accepting the trophy Thursday.

But McPeek was on stage for the biggest prize of the night, as part of the group accepting the Horse of the Year title for Thorpedo Anna, who joined Rachel Alexandra (2009) as the only 3-year-old fillies to win the overall championship. Thorpedo Anna outpointed Sierra Leone 193-10 in first-place votes, and Fierceness was next with five.

McPeek, the trainer, had Judy Hicks, the breeder, address the dinner crowd.

“It’s the culmination of so many things,” said Hicks, who began Thorpedo Anna’s unlikely rise by breeding the Uncle Mo mare Sataves to the stallion Fast Anna.

More a celebration than a culmination. McPeek drew cheers by reminding the audience that Thorpedo Anna will race in 2025.

As for the California-based champions, National Treasure has been retired, but 6-year-old Straight No Chaser returned to workouts in December and 2-year-old Citizen Bull is getting ready to hit the Kentucky Derby trail.

Here are all of the champions:

Horse of the Year: Thorpedo Anna

Older male on dirt: National Treasure

Older female on dirt: Idiomatic

3-year-old male: Sierra Leone

3-year-old female: Thorpedo Anna

2-year-old male: Citizen Bull

2-year-old female: Immersive

Male sprinter: Straight No Chaser

Female sprinter: Soul of an Angel

Male on turf: Rebel’s Romance

Female on turf: Moira

Steeplechase horse: Snap Decision

Jockey: Flavien Prat

Apprentice jockey: Erik Asmussen

Trainer: Chad Brown

Owner: Godolphin

Breeder: Godolphin

Kevin Modesti reported from Los Angeles.

​ Orange County Register 

President Trump’s first week of presidency includes a visit to Southern California

• January 24, 2025

President Donald Trump is expected to travel to Southern California on Friday to see firsthand the devastation caused by wildfires that have rippled through Los Angeles County over the past two-and-a-half weeks.

As of Thursday afternoon, details of the president’s visit remain scant. What we do know is that the trip will come during Trump’s first week back in office.

And it appears to be a short trip. Trump will first stop in Asheville, North Carolina, which is still rebounding from the devastation brought by Hurricane Helene in the fall. The president is then expected to head to Southern California before he is slated to travel to Las Vegas later Friday.

Officials in North Carolina estimated that the hurricane left behind at least $53 billion in damages and recovery needs. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called it the “deadliest and most damaging storm ever” to hit the state.

While campaigning, Trump criticized then-President Joe Biden and his administration’s response to that disaster.

“They’ve let those people suffer unjustly,” Trump once said about the residents of North Carolina. And during his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump referred to the “wonderful people of North Carolina, who’ve been treated so badly.”

It’s unclear whether the Republican president will meet with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom upon arriving in California.

“I don’t know. I haven’t even thought about it,” Trump said about a potential meeting during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday.

Newsom said Thursday afternoon that he still had not “had contact with the White House” but planned to be on the tarmac to greet the president when he arrives.

“I’m grateful that he appears to be coming out,” Newsom said.

It’s no secret that Trump and Newsom have frequently feuded. But during the early days of the Southern California wildfires, Newsom invited Trump to visit Los Angeles to witness the devastation and urged the president not to politicize the catastrophe.

Still, Trump has repeatedly criticized both Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass for their handling of the fires.

Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Bass, said in a statement Thursday that the mayor had spoken with members of Trump’s administration and “is continuing to have conversations with federal partners about how we can work together to mount the most monumental post-disaster recovery effort in American history.”

During his interview with Fox News, Trump suggested once again that the federal government should withhold disaster aid to California unless the state changes its water policy.

“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down” from the northern part of the state to the south, Trump said.

Before he was reelected, Trump had suggested that if he were president again, he’d withhold federal disaster aid to California in the event of future wildfires if Newsom would not agree to divert more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to farmers in the Central Valley.

The president has also made inaccurate claims about the role that California’s water policy played in firefighters’ ability to put out the wildfires in L.A. County. One of Trump’s first actions after being sworn into office on Monday was to call for routing more water from northern parts of the state to areas further south.

​ Orange County Register 

Buena Park hires alumnus Mauricio Carmona as football coach

• January 24, 2025

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Buena Park has named alumnus Mauricio Carmona as its new football coach, the school recently announced.

Carmona, 33, will be a first-time head coach in the fall after serving last season an an offensive line coach and the head frosh-soph coach.

He has been the Coyotes’ frosh-soph coach the past three seasons and brings 14 years of coaching experience to the post.

Carmona also works as an instructional aid at Buena Park. He graduated from the school in 2010.

“I’m just excited about the opportunity,” said Carmona, who was a two-way lineman for Buena Park after starting his high school career at Sunny Hills. “I just want to bring the culture back. I want to bring structure.”

“Football imitates life in a lot of ways,” he added. “I’m able to relate to the kids.”

Carmona replaces David Prieto as Buena Park’s coach. The school and Prieto agreed to mutually part ways after four seasons.

Carmona counts Prieto, former Buena Park coaches Anthony White and Rob Ryan and former Godinez coach Tom Heathington as coaching mentors.

Carmona served as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator for the frosh-soph at Godinez.

Last season, Buena Park finished 4-6 overall, 2-3 in Omicron league and missed the playoffs.

Please send football news to Dan Albano at [email protected] or @ocvarsityguy on X and Instagram

​ Orange County Register 

MLS Cup champion Galaxy face busy schedule while retooling roster

• January 24, 2025

CARSON — In Major League Soccer there really is no rest for the champion.

The Galaxy hoisted their sixth MLS Cup trophy on Dec. 7. This week, the club opened preseason training camp. In one month, the 2025 regular season kicks off. Until then, there are big decisions that need to be made and a few that have already been made.

“The goal going into the offseason was to run it back,” General Manager Will Kuntz said Thursday. “We obviously want to win again and do it with as much continuity as possible. The reality is, in MLS, it’s really difficult to be able to keep together a contending team.

“We’ve been trying to walk the right line of keeping the continuity as much possible, but also having a roster that’s sustainable with our league rules. It’s been really hard and painful, I think as we’ve all seen from the transactions that we’ve made … it’s not easy. This league punishes teams for having success. No one is going to feel bad for us, but it’s a real problem.”

Since celebrating the championship win on their home field, the Galaxy have traded homegrown defender Jalen Neal (CF Montreal), midfielder Gaston Brugman (Nashville SC) and midfielder Mark Delgado (LAFC). All three moves helped the Galaxy toward salary cap relief.

“Every year in MLS, unfortunately you go through roster shifts and changes and sometimes as coaches you have to let the dust settle a little bit to see what it will actually look like when it’s all done,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “Trying to build our vision for 2025, but understanding that we have a title to defend, expectations to fulfill. The intention and attention is on the process.”

Complicating matters for the Galaxy is the absence of star midfielder Riqui Puig. Puig suffered an ACL injury in the Western Conference final. He’s currently back home in Barcelona as he begins his rehab process.

“We’ve certainly lost some important guys, which unfortunately sometimes happens,” Vanney said. “The more success you have, sometimes the more challenges you have to keep a group together. We’ll see as we go through the next couple of weeks, hopefully clarity starts to set in and guys start to get here and start to prepare for what’s to come.”

So far, the Galaxy have added another goalkeeper (JT Marcinkowski), midfielder Sean Davis and defender Mathias “Zanka” Jorgensen. The club is trying to land midfielder Lucas Sanabria from Nacional in Uruguay. Kuntz said there is progress being made and hopes to have it finalized “sooner rather than later.”

The Galaxy also re-signed defender Maya Yoshida to a two-year contract.

The upcoming schedule will be more crowded with the Campeones Cup, CONCACAF Champions Cup and the Leagues Cup along with the 34-game MLS regular season, placing an importance on building a strong roster, even with the departures.

“The pieces that we will add, which I’m sure there’ll be two to three more pieces to come between now and the start of the season, we’ll get a feel for the strengths of those players and how they will fit into the ideas that we will have as a team,” Vanney said. “Guys that gained experience last year, like Mauricio (Cuevas), we need him to take a step forward this year, more games, more opportunities for him. I suspect he’ll be more ready to contribute this year than even where he was last year.

“Isaiah (Parente) and Tucker (Lepley) these are guys who spent a year with us, we know a lot about what they bring to the equation, they understand the way we want to play so that makes me comfortable in finding the right moment and using those guys. Ruben (Ramos) has continued to grow inside of all of these experiences and I think he’ll play a role this year and be able to step in, we have (defender) Julian (Aude) back and healthy, hopefully we can keep him there, we missed him for big chunks last year, so it will be nice to have him and his quality back in the group this year.”

Gabriel Pec and Jorgenson are due to arrive over the weekend. Unlike last season, Joseph Paintsil is in camp from the beginning. Last year, he arrived days before the season opener and went on to play a combined 70 games between Genk and the Galaxy.

“Teams are really going to come at us now,” he said. “But we need to be really prepared for every difficulties or everything that’s going to try to make things difficult for us.”

​ Orange County Register 

Disney appoints new Disneyland president from cruise line division

• January 24, 2025

Disneyland has a new president who will oversee the park’s 70th anniversary celebration starting in May and guide the Anaheim theme park as it begins work on a 40-year expansion plan under the recently-approved DisneylandForward initiative.

Former Disney Cruise Line executive Thomas Mazloum was appointed the new Disneyland Resort President on Thursday, Jan. 23 by Disney Parks chairman Josh D’Amaro.

Mazloum replaces former Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock who has been appointed to a newly created role overseeing major worldwide events for Disney.

Both Mazloum and Potrock will begin their new roles immediately and continue to report to D’Amaro who heads the Disney Experiences division.

Mazloum will oversee 36,000 employees who work at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney and the three Disney hotels in Anaheim.

As president of Disney Signature Experiences, Mazloum previously ran the Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club timeshare program, Adventures by Disney guided tours, Aulani Hotel in Hawaii, Disney Institute education program and Storyliving by Disney housing development.

Before running Disney’s cruise business, Mazloum oversaw the Disney World hotels, Disney Springs outdoor shopping mall and bus transportation operations in Florida.

Potrock guided Disneyland during the yearlong COVID-19 pandemic shutdown of the parks and the launch of the Avengers Campus themed land at Disney California Adventure. He shepherded the $1.9 billion DisneylandForward plan approved by the city of Anaheim that will reimagine what the theme park resort district will look like over the next four decades.

In his new role, Potrock will help develop Disney’s plans for America’s 250th anniversary celebration in 2026 and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

​ Orange County Register 

Is Commanders QB Jayden Daniels ‘the best rookie of all-time?’

• January 24, 2025

By STEPHEN WHYNO | AP Sports Writer

ASHBURN, Va. — Jayden Daniels has the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game, and his list of admirers around the league continues to grow.

Just this week, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio called Daniels “a young quarterback by birth certificate, not by the tape.” C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans believes Daniels has “had the best rookie year of all time.”

If he and the Commanders beat the Eagles on Sunday, Daniels, a Cajon High grad, would become the first rookie quarterback to lead his team to the Super Bowl. And even as the hype train picks up speed, Daniels remains the same laser-focused competitor and down-to-earth person he was when he walked through the door as the second pick in the draft.

“He stays as even-keeled as any player I’ve ever been around,” top receiver Terry McLaurin said Wednesday. “We’ve played in some of the most hostile environments, we’ve been playing on some of the biggest stages and he’s treating it the same each and every week. I love that about him.”

Daniels is making a strong case to back up the opinion of Stroud, a Rancho Cucamonga High product and last season’s AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Daniels, a 24-year-old out of LSU, is the first player in franchise history to throw for 25 touchdown passes with fewer than 10 interceptions, and his 891 yards rushing are the most of any rookie QB in NFL history.

After winning the Heisman Trophy in college and becoming a shoe-in to be AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, Daniels said he was “not even thinking that far” about making the Super Bowl and the trail he would be blazing by facing the Buffalo Bills or Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans on Feb. 9.

“It would obviously be a blessing, but I’m just focused on how can I be better day by day,” Daniels said. “There’s countless teams that want to be in this position. … You can’t really take it for granted, but you also just got to be in the moment.”

No problem there. Coach Dan Quinn likens Daniels on the sideline to “The Terminator” because of his steely-eyed demeanor and avoidance of distractions. On the field, Daniels has led the Commanders to six consecutive victories — winning the first five on the final play of scrimmage and beating the 15-win Lions 45-31 in Detroit. He has thrown for 17 TDs during this stretch, and while Washington is an underdog at Philadelphia, Daniels’ magic is the biggest reason to think the Commanders could pull off another upset.

“He’s got rare, in-the-moment skills that have allowed us to be into this spot,” Quinn said. “When it’s mental chaos going down and two minutes (left) and these tight moments where it can feel that tight, he’s got the experience of somebody that’s played a lot more football than a first-year player.”

Daniels isn’t sure when teammates stopped treating him like a rookie. It was Week 8 after his Hail Mary pass to Noah Brown when veteran tight end Zach Ertz asked that everyone outside the organization stop acting like Daniels is a rookie because he had seen signs of it for months.

“He was very proactive in his approach to being great,” said Ertz, who helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl seven years ago. “A lot of times when you’re young in the league, it’s a lot of trial and error to see what works for you. And, oftentimes, you’re reactionary in terms of how your process is. And it’s like, ‘Oh, after I failed a couple times, maybe I’ll do X, Y and Z a little more.’ Whereas Jayden, the moment he first got here, he was the first one in the building studying as much as possible.”

Daniels, who still warms up with a basketball and loves that sport, too, earned the reputation of being a gym rat during offseason practices. He showed up early to take part in walkthroughs before others and stayed late to make sure he got the playbook down pat.

Quinn, himself one win from returning to the Super Bowl eight years since he and the Atlanta Falcons lost to New England, appreciates Daniels’ competitiveness but respects even more how much stems from the rookie’s preparation.

“There’s a feeling of being a leg up, and doing that type of extra work sometimes just also provides the right motivation for yourself: ‘I’ve seen that look. I’m ready,’” Quinn said. “You’ve done the work at it, so when the moment comes, you’re ready to deliver.”

Daniels has delivered Washington’s best season-to-season win improvement from 4-13 to 12-5, and he has been the centerpiece of an offense that has 10 games with zero turnovers — the most for the franchise since at least 1940, according to Sportradar.

Each step along the way, Daniels has shown that no situation is too much pressure for him, something he credits to football being a fun escape for him.

“I’m not really going out there and stressing about the moment because at the end of the day I get to do what I love each and every week win, lose or draw,” Daniels said. “It’s just a blessing to be one of those kids that are able to fulfill their dream and live out their dream of playing on Sundays in the NFL.”

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​ Orange County Register