They say time flies, and maybe that is best represented when it comes to children.

One of the enduring memories of Jason Day’s 2015 Farmers Insurance Open victory at Torrey Pines was 2-year-old son Dash making a greenside bunker his personal sandbox as Day was being honored for his win on the South’s 18th green.

Dash Day had himself quite a time, raking the trap, drawing in the sand and playing with a golf ball while his dad posed for pictures with a trophy and a surfboard — and a check for $1.13 million.

Has it really been a decade since the first of Day’s two Farmers victories? Yes, it has. Dash is a reminder of that.

“He’s nearly as tall as me,” Day said after Tuesday morning’s pro-am for the tournament that tees off Wednesday. “He’s 5-11, and he’s 12 years old.”

And doing what kids do. Like treating the putter Day used for his 2015 PGA Championship victory like it came from a golf store bargain bin.

“I gave that to Dash during a PGA Junior,” Day said. “He gave it back, but it was all dinged up. He never put a cover on it, so it was completely destroyed. That thing is toast. It’s sitting at home doing nothing now.”

Day smiled at the memories Torrey Pines holds for him, his wife Ellie and a family that now includes five children.

“My kids have grown up through this tournament as well,” said Day, 37, who is playing the Farmers for the 13th straight year and 16th time overall. “That’s why I have a lot of loyalty to this tournament because of the good memories.”

Those memories date to a Callaway Junior World Championship in 2004 at Torrey Pines. Day’s 2015 and 2018 Farmers victories here both came in playoffs.

“It’s always fun to come back to a place that I’ve been coming to since I was pretty much 16 years old,” he said. “It’s nice, it’s a fun place to play. It is very difficult. Obviously, U.S. Open-style golf course on the South. The course conditions are fantastic right now, so I’m looking forward to, hopefully, a successful week.”

Day, coming off a third-place tie in The American Express, is looking for his first victory since the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson. That win ended a five-year victory drought. Day has won 13 times on the PGA Tour, tied for fifth-most with Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth among active tour members.

The Farmers field includes six past champions. Day and Brandt Snedeker, who won here in 2012 and 2016, are the only ones aiming for a third Farmers win.

“You have to elevate your game here,” Day said. “If you don’t, you have to be good from tee to green and when you’re on the greens, the greens are the defense of the golf course I believe outside the rough and the length. …

“I enjoy the tough test that it gives you. You have to be able to come into a golf course like this knowing exactly where things are in your game because if (you don’t), it exposes it pretty quickly.”

Buckeyes fan

Day is from Australia, but he makes his home in his wife’s home state of Ohio.

That explains why he was so excited about Ohio State winning the national championship Monday night with a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame.

He may have felt best for another Day — Buckeyes coach Ryan Day. (No relation).

“I will say to all the people that were calling for his head, I’m like, ‘Come on,’ ” Day said. “I know that we’ve lost against Michigan the last four seasons, and that’s big for Ohio people, we can’t lose against Michigan. But I’d take a championship over losing to Michigan every single year if we won the championship every single year.

“It was nice to be able to see his success. Obviously, since that Michigan game, the whole team, he’s rallied the boys and they’ve played tremendous.”

Ohio State was ranked No. 2 in the nation in the preseason, but the Buckeyes were seeded eighth in the expanded playoff after a 13-10 loss to unranked Michigan to end the regular season.

“It’s amazing to see how many times you can get gut-punched and then get up and rally the troops again and keep going,” Day said. “That’s inspiring to see because if you’ve ever been to Columbus, Ohio, Ohio State football is the thing there. It is a religion. A lot of people support it and I support it.

“I’ve loved going to games and I’ve loved being a massive supporter of Ohio State for a very long time. I was very, very happy last night and even into this morning because I was talking about it pretty much my whole nine holes (in the pro-am).”

Pavon item here

Matthieu Pavon became the first French golfer to win on the PGA Tour since 1907 with last year’s Farmers victory.

Pavon stayed in the U.S. for several weeks after his win, so he didn’t immediately realize the impact of what he accomplished.

“I mean, golf is not a huge sport in my country,” said Pavon, who has embraced U.S. sports, especially the NHL. “When you finally walk into restaurants and airports and people come to ask you for pictures and talk to you, you feel like a soccer player, a rock star a little bit. It’s a funny feeling. That’s nice to have a chance to experience that in my life.”

Along with a check and a trophy, Pavon received a surfboard for winning the Farmers. He hasn’t had a chance to try it out yet.

“It’s in my living room,” Pavon said. “I don’t surf. I tried, but I don’t surf. It’s just like a unique piece. I want to make sure that I can see it for the rest of my life because it’s one of my best souvenirs. It’s right there, I have my TV watching the (Florida) Panthers game and my surfboard on the right side of it.”

Genesis site still unconfirmed

Century Club CEO Marty Gorsich, who is tournament director for the Farmers, said Tuesday afternoon that there was no update on the possibility of the Genesis Invitational being played at Torrey Pines in three weeks.

According to multiple reports, Torrey Pines will host the Genesis Invitational, after the event was moved from The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades because of this month’s wildfires and the resulting damage. A decision must be made soon; the tournament is scheduled for Feb. 13-16.

Farmers Insurance Open

When: Wednesday through Saturday

Where: Torrey Pines Golf Course, La Jolla. The tournament uses both the South Course (7,765 yards, par 72) and North Course (7,258 yards, par 72)

On the air: 8:45 a.m.-noon, ESPN+; noon-4 p.m., Golf Channel.

Prize money: $9.3 million. Winner’s share: $1.67 million.

Defending champion: Matthieu Pavon.

Notable: The field features 17 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, led by No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama, No. 6 Ludvig Aberg, No. 13 Keegan Bradley and No. 15 Sahith Theegala. … Six past champions are participating: Brandt Snedeker (2012, 2016), Jason Day (2015, 2018), Justin Rose (2019), Luke List (2022), Max Homa (2023) and Pavon (2024). … Seven-time Farmers champion Tiger Woods is the all-time money leader at the tournament with $7,177,379, followed by Snedeker ($4,468,024), Day ($4,027,405), Jon Rahm ($3,290,097) and Phil Mickelson ($3,177,297).