The year was 1991.

Phil Mickelson was still an amateur, Tiger Woods was still in high school and Jay Don Blake won the Shearson Lehman Brothers Open at Torrey Pines.

That year was the last time the PGA Tour stop in San Diego was known as something other than the Buick Invitational.

This week marks the start of a new era in La Jolla.

Buick ended its 18-year relationship with the tournament in August after its parent company, General Motors, emerged from bankruptcy court.

Enter Farmers Insurance, a Los Angeles-based company that agreed to be the tournament's title sponsor a week ago. Hence, the Farmers Insurance Open was born.

"Whatever it's called doesn't matter to me," Escondido's John Mallinger, a fourth-year tour pro, said Saturday from the Bob Hope Classic.

"I think it's just one of the better tournaments of the year, and it's not just because I'm from there either. The weather is usually always good, and it's a great golf course."

Those sentiments have been echoed time and time again by nearly everyone in the golf industry, but it's hard to ignore that the tour and tournament organizers spent months trying to find a sponsor.

Nothing ever clicked, and the San Diego Open, as it was renamed, was set to tee off without a corporate title sponsor for the first time in 30 years.

"It felt like groundhog day," said Tom Wornham, president and general chairman for the Century Club of San Diego, which runs the tournament. "We got to the altar several times, and for one reason or another it didn't work. There were times when I would wake up thinking that would be the day, and I went to bed and it wasn't the day."

Despite the setbacks and eventually accepting that the tournament would be put on without a title sponsor, Wornham remained optimistic.

"My friends kept looking at me like I was nuts, and probably for good reason," said Wornham, a Carmel Valley resident. "But that's life. You play the cards you're dealt.

"The thing that kept us going is that it wasn't about the value proposition. No one ever looked at the tournament and said, 'You know, it's just not worth the money.' We know we have a great tour stop. We know we have a great group to put the tournament on. We know we have a great location in San Diego. When you have all those things working for you, you just keep swinging."

Farmers, which signed a one-year deal with an option for 2011 and beyond, turned out to be the tournament's knight in shining armor, allowing the tournament to focus on the task at hand.

This will mark the second straight year the tournament will be without Tiger Woods, who is taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with personal issues.

His absence certainly affects the bottom line, as tournament director Tom Wilson estimates ticket sales are 10-20 percent higher when Woods is in the field.

"Any tournament that Tiger plays in, there's always a bump in the gate," he said. "Being the No. 1 player in the world, he draws more spectators."

But Wilson believes Woods isn't golf's only attraction. There are 156 players in the field, including stars such as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Hunter Mahan, and John Daly.

"A lot of people have their favorites, and they'll come out and watch them," Wilson said.

"We know we have a great product and a lot to offer."