LA JOLLA, Calif. — Tiger Woods took one look at his pairings for the first and second round of the Farmers Insurance Open, which begins Thursday at Torrey Pines, and his eyes lit up.

Woods is playing with Jason Day, ranked No. 1 in the world, and Dustin Johnson, the No. 3-ranked reigning U.S. Open champion.

“I was excited,’’ Woods said Wednesday after playing his pro-am round on the North Course. “Why wouldn’t you? That’s two guys that are the best in the world and they’re up there and playing some unbelievable golf and they’re good friends of mine. Dustin’s coming off of playing great in Abu Dhabi and Jason’s been playing well.

“It will be fun. I couldn’t have asked for a better pairing.’’

Woods has played only one tournament in the last 17 months because of back surgeries and rehab — his own 17-player Hero World Challenge in December in the Bahamas. This is his first full-field tournament since the Wyndham Championship in August 2015.

Woods has won eight professional tournaments at Torrey Pines, including the 2008 U.S. Open, the most recent of his 14 major championships.

But he has not played the new North Course at Torrey Pines, which has been redesigned by Tom Weiskopf, which is why Woods requested to play the North Course for his pro-am round Wednesday.

Players will play 18 holes on the North and 18 on the South on Thursday and Friday. After the cut is made on Friday, the final 36 holes will be played on the South Course, which is the U.S. Open venue.

“For me to get the draw that I got, I couldn’t be happier,’’ Woods said. “To get a couple of the best players — Jason being the best player in the world right now, man, it’s going to be a lot of fun. I think it will be fun for not only the fans but it’s going to be fun for us. You always want to play against and with the best players. I couldn’t have asked for a better pairing than this.’’

The powerhouse pairing, which tees off at 1:40 p.m. Thursday on the South Course and at 12:30 p.m. Friday on the North Course, was not lost on new PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

“In terms of the super pairings, this is particularly super because he’s returned, but you will see top players playing together and that’s been an emphasis for us,’’ Monahan said. “Tiger’s return … the impact is felt in so many ways from simply just walking around and seeing the energy in the crowds to seeing the energy in the coverage leading into the tournament, not just here in San Diego, but throughout the country and throughout the world.

“But when I look at and we look at Tiger, you’ve got to look at someone who’s going to have a huge presence in the game for a long, long time to come. The longer he’s playing alongside the best players in the world and competing at the highest level, I think that’s certainly great for the PGA Tour and certainly great for our sport and it brings more people into the sport and into the PGA Tour.’’

The Farmers field is star-studded, with Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Andrew “Beef’’ Johnston among others here along with Woods, Day and Johnson.

“It’s as much the other great young players and players we have on our tour and the fact that he’s coming back and competing on the same stage with them that is really driving the interest,’’ Monahan said. “There’s great anticipation, and that anticipation is preceded by 79 wins on the PGA Tour. Based on his performance at the Hero World Challenge [where Woods shot 65 in his second round and led the field with 24 birdies], I think people are very excited to see this run of events that he’s going to play at. I think everyone would like to see him perform at a very high level.’’

Nick Faldo, the CBS analyst, on Wednesday called this stretch “a really important time in Tiger’s life,’’ adding, “If he wants to stay a golfer, he has to commit and he has to be rewarded. Otherwise it will be hard luck. He’s a total dominant and he doesn’t want to just be a golfer, I don’t believe.’’