With a remarkable final-round 3-under-par 69, Brandt Snedeker overcame a six-stroke deficit to win the 64th playing of the Farmers Insurance Open with a winning total of 6-under 282, one clear of 54-hole co-leader K.J. Choi and two better than Kevin Streelman. For Snedeker, it marked his eighth PGA TOUR title in his 246th career professional start and his second Farmers title in 10 appearances, having also won a two-man playoff in 2012 after erasing a seven-stroke deficit with a final-round 5-under 67. Additionally, the 35-year-old boasts runner-up finishes at Torrey Pines in 2010 and 2013. His totals for the week: 16 birdies (T9 in the field), one double (T13) and a field-tying-low eight bogeys.
With the win, Snedeker vaults from No. 24 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) to 12th and jumps from 12th in the FedExCup standings to second, 60 points behind leader Kevin Kisner. It was his third straight podium after T3 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and a P2 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Further, he also won the unofficial Franklin Templeton Shootout eight weeks ago teamed with Jason Dufner, last week’s playoff winner at the CareerBuilder Challenge.
Brandt Snedeker: After opening in 73-70-70, he began the final round (on Sunday) at 3-under (T27), six adrift of 54-hole co-leaders Scott Brown and Choi. The weather forecast had pushed tee times forward and he was in the second group of the day off No. 1 at 7:10 a.m. PT (split tees). After two suspensions in play totaling 99 minutes, he finally finished 6 hours and 30 minutes later at 1:40 p.m., just prior to the third (and final) stoppage at 1:57 p.m. Snedeker posted the 72-hole clubhouse lead at 6-under 282 and now he would wait as play was eventually called for the day at 3:26 p.m. The rain had finally stopped but winds gusting past 40 mph created unplayable (and unsafe) conditions.
Snedeker was one (of 23) to complete their final frames on Sunday, overcoming rain and gusty winds to shoot what he later described as one of the best rounds he ever played. Of the 22 others that wrapped on Sunday, 15 shot 79 or worse (11 in the 80s). His 69 was more than nine shots better than the field average of 78.25. Snedeker’s playing partners Chad Campbell (two birdies, nine bogeys) and Si Woo Kim (zero birdies, five bogeys) shot 79 and 77, respectively. The Vanderbilt product bogeyed his first hole but played his final 17 holes blemish-free, including an inward 4-under 32. He went 14-for-14 on putts from inside of 10 feet in the final round and also drained par putts from 36’0” and 17’5”, respectively.
Asked afterwards, Snedeker said, “It was like playing a British Open on a U.S. Open setup.” As to whether his total was going to hold up, he lamented that he might come up short of another improbable victory at Torrey Pines after he failed to get up-and-down for birdie from the back of the green on the par-5 18th.
Forty-eight players returned on Monday for a scheduled restart at 8:00 a.m. The restart was delayed twice for debris removal however, as overnight winds of 35 mph with gusts as high as 60 had downed dozens of trees, eventually resuming at 10:00 a.m.
K.J. Choi: Had eight holes to complete on Monday and posted a steady seven pars and one bogey to conclude his 14th appearance at 4-over 76. His 5-under 283 (68-67-72-76) was good for solo second, his second runner-up at the Farmers (T2/2014) and first top 10 on TOUR since T2 at the 2014 Travelers 19 months ago. The 45-year-old had been 5-for-5 converting 54-hole leads/co-leads and was looking for his ninth win on TOUR – first since the 2011 PLAYERS. He finished the week with a field-tying-best 17 birdies, 10 bogeys and one double. Choi led the tourney in driving accuracy (40/56) and was T2 in greens in regulation (52/72).
Kevin Streelman: When play resumed on Monday, Streelman had five holes to complete and posted par-bogey-bogey-par-birdie. After opening in 69-69-72, he began his final frame at 6-under (T9) and typically closing in 2-over 74 would be disappointing, but in these conditions, he bumped six places to solo third. The 37-year-old totaled 16 birdies on the week, eight bogeys and two doubles. Considering he’d missed four of five cuts at Torrey Pines, including four straight, this week was a confidence-builder and chases a T11 last week in La Quinta.
Freddie Jacobson: The 41-year-old was 2-over thru 11 holes (5-under total) and sat one back of 72-hole clubhouse leader Snedeker, two adrift of Jimmy Walker, who was 7-under total thru 10 holes. He returned Monday to square bogeys at 12, 15 and 17 but managed an up-and-down birdie at the par-5 13th for 4-over 76. Jacobson’s 3-under 285 (69-69-71-76) was good for a two-way T4, his second top-5 finish in his last three starts (solo fifth, RSM). It was also a personal best and first top-20 finish at the Farmers in nine appearances.
Jimmy Walker: Walker was the leader on the course (7-under total) when play resumed on Monday and had seven holes remaining. He played them in a birdie-less 4-over, squaring bogeys at 11, 14, 15 and 17 to wrap in 5-over 77. After opening in 69-71-68, he dropped one spot and settled for a two-way T4. The 37-year-old’s consolation was his fourth top 10 at the Farmers in his last five appearances.
What We Learned:
Torrey Pines won this week, even before Sunday/Monday’s weather-plagued final round. Six of the top 20 OWGR were in the field and after 36 holes four were gone, including No. 2 Jason Day (defending), No. 4 Rickie Fowler, No. 7 Justin Rose and No. 17 Hideki Matsuyama. A fifth, No. 10 Patrick Reed, withdrew after 54 holes following a career-worst 9-over 81. Eighth-ranked Dustin Johnson was the only 72-hole survivor. Further, 20 of the top 50 OWGR were here and only four finished in the top 10 (Add J.B. Holmes (T6) and Billy Horschel (T8) to Snedeker and Walker).
One round is not a trend, but the wind-swept finale (on Sunday and Monday) exposed a lot. Sans Snedeker, the next best score in the final round (on Sunday) was from Shane Lowry who shot 73 and vaulted him 28 places to T13. The Irishman wrapped his first start of the PGA TOUR season and second Farmers (T7/2015) at even-par 288 (71-71-73-73). Robert Streb capped his third Farmers appearance (on Monday) with a stellar final-round even-par 72, up 39 spots to T18.
Scott Brown: Resumed on Monday at the par-3 11th and the meltdown of epic proportion continued. He finished bogey, bogey, bogey, double, bogey, bogey, double, par. Dating back to Sunday, he either bogeyed or doubled 12 of his last 13 holes. In the end, the 54-hole co-leader (66-71-70) cratered to T49 after a career-worst on TOUR (by four) in 349 rounds. His 15-over 87 yielded zero birdies, 11 bogeys and two doubles. He drops to 1-for-3 in converting 54-hole leads/co-leads.
Dustin Johnson: Once upon a time posted the 36-hole clubhouse lead (70-66) at 8-under 136, but closed in 74-80. The 31-year-old began the third round in solo third, just one back, and played in the final threesome on Saturday. By the time he finished on Monday, he was T18 on 2-over 290, eight adrift of Snedeker. DJ was T1 for the week in birdies (17), but T56 in bogeys (17).
Gary Woodland: Returned on Monday to finish off a 10-over 82 that featured nine bogeys, one double and one birdie. The 36-hole co-leader (68-67) was still T3 after a third-round 73 before his final-round collapse dropped him to T18.
Surprises and Disappointments:
Surprises far outweighed the disappointments this week as the final leaderboard was populated by PGA TOUR vets.
Jason Day: The defending champ gets a pass after battling flu-like symptoms since the Friday before the tournament. His continuing fantasy support rested on the fact that the last time he withdrew from a pro-am he went on to win The Barclays last August by six shots for his sixth TOUR title. Even the book-makers held firm at a 13/2 odds fave. The theory is now 1-for-2 after the 28-year-old bowed-out with 72-74 to miss the cut by three.
Rickie Fowler: Coming off his win in Abu Dhabi for his second European Tour Title (2015 Scottish Open) and the news of Day’s ailments, Fowler gained even more fantasy attention than he would’ve anyway. His one-shot win in the United Arab Emirates had moved him inside the top 5 in OWGR for the first time but jet-lag theorists win this week as he trunk-slammed with 73-71. The 24-year-old’s course form also wins with his last three Farmers showing: CUT-T61-CUT.
Phil Mickelson: The three-time Farmers champ and San Diego native missed the cut by two after 69-76. Pre-tourney expectations had skyrocketed after he opened his season with T3 last week at the CareerBuilder but course form won in the end. The 45-year-old’s last five trips to the FIO now read: CUT-CUT-WD-T51-CUT. He ended his 27th appearance with 10 birdies, seven bogeys and one double.
HONORABLE MENTION:
Si Woo Kim: The 20-year-old entered the week off a career-best solo fourth (Sony) and T9 (CareerBuilder). The top-10 streak ended but the top-20 streak lives on with T18 (70-68-75-77) in his Farmers debut.
Jamie Lovemark: The So Cal native entered the week off three straight top 10s (T9, T7, T6) for the first time in his career that at one point featured five consecutive 65s. He made the cut on the number after opening in 72-71, but closed in 75-74 for T31 in his sixth appearance. Not horrible.
Paul Dunne: The sponsor invite was three clear of the cut line after opening his PGA TOUR debut in 69-71. He added 71 in round three to sit T17 thru 54 holes. A 5-over 77 in the two-day finale sounds bad, but it actually bumped him to T13 and $125,667 USD. That was second-best among 28 first-timers with those honors going to TOUR rookie Patton Kizzire, who went for T8. The 23-year-old Irishman is in this week’s Phoenix Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach via sponsor exemptions as well.
Ryan Ruffels: The 17-year-old Aussie was making his tourney/professional debut and made the cut on the number after opening in 70-73. He closed in 74 and 78 (over two days) to wrap at T43 and collecting $20,843. Not bad.
Brandon Hagy: The Open Qualifier medalist was the only one (of four) to make the weekend and deposits $20,843 after 71-71-78-73 (T43). His 73 in the finale was tied for third-best lap in the two-day finale and featured four birdies against five bogeys.
UP NEXT:
Before returning in two weeks for the AT&T Pebble Beach and the Northern Trust Open, the PGA TOUR leaves California and heads to TPC Scottsdale for this week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open. Brooks Koepka defends his title for the first time after besting a trio of runners-up last year. Stay tuned to this space for all the latest player news and opinions as the TOUR readies for its 12th tournament of the season.
