Leishman rallies to win Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey
Marc Leishman rallied from four shots behind with a 7-under 65 to win the Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday.
AP
Round 4 - Sunday Leishman rallies to win Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey
Marc Leishman rallied from four shots behind with a 7-under 65 to win the Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday. Leishman turned the tables on Jon Rahm, who rallied to win at Torrey Pines three years ago with a 65.
Rahm was in the lead Sunday, only to fall far behind with a bad start that included a double bogey on the third hole. But the Spaniard made a spirited comeback and could have forced a playoff with a 50-foot eagle putt. He missed and finished second.
Tiger Woods tied for ninth and learned only after the round of Kobe Bryant's death.
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Round 3 - Saturday Fog delays start of round three at Farmers Insurance Open
Fog blanketing Torrey Pines Golf Course on Saturday delayed the start of the third round of the $7.5 million Farmers Insurance Open by two hours.
Play was scheduled to begin at 7:35 a.m., but was rescheduled for 7:45 a.m., pushed back again to 8:05 a.m., then to 8:35 a.m., 9:05 a.m. and 9:35 a.m.
After play finally started, Tiger Woods birdied the first and third holes to move to within four strokes of leader Ryan Palmer in his first opportunity to be the PGA Tour's winningest player.
Woods added a birdie on the sixth hole to cut Palmer's lead to three strokes. Woods was among five golfers tied for fourth. He began the round among 21 golfers tied for 17th.
Palmer was set to start his round at 11:45 a.m. (he is not related to the late golfing legend Arnold Palmer).
Palmer shot a 10-under-par 62 on the North Course on Friday to take the lead at 10-under-par 134, two strokes ahead of fellow American Brandt Snedeker. Four golfers were tied for third at the end of the second round, three strokes off the lead, including first-round co-leader Sebastian Cappelen of Denmark.
Palmer was both one stroke off the 18-hole scoring record at the Farmers Insurance Open -- set by Mark Brooks in 1990 and tied by Snedeker in 2007 -- and his career-low round, which came in the second round of the 2015 Humana Challenge.
He credited the round to "driving the ball great and I was able to finally get some putts to go in."
"I knew today when I got out here ... the low rounds were out here," Palmer said Friday. "A good 5-, 6-under par round was to be had. I just took what I had and it turned into a 62."
Palmer began the tournament Thursday with a par-72 on the South Course, with bogeys on three of his first seven holes, then birdies on three of his next six.
The 43-year-old Palmer is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, including teaming with Jon Rahm to win last year's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, his first victory since the 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii.
Snedeker, the 2012 and 2016 Farmers Insurance Open champion, made three consecutive birdies on two occasions, the third through fifth holes and 13th through 15th, as part of his 5-under-par 67 on the South Course.
American Keegan Bradley, the other first-round co-leader, shot a par- 72 on the South Course, dropping into a five-way tie for seventh, four strokes off the lead.
Woods shot a 1-under-par 71 on Torrey Pines Golf Course's South Course on Friday, beginning his round with a four-putt double bogey. Woods birdied the sixth, eighth, ninth and 10th holes, bogeyed the 12th and 17th and birdied the 18th.
"Not exactly the best of starts, but figured it out and turned it around," Woods said. "Unfortunately, made a mistake at 17 that cost me a shot. Good birdie at 18 though."
Woods cited the course's poa annua greens as one reason for his double bogey.
"I tried to ram it in the hole and it bounced, and hit obviously a terrible third putt, pulled it," Woods said. "The second putt, it's just what happens on poa. I tried to take the break out and it just bounced."
When trailing by six or more strokes in a 72-hole PGA Tour event after 36 holes, Woods has converted for the win eight times, including three times at the Farmers Insurance Open. Of the 12 previous times Woods has had a 4- putt, he won only once, the 2005 Masters.
The Farmers Insurance Open is Woods' first official PGA Tour event since winning the Zozo Championship Oct. 27 to tie Sam Snead's record of 82 victories.
The field was reduced to the low 70 plus ties. Defending champion Justin Rose, three-time champion Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler were among the golfers failing to make the cut, which was at 1-under-par 143.
Round 2 - Friday Tiger Woods entered Friday's round just three strokes off the lead
Tiger Woods enters Friday's second round of the $7.5 million Farmers Insurance Open three strokes off the lead in his first opportunity to be the PGA Tour's winningest player.
Woods shot a 3-under-par 69 on Torrey Pines Golf Course's North Course Thursday in what he described as "a positive start."
Woods began his round on the 10th hole. He bogeyed the second hole he played, the par-4 11th, but birdied the par-4 13th and par-5 17th. He completed the back nine with a bogey on the par-4 18th.
Tiger then birdied the par-4 first hole and the par-5 fifth and ninth holes on the front nine.
This was the eighth time Woods broke 70 in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open. Of seven previous times, he went on to win five times.
Woods is among 13 golfers tied for 21st. PGA Tour rookie Sebastian Cappelen of Denmark and American Keegan Bradley share the lead at 6-under-par 66, one stroke ahead of eight players, including Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson.
Woods will begin play Friday on the first tee of the South Course at 10:40 a.m. The South Course played three strokes tougher than the North Course on Friday with an average score of 73.692, compared to 70.718 for the North Course.
Of the 20 rounds of 68 or better Thursday, 16 were on the North Course.
The Farmers Insurance Open is Woods' first official PGA Tour event since winning the Zozo Championship Oct. 27 to tie Sam Snead's record of 82 victories.
Since the Zozo Championship, Woods played in two unofficial events -- finishing fourth in the Hero World Challenge and winning all three of his matches at the Presidents Cup, helping the U.S. to a 16-14 victory over the International Team.
The 29-year-old Cappelen had five birdies and a bogey on the South Course's front nine and three birdies and a bogey on the back nine to take or share a lead after any round on the PGA Tour for the second time. He held the first-round lead in the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship, his first round on the PGA Tour, en route to tying for 35th as an amateur.
Cappelen is coming off his first Top 10 finish on the PGA Tour, tying for sixth in last week's The American Express.
Cappelen played college golf at Arkansas and turned professional immediately after the 2014 NCAA Championship. He earned his spot on the PGA Tour by finishing 16th on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour regular-season points list in 2019.
Bradley had one of Thursday's five bogey-free rounds, all on the North Course. He started his round on the back nine, birdieing the 10th, 11th, and 15th holes. He had an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole and a birdie on the par-3 eighth.
"I just played really, really well all day," said Bradley, who is seeking his fifth PGA Tour victory and first since the 2018 BMW Championship. "I didn't particularly feel that comfortable with myself the whole day, but I just really just hung in there and hit a lot of good shots ... made a really good par putt on my 11th that kind of kept me going."
The field will be reduced to the low 70 plus ties following completion of the second round. The final two rounds will be played on the South Course.
Round 1 - Thursday 8-time tournament winner, Tiger Woods along with Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth are some of the big names that are playing this week.
Some of golf's best are in San Diego to tee it up at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. The tournament is a “season opener” of sorts to the 2020 PGA Tour because it is the first tour event on network television.
Eight-time tournament winner, Tiger Woods along with Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth are some of the big names that are playing this week.
Torrey Pines’ South course just finished relocating the bunkers on multiple holes. This will be the first time the pros will be able to tee it up on the new holes.
The course will also host the 2021 U.S. Open, one of golf's four major championships.
As for this year, some of Thursday and Friday’s most exciting groups consist of Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, and Xander Schauffele. Another group that will excite golf fans is Justin Rose, Jason Day and Jordan Spieth. Tiger Woods is paired with Collin Morikawa and Jon Rahm.
For a full list of who is teeing it up and what time they are hitting the course, click here.
This is the 68th consecutive year the PGA Tour has held an event in San Diego County, with 53 of them being played at Torrey Pines.
Tournament gates open at 8 a.m., with play beginning at 9 a.m. The tournament is set to conclude Sunday. The winner will receive $1.35 million.