The 2023 Farmers Insurance Open wrapped up on Saturday afternoon at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego as the Southern California native, Max Homa, won by two strokes at 13-under par.
Homa, who is from Burbank, Calif., north of Los Angeles, had to make up five strokes in Saturday’s final round to get the two-shot victory over Keegan Bradley.
“In general, I started getting comfortable on certain tees,” Homa said following the victory. “My iron game has always kind of been my staple, I guess, of what I’m most proud of in this game. It lends itself at this course.”
In the final round, Homa shot a 6-under 66, including a bogey-free, 4-under 32 on the front nine, highlighted by a chip-in birdie on the par-3 third to start his run to the top of the leaderboard. In addition, Homa made birdies on three of the four par-5s.
Homa was also going up against some of the game’s best, such as World No. 3 and 8 Jon Rahm and Collin Morikawa, respectively, as well as a couple of players – Sahith Theegala and 54-hole leader Sam Ryder – who were looking for their first wins on the PGA Tour this weekend.
The 32-year-old, who won the Fortinet Championship to kick off the season, said the course conditions were difficult as multiple weather conditions hindered the players as the week progressed.
“It really does become a who’s who at the top it seems like,” Homa said. “You need to play really good golf two days in a row on a tough golf course.”
Despite being within one stroke of the lead on Friday’s third round at one point, Rahm shot two-over 74, including a double bogey on the par-4 5th hole to halt his chances of winning for his third consecutive start. Rahm went on to finish tied for seventh.
As this week’s event comes to an end a day early to prevent any conflict with the NFL’s conference championship games, due to the television schedule with CBS, here are this week’s top 10 PGA Tour rankings.
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10. Sahith Theegala
Sahith Theegala is continuing his stretch of playing solid golf from last season as he strives for his first PGA Tour victory.
Theegala came into this tournament with prior experience at Torrey Pines, having won the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships at the ages of 6, 8 and 10.
The Pepperdine alum started out on Wednesday with a 6-under 66 as the windy conditions limited everyone as the week progressed. He was in the hunt as moving day come and finished with a final round score of a 2-under 70 to give him a 9-under score for the week and a tied for fourth finish with Ryder and Sungjae Im.
With the victory, Theegala moves up five spots in the FedEx Cup standings to No. 13 as he prepares for the WM Phoenix Open, a tournament where he finished tied for third and put his name on the map for the first time.
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9. Keegan Bradley
The 36-year-old veteran and 2011 PGA Champion, Keegan Bradley has quietly had a solid start to his 2022-23 season.
Bradley, who won the ZOZO Championship in Japan, finished second this week after firing a bogey-free 6-under 66 in the final round to help finish 11-under for the tournament.
Despite a 1-over 73 second round, dominated by the Santa Ana Winds, Bradley was able to shoot 4-under on Friday before the final day.
Bradley moved up three spots to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings, only trailing Rahm and Homa.
8. Patrick Cantlay
Patrick Cantlay did not play this week as he rests up before the schedule starts to increase in a couple of weeks at the next designated event, the WM Phoenix Open, where he lost in the playoff to Scottie Scheffler last year that lasted three holes.
Cantlay is currently No. 38 in the FedEx Cup standings and at No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking with a lot of tournaments still left to be played before the season concludes at the Tour Championship in August.
7. Xander Schauffele
Xander Schauffele, who was playing in his hometown and the city of his former high school and college, battled through the conditions throughout the week as his best round came on Friday with a 3-under 69.
Although Schauffele was able to record his birdies and pars, his bogeys and double bogeys ultimately hurt his chances of getting to the top of the leaderboard as he finished at -4 and tied for 13th.
6. Tony Finau
Tony Finau was one of 10 golfers to finish with a score at or above 7-under par as he tied for ninth at that score with Hideki Matsuyama.
Finau was not able to contend on Saturday as he doubled bogey the par-3 8th and shot even par over his last four holes, going birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey.
Moving day was Finau’s best of the week, firing a third-round best, 8-under 64, which tied Ben Grant, Aaron Rai, and Ryder for the best of the week, with the trio recording that score in the first round.
With his top-10 finish, the 33-year-old moved up four spots to No. 6 in the FedEx Cup standings.
5. Collin Morikawa
Collin Morikawa had opportunities to contend on Saturday but had bad luck by landing in fairway divots twice throughout the final day.
Morikawa had seven birdies but was held back by four bogeys on Saturday as he shot 3-under on the day and 10-under for the tournament, which was good for a solo third-place finish.
4. Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy did not compete in this week’s Farmers Insurance Open but is competing in the Middle East at the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour.
McIlroy’s return to the PGA Tour is expected to come at the next designated event, the WM Phoenix Open, the same week as the Super Bowl.
3. Scottie Scheffler
Like Cantlay, Scottie Scheffler took this week off to have two weeks of rest before the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona, where he got his first career PGA Tour victory last year.
With four major tournaments and multiple designated events, Scheffler is currently No. 35 in the FedEx Cup standings.
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2. Farmers Insurance Open Champion: Max Homa
Max Homa, who won his fourth PGA Tour victory in the state of California, sits at No. 2 this week, rising six spots after not playing in the American Express a week ago in the Coachella Valley.
This was Homa’s sixth career PGA Tour victory. With the win, Homa earned $1.6 million for being the top player after 72 holes of regulation play.
The comeback mentality continues to favor Homa, as four of his last five PGA Tour victories have come in that fashion. In addition, Homa has won six of the past nine times when he’s inside the top 5 entering the final round.
1. Jon Rahm
Jon Rahm came into the Farmers Insurance Open as the clear-cut favorite, and despite having to turn on a different switch on cut day, Rahm made things interesting on Friday with a 6-under 66 to move him within two strokes of the lead entering Saturday.
However, after starting the day with a bogey on the first hole, en route to a 3-over 39 on the front nine, time ran out for the Spaniard to have any chance of reaching the top with birdies on the par-4 14th and 17th holes.
Rahm finished the tournament at 8-under par and tied for seventh with two-time Farmers Insurance Open champion Jason Day.
The Spaniard and Arizona State alum remains in the top spot of the FedEx Cup standings by 17 points to Homa as he prepares for Phoenix in a couple weeks.