Justin Rose (-23) has won the Farmers Insurance Open with a display of power that few can match. In recent years, such performances have been seen from Tiger Woods, Scottie Scheffler, and that’s about it. Because we’re not just talking about the final distance from the runner-up, which was significant, but about the sufficiency, the control of the situation, winning from start to finish without breaking a sweat.
This Sunday, he didn’t even have that slight moment of doubt he experienced on Saturday with those three bogeys almost in a row on the back nine. There was no excitement because Rose didn’t want there to be. The excitement is seeing a man over 45 win in such an authoritative manner, who maintains the enthusiasm of a youngster. Who is convinced that he still has things to do and say in golf. Despite having achieved a lot, he hasn’t done it all. Especially with an eye on the Masters Tournament and the Open Championship.
On the 15th fairway, on his way to his ball after teeing off, a child ducked under the rope and ventured a few metres into the rough to reach Rose. The Englishman noticed the young fan’s presence and quickly went to meet him. It seems he gave him a marker, although it wasn’t seen in detail. Rose high-fived his young admirer and continued playing. This anecdote serves as a testament to the superiority and dominance he maintained throughout the tournament.
It’s rare for a champion who starts with a big lead (six strokes in Rose’s case) not to face some tense moments in the final round. There’s always a bad moment, a double bogey, a couple of consecutive mistakes that tighten the rope. But not this time. He never dropped below a six-stroke lead throughout the round. A military stroll under the sunny California skies.
Rose started the day calmly, with five consecutive pars and without any player showing signs of rebellion. On the 6th hole, he was already putting for eagle from about four metres and made the first birdie. He added two more by the 9th hole and wrapped up the task. Not even the bogey on the 12th, his only mistake of the day, caused any concern. The tournament was his. He knew it, and more importantly, the rest of the players knew it too. He played like a precision instrument from tee to green and was sublime with the putter. 70 strokes. He hit the most greens in regulation and made the most putts per green in regulation in the tournament. Full stop. Demolition.
It’s Rose’s thirteenth victory on the PGA Tour, extending his lead as the Englishman with the most wins on this circuit (Nick Faldo is second with nine), his second in this tournament (he first won it in 2019) and he broke Tiger Woods‘ record for the lowest winning score. The Cypress native, master of this Torrey Pines estate with eight victories, including the US Open, first won here with a -22 in 1999. It took 27 years for a Brit to raise the bar a bit higher. He won from start to finish. Leading each of the four days. Not even Tiger or Nicklaus did that. The last to achieve it in this tournament was Tommy Bolt in 1955. In short, it’s the result of a masterpiece.
In the other Farmers, the one for mortals, tied for second place were Pierceson Coody (-16), who had the best round of the day with 65 strokes, Ryo Hisatsune (-16), and Si Woo Kim (-16), while in fourth place were Jake Knapp (-15) and Stephan Jaeger (-15).
Brooks Koepka (-4) finished with a round of 70 strokes, in 56th place, far from where he intends to be, although with the positive balance that in a very challenging week, with a lot of pressure, he managed to play all four days and with two rounds under par. The putter was his major hindrance at Torrey Pines. We’ll see what he does next week at the Phoenix Open.
