Harris English embraced the tension that came with came with the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open and turned it into his fifth career victory.
English closed out the win with a 1-over-par 73 at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego in a rare Saturday finish.
“Inside your emotions are going crazy,” English said. “I just know how hard it is to win. It’s just so much fun. You’ve got to soak it in when you do it.”
English secured a one-stroke victory at 8 under 280 for his first victory in 3 1/2 years. He completed the round with par on the last hole, needing to get home from 24 feet with two putts.
Sam Stevens shot 66 to finish at 7 under as the runner-up.
It wasn’t an unblemished round for English, who had bogeys on the first and fifth holes before a birdie on No. 6. From there, he had pars the rest of the way and those were good enough on the South Course.
“I love hard set-ups and hard conditions,” said English, who had the highest winning score in the tournament since 2016.. “I love how this course sets up for me. Kept myself in it, just kept plugging along.”
English, 35, won for the first time since the 2021 Travelers Championship.
Stevens had his second career runner-up finish, and his first in nearly two years. He was fortunate on the par-5 final hole to post par after his second shot ended up in the water.
“I just made the putts (early on),” Stevens said. “You take ‘em when you get ’em.”
Andrew Novak, who was one shot behind English when the round began, posted 74 and took third place at 6 under, failing to secure his first victory on tour. He moved to the lead early in the round with three consecutive birdies, capped by a long winding putt on the fifth hole after he was stuck with bogeys on the first two holes.
“Just crazy,” Novak said of the putt on No. 5.
Novak had four bogeys and one birdie the rest of the way, but it was the inability to come up with quality birdie chances that derailed his chances of winning the tournament.
“Wasn’t hanging approach shots close enough to give myself birdie opportunities,” he said.
South Korea’s Sungjae Im (71) and Norway’s Kris Ventura (71) tied for fourth place at 5 under. Hayden Springer (71) was alone in sixth at 4 under, while Will Gordon (69) and Canada’s Taylor Pendrith (71) shared seventh at 3 under.
South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter (78) joined English and Novak in the final grouping, but he tumbled out of contention and finished tied for 15th at 1 under.
The tournament’s Saturday finish came as the PGA Tour wanted to avoid competing with Sunday’s AFC and NFC Championship Games on television.
–Field Level Media
