Day: January 29, 2023

LA JOLLA, Calif. - Jon Rahm knows it's not easy to win on the PGA TOUR. His recent results had indicated otherwise. Rahm arrived at this week's Farmers Insurance Open having won four of his last five official starts, including wins in back-to-back TOUR starts this month, and he played his way into the final grouping for a Saturday finish at Torrey Pines, entering the final round two strokes back of 54-hole leader Sam Ryder. Rahm, though, made bogey on his first hole to fall three strokes off the pace and never drew closer. The world No. 3 carded a final-round, 2-over 74 at Torrey South to finish in a tie for seventh at 8 under, five strokes back of winner Max Homa. Rahm maintains his lead on the season-long FedExCup, with Homa moving to No. 2. Despite the undesirable outcome, Rahm was undeterred. He knew Saturday would pose demanding conditions on the always-tough Torrey Pines layout; as he noted Friday, the key would be minimizing mistakes. A pivotal moment came at the par-4 fifth hole. Rahm missed the fairway in a left bunker, then tugged his approach left with the miscue compounded by a bounce off the cart path. He took three strokes to reach the green and drained a 9-footer to save double bogey. He played 1-under from there to the house, but the damage had been done. "I feel like I made a lot of good swings today," Rahm said after the final round. "Today feels like the first day (73 at Torrey South) ... I made a lot of good swings; they just didn't end up the way I wanted to. "(No.) 5, even the second shot out of the bunker wasn’t bad. If it just stays in the rough, I have an up-and-down chance; hits the cart path and goes to a dead spot ... The only thing that could have saved me was maybe making a couple putts, and I couldn’t do that early on to get momentum going. Either way, I knew it would be a tough day. I knew a couple under probably would have had a chance, but I just didn’t have it." Rahm was bidding to become the first player to win three consecutive TOUR starts since Dustin Johnson in 2017. With a win, Rahm would have moved to world No. 1 - other scenarios including a top-three finish could have also moved him atop the Official World Golf Ranking, pending world No. 1 Rory McIlroy's finish at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. It marks a banner January for Rahm regardless. He rallied from a six-stroke deficit in the final seven holes to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions, then outdueled rookie Davis Thompson for his ninth TOUR title at last week's The American Express. Torrey Pines is a special place for Rahm. He earned his first TOUR title here at the 2017 Farmers and won his first major here at the 2021 U.S. Open. He got engaged to his wife Kelley here. His parents and grandma flew to San Diego for this week. Rahm came up a bit short of the trophy, but it wasn't for lack of effort. "It's golf," Rahm said. "I battled as hard as I could."

SAN DIEGO — Southern California native Max Homa came from five shots off the lead to win the Farmers Insurance Open by two strokes over Keegan Bradley on Saturday at Torrey Pines, where Jon Rahm imploded early and missed a shot at winning his third straight start and moving to No. 1 in the world. Homa reeled in Sam Ryder, who was trying for a wire-to-wire win, and then held off Bradley and Collin Morikawa for his sixth PGA TOUR win and fourth in his home state. He took The Genesis Invitational at Riviera in 2021 and has won the Fortinet Championship in Napa in consecutive years. Homa closed with a 6-under 66 to finish at 13-under 275. He made a 4-foot birdie putt on No. 18 and pumped his right fist before greeting wife Lacey and infant son Cam just off the green. Bradley also shot a 66 on the South Course. Morikawa shot 69 and finished at 10 under. Ryder shot 75, his worst round of the week, and tied for fourth with Sahith Theegala (70) and Sungjae Im (70) at 9 under. Rahm shot a 74, his worst round of the week, and tied for seventh at 8 under with Jason Day (68), a two-time Farmers winner. Rahm got his first PGA TOUR win here in 2017 and then won the U.S. Open in 2021 at the municipal course that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. Rahm won The American Express at PGA West last weekend and at the Sentry Tournament of Champions three weekends ago at Kapalua. Homa, playing in the group ahead of Ryder, Rahm and Tony Finau, took the lead at 12 under by curling in a 16-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th after a 226-yard tee shot. Ryder had a double-bogey 6 on the 15th to drop to 10 under. Ryder, who eagled his first hole of the tournament, was in a three-way tie for first after the opening round and had sole possession of the lead after the second and third rounds. After making an impressive run up the leaderboard on Friday to move into sole possession of second place, two shots behind Ryder, Rahm bogeyed No. 1 and missed a birdie putt by inches on No. 4 before his round fell apart on the par-4 No. 5. Rahm drove into a fairway bunker and then flew the green into the thick rough. It took him three shots to chop his way out of the rough and by the time he sank a nine-foot putt, he had tumbled into a tie for fifth.

What?! Jon Rahm didn't win the Farmers Insurance Open??!! Yep. The big guy has to settle for only two wins this month. Rahm's consolation is that he remains atop the FedExCup standings as the PGA TOUR enters its second quarter of the 2022-23 season. Slotted just under 17 points behind him is the fella who did win the Farmers - Max Homa. The champ started the final round on the South Course at Torrey Pines in a four-way T4 and five strokes back of Sam Ryder. Homa closed with 6-under 66 to post 13-under 275 for a two-stroke margin over Keegan Bradley. With a 3-over 75 in the finale, Ryder settled for a slice of fourth place and four strokes off Homa's pace. Ryder shared the first-round lead with an 8-under 64 on the North Course, and then sat alone atop the leaderboard after the second and third rounds. At +30000 to win at BetMGM pre-tournament, his investors were poised to have a heckuva Saturday night for the specially sequenced tournament in La Jolla, California. Rahm opened at a measly +450, so it was a terrific week to lean into the "not Rahm" option. Homa was a respectful +2200, which was tied for seventh-shortest odds. That's understandable given he already had won the Fortinet Championship in upstate California to open the season, and that three of his first five TOUR titles occurred in his home state. Make that four of six now for the SoCal native. Bradley was on the board at +6000 to win. Collin Morikawa (+1400) completed the podium another shot back.