Jason Day back in the winner’s circle

Welcome to the Monday Finish where we literally have finished on a Monday after Jason Day outlasted Alex Noren in a six hole playoff that stretched over two days. Here are observations and insights from the week at Torrey Pines where the return of a big cat and an epic finish had everybody talking.  FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Jason Day is ready to make his push back towards the top of the golfing world. The now 30-year-old has seemingly put a tough 2017 behind him and is driven to make his move. Last season he lacked motivation. He almost didn’t care that Dustin Johnson took his mantle. But his mind is back now. He does care. He’s fired up. He wants to be the best. He wants to dominate. And his 11th PGA TOUR win this week is the start of that chase. With Day, Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy among players looking for a huge year in 2018 and the return of Tiger Woods… wow. 2. Alex Noren should have already been on everyone’s radar before this performance given he has nine European Tour wins and not that long ago was inside the world top 10. But if he was under the radar on American soil the Swede certainly made sure fans won’t be forgetting him any time soon. He produced some great shots when they mattered down the stretch on a tough lay out and more than held his own in Sunday’s playoff holes. His Monday morning shot that found the water was just a fraction off being perfect and setting up a great look at eagle. He went down swinging. In his first season as a member of both the PGA TOUR and the European Tour he is a serious threat at both the FedExCup and the race to Dubai. 3. Tiger Woods is back. Hallelujah. Rounds of 72-71-70-72 left him seven shots off joining a playoff and giving him a shot at an eighth Farmers Insurance Open title but it was certainly a success. It was his first PGA TOUR event in a year and just second official event since August 2015 after back fusion surgery. Torrey Pines played hard this week and Woods sprayed the ball off the tee. Yet still he made the weekend when others would have been looking at rounds of 80. The building blocks are there for one last push towards the all-time TOUR win record. He needs three more wins to tie Sam Snead’s 82. It was also amazing to see the deep galleries around the veteran star. Can’t wait to see him back at the Genesis Open in a few weeks. “I think he’s going to win this year, personally, once he figures (driver) out, once he gets some more competitive rounds under his belt,â€� Jason Day said of the return. 4. There was a lot of chatter about slow play on Sunday at Torrey Pines and while pace of play is always something most of us want to see set at swift – there were some extenuating circumstances that should be highlighted to balance the argument. Things could have certainly been quicker but… Firstly the round was played in three-balls, always slower than two balls obviously. There were wind gusts up around 25 mph making decisions much harder. Greens at Torrey are poa, which gets bouncy, and necessitates marking from closer than usual to be sure you see the breaks etc. C.T. Pan had a horror hole on the par-3 3rd hole, having to return to the tee box after his first shot was deemed unplayable in a canyon. His next effort also found the canyon, forcing his caddy to run down the hill to decide if it was playable. It wasn’t. Long story short he made an eight and multiple groups were backed up on the tee behind him. The final group was in a three-way match play style situation fighting for the win, making every shot worth plenty. That being said, J.B. Holmes certainly took a lot of time before his approach to the 18th hole, leaving Noren waiting, which proved tough. Holmes was unapologetic however as he needed an unlikely eagle to have a chance to win and was trying to figure out how to make it. 5. Ryan Palmer was looking to end an eight-year win drought but ended up just short after making par on the first playoff hole. He secured his PGA TOUR card on a major medical extension at the CareerBuilder Challenge last week and now that he has moved to 31st in the FedExCup he is looking good for a push to the Playoffs. His last appearance there was in 2016 and his last time at the TOUR Championship was 2014 when he finished a career high 14th in the FedExCup. Since 2011, he has the most top-five finishes on TOUR without a win (19) so here’s hoping he can continue to surge towards a breakthrough. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. This was the 17th playoff at the Farmers Insurance Open and first since Jason Day prevailed in a four-man playoff in 2015. In 50 years of the event being played at Torrey Pines, this is just the third playoff to last three holes or more. 2001 – Phil Mickelson def. Frank Lickliter II and Davis Love III (three holes); 1985 – Woody Blackburn def. Ron Streck (four holes). The playoff is the fifth this PGA TOUR season and third in a row. The last time there were three straight playoffs on the PGA TOUR was in 2015 (Travelers Championship, The Greenbrier Classic, John Deere Classic). 2. Day now has 11 PGA TOUR victories after breaking a 20-month drought. He became the ninth player to win the Farmers Insurance Open more than once joining Tiger Woods (1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013), Phil Mickelson (1993, 2000, 2001), Tommy Bolt (1953, 1955), Arnold Palmer (1957, 1961), Steve Pate (1988, 1992), J.C. Snead (1975, 1976), Brandt Snedeker (2012, 2016) and Tom Watson (1977, 1980). 3. Only 11 players were under-par on Sunday, and the field average was 74.779. Since 2000, it was the tournament’s third-highest Sunday scoring average, with the highest being 2016 (77.901) and second-highest being 2008 (74.788). The average of 74.779 is the second-highest single-round scoring average this season. The highest came in the third round of THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES (74.792 / +2.792). 4. Tiger Woods hit 17 fairways, the fewest in his career in a 72-hole tournament. He still finished T23. His stats line looked this way. R1 (South) – Eight of 14 fairways, 12 of 18 greens in regulation, 31 putts.  R2 (North) – Three of 14 fairways, nine of 18 greens in regulation, 24 putts.  R3 – Three of 14 fairways, nine of 18 greens in regulation, 26 putts.  R4 – Three of 14 fairways, 12 of 18 greens in regulation, 29 putts.  Total – 17 of 56 fairways, 42 of 72 greens in regulation, 110 putts.  His proximity to the hole was 40 feet, 10 inches leaving him ranked T52 of the 78 players to make the cut. 5. With world No. 1 on offer, defending champion Jon Rahm ran out of gas after his big few weeks including his win at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He carded a final-round 77 and finished T29. After moving to 10-under with a birdie on No. 10 on Saturday, he played his final 26 holes in 8-over and made eight bogeys, one double bogey and two birdies. Rahm’s weekend scores of 75-77 – 152 is the second-highest 36-hole total of his PGA TOUR career. His high score in consecutive rounds is 72-82 – 154 in the second and third rounds of the 2017 PLAYERS Championship. It is only the third time Rahm has carded two over-par rounds on the weekend. He shot 73-75 at the 2017 Masters, and he shot 73-75 at The Open Championship in 2016.

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