The PGA Tour was back at Torrey Pines this week. With big names like Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler, and Patrick Reed in the field, we expected to see a lot of birdies this week. That’s exactly what we got, along with some controversy. Before we get into a recap of the 2021 Farms Insurance Open’s final round, let’s see how the leaders faired in the first three rounds.
With an eight-under round one, Reed would follow that up with an even par round two and a roller coaster two-under round three to take a share of the lead at ten-under par.
Following an even par start, Carlos Ortiz shot four-under and six-under par on Friday and Saturday to tie the lead at ten-under par.
Jon Rahm entered the final round at eight-under par after shooting three-under par, five-under par, and even par rounds to start the week.
Victor Hovland started the final round with the same score as Rahm after shooting two-under par, seven-under par, and one-over par rounds.
Final Round Recap
An early bogey for Ortiz gave Patrick Reed the solo lead at the beginning of the day. With birdies for Rahm and Hovland, the leaderboard became crowded with three players just one stroke behind after three holes.
Sungjae Im jumps into the mix after a five-under front nine and one behind Reed for the lead.
After an eagle at the sixth and a birdie at the seventh, Reed extended his lead to two strokes at thirteen-under par. At the same holes, Hovland scored two birdies to sit two back at eleven-under par. A bogey-bogey-double bogey stretch for Im at the 10th, 11th, and 12th, would drop him out of contention on the back nine.
A bogey at the eighth for Reed shortened the lead to one stroke, but Hovland would birdie the ninth and tie the lead at twelve-under par. Another birdie for Reed at the ninth gave him the lead once more.
Hovland’s Meltdown
After no changes in the leaderboard for a few holes, Hovland found himself in the bunker at the 14th, only to hit his next out of bounds. He would go on to make a bogey and only drop one stroke, two behind Reed at eleven-under par.
Hovland’s next tee shot got unlocky. Just missing the fairway to the right, it hit a tree and stopped directly behind it; giving him a horrid angle at the green. He would go on to bogey the hole, giving Reed a three shot lead with only four to play. After missing a two-foot putt at the 17th for par, Hovland would drop to nine-under par and give Reed a four stroke lead with only two to play.
A birdie at the 18th would get Reed to fourteen-under par and win the tournament by five strokes, the largest margin of victory at this tournament since 2008.
A 5-shot win for @PReedGolf.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 31, 2021
This is the largest margin of victory of his career.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/wjJopMqcjS
The Final Leaderboard
Shots of the Week
Lucas Glover played the North Course on Friday. This eagle at the final hole helped him get to the even par for the round.
Walk-off eagle. ?
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 29, 2021
A perfect pitch from @Lucas_Glover_.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/LJX7cQAdC2
Patrick Reed entered the final round tied for the lead. This eagle early in the third round helped give him momentum for the front nine.
From over 40 feet … buckets. ?
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 30, 2021
4-under thru 6 and @PReedGolf leads by 3. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/drhwR3todB
Max Homa finished his even-par third round in style at the par-five 18th hole.
Mic drop finish! @MaxHoma23 spins it in from the fairway to close birdie-eagle. ?#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/6nAA1SmOM6
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 30, 2021
Will Zalatoris finished in the top 10 after a one-under par final round. The eagle at the 18th set up for a nice payday.
Utilizing the slope perfectly. ?
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 31, 2021
From 224 yards to 4 feet for @WillZalatoris.
This eagle gets him inside the top 10 @FarmersInsOpen.#AonRiskReward pic.twitter.com/I1CSi5lLP7
Takeaways and Predictions
Takeaway of the Week
Patrick Reed, as he will be for everyone, is my takeaway of the week. Despite playing great golf all week, Reed found himself in the middle of a rules controversy on the 10th hole in round three. Reed’s second shot out of the bunker went left and into the rough. When he approached his ball, he was told it did not bounce. Due to this, he believe it was plugged into the ground and unplayable, allowing it to be picked up and dropped. The problem with him doing this was that he picked it up before calling over a rules official, though the rules official did not see any issue with what had been done. Here is the full exchange with Reed and the incident in question.
The full exchange as Patrick Reed takes embedded ball relief on No. 10. pic.twitter.com/gSPH6PrAoW
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 30, 2021
Because of his reputation, it was believed that he did this illegally, though the PGA Tour stated that he followed the rules. Rory McIlroy did almost the exact same thing on the 18th, but McIlroy does not have the history of breaking the rules that Reed does.
Pick of the Week: Sungjae Im
As I’ve said before, picking a winner is a lot of luck and almost impossible. At the same time, this pick looked really good on Sunday after a five-under front nine to jump into contention. Then he started the back nine with a bogey-bogey-double bogey stretch. We’ll see if I ever get one pick right.
Bet of the Week: Snedeker Top 10
This bet looked good after the first two rounds when he was tied for 14th. Then he had a five-over round on Saturday that all but ended the bet. I’m 0-2 on my bets of the week, and for that I do apologize.
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