The sun sets on the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open from Torrey Pines, as Justin Rose from London, England claims the championship by shooting 21 under par for the tournament.
If that sounds odd to you, it is. Torrey Pines has always been a very difficult golf course and contains arguably the most difficult hole on the PGA Tour. The wind from the coast is always brutal, the greens are usually fast and the roughs...well they are rough. However, this week was different. Torrey did not seem to be its usual menicing self like it always is, or why the USGA picked Torrey to be the host of the 2021 US Open, and golfers quickly recognized they were in for an aggressive weekend.
While warming up on the putting green on Thursday in the early hours of the morning, while the first groupings were set to tee off, the professionals watched as the first scores were emerging on the leaderboard. Red number, after red number, after red number started fluttering the scoreboards and the golfers warming up on the green collectively uttered, "oh it's on!"
From the start, golfer after golfer attacked this course and gave it everything they had. In years past, the play was to lay it up and put for par. Score on the North course then be patient on the South. 2019 was full go and get yours, go and get a birdie, go and win this thing.
Day one saw Jon Rahm emerge as a favorite as he rushed out to 10 under par and a couple stroke lead on the pack. The remaining days however saw Justin Rose tear up the ever so difficult golf course, and make it look like mini golf at Boomer's on a Friday night. After seven birdies, and one eagle on day one, Rose answered with another seven birdies on day 2 giving him a 15 under for the tournament and atop the leaderboard.
On day 3, Rose put the tournament away. After a double bogey on hole 4, Rose pieced together four birdies and an eagle to finish Saturday afternoon 18 under par and a three stroke lead on the field. If not for a bogey on hole 18, Rose could have easily been 20 under entering the championship round. That's right, at one point Rose was 20 under at Torrey Pines entering the final round of play at the Farmers Insurance Open. He was well on his way to setting a course record for lowest score at Torrey Pines in four days of competition.
The championship round for Rose started off poorly, and opened up a slight window of opportunity for the rest of the field, as Jon Rahm, Adam Scott, Talor Gooch, and 2018 Farmers champion Jason Day closely made up ground on the leader. Rose hit three bogeys in his first five holes, and as he walked to hole 6, he motivated himself to play like the number one golfer in the world that he was. Rose, "I just said 'You're No. 1 in the world for a reason, just start playing like it please'." He did.
Rose quickly birdied three out of his next four holes and started pulling away from the pack. Rose was now 19 under and had a three stroke lead with four holes to play. Sure, some came close to catching him, but Rose kept scoring pars down the stretch and if that did not seal the deal, his third shot on 18 did. A chip over the water hazard onto the green that then backspun only a short distance from the hole ended the tournament for the field, but there was still a matter of the course record. A simple tap in putt, that most of us just count when we golfed with our friends, lay in the balance of birdie. If he missed that "gimmie" putt, he still would have beat the course record by a stroke. The course record for best score over four days of competition was 269. Rose made the tap in, recorded birdie on the hole and beat the course record by two strokes, scoring a 267 over four days of competition.
What a way to win for Justin Rose, who was without his caddie Mark ‘Fooch’ Fulcher (underwent heart surgery on Jan. 17 in New York City), and was breaking in a new set of clubs. With new clubs, and not having 'Fooch' by his side, he wins the Farmers Insurance Open, breaks a course record at Torrey Pines and wins on the west coast for th first time. Not a bad weekend for Justin Rose.
After a great weekend of golf and weather, the tour heads to Arizona for the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Torrey Pines will host the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open, and of course the 2021 US Open.