On a final day where the majority of fans thought that Jon Rahm (opens in new tab) would pick up yet another trophy, it was in fact Max Homa who came out on top, as the American held off Sam Ryder, Keegan Bradley and Collin Morikawa to secure a sixth PGA Tour title and his fifth in under two years.
During the third round at Torrey Pines (opens in new tab), Homa had been mic’d up in a fantastic addition to the PGA Tour (opens in new tab) and, during the final day at the Farmers Insurance Open (opens in new tab), the 32-year-old kept his cool and showed his class, with a closing 66 giving him a two shot win.
Starting the final round, it was Ryder who held a two shot lead as he went in search of his first PGA Tour victory in 147 starts. Despite holding the advantage, it was World No.3 Rahm who began the favourite, but that was until he bogeyed the first and Ryder birdied it to sit four shots clear.
Homa (opens in new tab) had began his day five shots back of the leader and, a third of the way through the round, he was still four shots adrift of his fellow countryman. That lead though evaporated quickly! Especially when Ryder made back-to-back bogeys and Homa delivered a superb birdie at the ninth to tie things up at the top.
A few holes later, fans were treated to more-or-less a straight shootout between the American pair, with the duo four shots clear of a number of huge names. It was at the 14th where things seemed to unravel for Homa though, as a bogey dropped him back behind Ryder with just a handful of holes remaining.
Homa celebrates with his caddie after securing his sixth PGA Tour title
(Image credit: Getty Images)
In the end, it was Homa’s experience that shone through, especially when, at the 230-yard par 3 16th, he made just the third birdie of the day at that hole, an exceptional feat that was fully capitalised as Ryder found a costly double bogey at the 15th.
As Ryder dropped out of contention, it was Bradley who was his nearest challenger, with the American setting the clubhouse target at 11-under-par. However, after Homa found the green with his second shot at the par 5 last hole, the title was all but his.
Rolling his lengthy putt up to just a few feet, the American tapped in for a seventh birdie of the day and yet another victory in his home state of California.
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