Since January 1, 2021 no one on the earth has extra PGA Tour wins than Max Homa. He obtained the sixth of his profession and his fifth within the final 25 months on Saturday at Torrey Pines as he shot 66 within the ultimate spherical to complete at 13 underneath and beat runner-up Keegan Bradley by two. The victory is Homa’s fourth within the state of California.
It grew to become clear about halfway via the ultimate spherical that both Homa or third-round chief Sam Ryder was going to win this occasion whilst a number of stars piled up behind them. Jon Rahm made an early double and dropped off. Collin Morikawa performed Nos. 9-10 bogey-bogey. Tony Finau doubled the eighth. And abruptly it was Ryder and Homa 4 away from the remainder of the sector.
As Ryder obtained into some late hassle with a double on the fifteenth, Homa hit two of the very best pictures of his life to safe the victory. First he obtained up and down from 213 yards on the par-3 eleventh gap for birdie, then he obtained up and down from 230 yards on the par-3 sixteenth for birdie there as properly with two of the very best under-pressure pictures you’ll ever see.
Homa has now gained 5 of his final 45 particular person PGA Tour tournaments, and he is tied with Rory McIlroy with 5 victories for the reason that starting of 2021. That is heady firm for any person who struggled a lot along with his recreation early in his profession.
Homa was close to tears after the spherical as he was interviewed in entrance of his new child son, Cam, and spouse, Lacey. It was his first win as a father.
“It is an exquisite recreation,” Homa mentioned. “Generally you are only one good swing thought away from being good once more. It took lots of time and lots of good folks in my life. My spouse, my caddie, Joe (Greiner) . Individuals who have been there via the ugly. … lots of exhausting work goes into that and I am very happy with myself and my staff.”
Right here is the breakdown for the remainder of the leaderboard on the 2023 Farmers Insurance coverage Open
2. Keegan Bradley (-11): As an alternative of Homa, it was practically Bradley who grew to become a multiple-time winner within the 2022-23 season. Placing collectively a ridiculous ultimate spherical that noticed him card six birdies and 0 bogeys, Bradley was unable to reap the benefits of the par-5 18th and in the end completed in second. He led the sector in strokes gained placing on the week and is a really encouraging signal for his 2023 prospects. At 36, it might very properly be a resurgent 12 months that would function main championship rivalry and maybe even consideration for the U.S. Ryder Cup staff. Grade: A+
3. Collin Morikawa (-10): In his first begin since his collapse on the Event of Champions, Morikawa regarded like his regular self. He was proper there for a lot of the ultimate spherical and had his putter been a hair extra cooperative would have had sufficient to say the title. Morikawa ranked first in driving accuracy, second in strokes gained tee to inexperienced, third in strokes gained strategy and fourth in strokes gained off the tee. He stays winless since his victory on the DP World Tour in November 2021, however ought to he proceed on this trajectory, the drought will finish sooner fairly than later. Grade: A
T7. Jon Rahm (-8): The massive Spaniard merely ran out of steam. Admitting to some fatigue early within the week, Rahm entered the ultimate spherical solely two strokes off the lead, however rapidly misplaced three strokes in his opening 5 holes and was by no means in a position to totally get well. It was practically a historic run and had Rahm claimed victory, he would have joined Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy as the one gamers to win 3 times in a row this previous decade. Whereas he has not reclaimed the world No. 1 rating, it’s exhausting to argue that he’s not the very best within the recreation regardless of arising quick at Torrey Pines. Grade: A-
T25. Justin Thomas (-1): The 2-time PGA Champion has now gone practically eight months with no top-10 end in a full-field occasion. Thoughts boggling to even comprehend, Thomas continued his poor play at Torrey Pines after an encouraging 4-under 68 on the South Course to start his week. He ranked twelfth in strokes gained tee to inexperienced for the week, however continues to battle with the putter and perhaps extra regarding, his irons, as they continue to be down in comparison with his historic numbers. Usually, the energy of his recreation, Thomas will return to the drafting board earlier than the second designated occasion of the season in Phoenix. Grade: C
MC. Will Zalatoris: Zalatoris was the lone participant from the highest 10 within the Official World Golf Rankings to overlook the lower. A playoff loser at this occasion a season in the past, it felt like a great spot on the calendar for him to get himself into rivalry for the primary time following his again harm. The placing stroke should be an eyesore, however it was a surprisingly poor iron efficiency on the South Course that led to a 5-over 77 in Spherical 2 and dashed any weekend probabilities. Grade: F
The First Minimize Podcast recaps Max Homa’s win and all of Saturday’s motion on the Farmers Insurance coverage Open. Comply with & take heed to The First Minimize on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
