Golf: Homa grabs Torrey Pines victory as Ryder, Rahm falter

SAN DIEGO – Max Homa emerged from a tie for fourth to win the Farmers Insurance Open by two strokes on Saturday in San Diego for his sixth career PGA Tour victory.

He fired a six-under 66 on the South Course at Torrey Pines to finish at 13-under 275. Fellow American Keegan Bradley also closed with a 66 to wind up as runner-up at 277 after beginning the day ninth.

Collin Morikawa took third place at 10 under after a 69. Third-round leader Sam Ryder carded a three-over 75 on Saturday to drop into a tie for fourth at nine under with Sahith Theegala and South Korea’s Im Sung-jae, who both shot 70.

Spain’s Jon Rahm, who earned victories in each of his past two starts on the PGA Tour and four of his past six worldwide, started Saturday two strokes behind Ryder, but he, too, tailed off. A final-round 74 left him at eight under, tied for seventh place with Australia’s Jason Day, his fellow former world No. 1 who closed with a 68.

Tony Finau (73) and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (69) shared ninth spot at seven under.

Homa, ranked 16th in the world, made four birdies on the front nine and was five under for the day before carding his lone bogey on the par-four 14th. He closed par-birdie-par-birdie for his second win of the 2022-23 campaign, following the season-opening Fortinet Championship at Napa, California, in September.

“It’s a ton of patience and a lot of confidence,” Homa said of his ability to come from behind.

“Obviously there’s a ton of great players. That board was stacked. But I just had to know that it’s obviously a hard golf course, I just have to keep hitting good shots and keep hitting good putts...

“Winning takes a lot of luck, but it just takes, I think, a lot of patience and knowing that, especially on these final rounds, 18 holes is a marathon and a lot of stuff goes on.”

Bradley completed a bogey-free round with four birdies on the back nine, but it was not enough to catch Homa.

“When I chipped in on No. 13, I was trying to not look at leaderboards because I figured I was too far back to really push,” he said.

“I mean, you can’t push on this course, so I didn’t want to feel like I had to push. Then when I chipped in there and I hit it to a couple feet on No. 14, I thought, ‘I’m ahead of these guys (physically on the golf course), I can post something and who knows’.”

Rahm had been expected to be the player pressuring Ryder, going for a victory that could have seen him return to No. 1 in the world.

The Spaniard arrived at Torrey Pines – where he won his first title in the United States in 2017 and the US Open in 2021 – as the hottest golfer on tour, having won consecutive starts at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and the American Express in La Quinta, California.

But he was chasing all week after an opening 73, flirting with the cut before a late second-round surge.

He started the day two shots off the lead, and playing in the final group with Ryder. But he was in trouble early on with a bogey at the first and a double-bogey at the fifth, finishing two over for 280.

“I got a lot of bad breaks today,” Rahm said. “Any time I was in the rough I was just dead as could be.”

However, the Spaniard noted: “I can guarantee you one thing, if you’re in the fairway, you don’t get bad breaks. Just have to play better.” REUTERS, AFP