Harris English survived a late charge from compatriot Sam Stevens to claim his first PGA TOUR title since 2021 thanks to a one-shot victory at the Farmers Insurance Open.
The 35-year-old American came into the final round as the overnight leader but suffered an early wobble with two bogeys amid challenging blustery conditions on the Torrey Pines South Course. Stevens began the round six shots off English but climbed the leaderboard in rapid fashion to put himself in contention by picking up four shots in the opening nine holes.
Stevens went onto to card a final-round 68, the lowest score of the day, but it was not enough to overhaul English who recorded a steady one-over 73 to end on 9 under, seal his fifth PGA TOUR triumph, and first since the 2021 Travelers Championship.
“I might have looked calm out there on the course, but inside your emotions are going crazy,” English said. “I just know how hard it is to win. It’s just so much fun. You’ve got to soak it in when you do it.”
When asked about the conditions on the course on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio, English said: “I love conditions like this where you kind of have to keep plugging along.”
“A U.S. Open type set-up out here with the golf course. It’s always hard. No matter if it’s blowing or 75 and sunny. It’s always a tough golf course, and kind of picked and chose my spots of where to be aggresive… I only made one birdie today and won a golf tournament. That just shows you how hard it was playing out there.”
Victory helps him up into the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings and confirms him a spot at the 2025 Masters.
Playing partner Andrew Novak, who began the final round a shot adrift of English and found himself ahead briefly in the final round thanks to three consecutive birdies from the third, finished in third on 6 under after he posted a final-round 74 while there was a tie for fourth between South Korea’s Sungjae Im and Norway’s Kris Ventura on 5 under.
What is the next event?
The next event on the PGA TOUR schedule is the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am taking place between Jan 30-2 Feb at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California.