Brandt Snedeker made PGA Tour history Monday. He won the Farmers Insurance Open – and $1.17 million first-place check – without teeing it up at Torrey Pines.
Perhaps fittingly, there were no spectators on hand to watch him, anyway.
While 48 of his fellow pros were finishing their weather-delayed final round at Torrey Pines South, Snedeker watched a few holes on cable TV, went to the driving range and hit balls, then went to the practice green and worked on his putting.
Then he celebrated on the practice green after a Golf Channel reporter told him K.J. Choi’s long birdie putt on the 18th hole had missed the cup. That meant Brandt’s 3-under 69 and 6-under total, which he had posted on Sunday, were good enough to beat Choi by a shot in a tournament that was delayed four times and extended one day because of severe weather.
“Most nervous I’ve ever been practicing,” a grinning Snedeker said after receiving the traditional hugs from his wife and kids that only a few witnessed in person, because the course was closed to the public Monday for safety reasons. “I hate watching and having no control over anything.”
Though Snedeker was officially declared the winner Monday, he likely won the tournament a day earlier, when he shot 3 under in a round delayed three times because of driving rain and gusting winds.
Snedeker was the only player to break par in the final round of the 71 players who survived the 36-hole cut, and his fourth-round score was nearly nine shots better than the field average of 77.90, making it the second-hardest tour round in a non-major in 25 years.
It was his eighth PGA Tour victory, his second Farmers title and his fourth title in California. To underscore how deserving his latest victory was, his six nearest pursuers were a combined 24-over par in the final round, when an astounding 23 tour pros shot 80 or higher, including 54-hole co-leader Scott Brown, whose 15-over 87 was the worst score of the tournament.
Choi, who led for parts of three days, shot 76 over two days in the final round to finish second by a shot.
Jimmy Walker, who was one shot ahead of Snedeker with eight holes left when play began Monday, shot a 5-over 77 to finish tied for fourth with Freddie Jacobson (final-round 76).
Kevin Streelman, who had temporarily held the lead on Saturday and Sunday, finished third after shooting a 74 in the last round.
Though Snedeker was grateful he was able to complete his final round in the brutal weather Sunday, he admittedly was disappointed when play was halted shortly thereafter because he wanted the rest of the field to compete in the same miserable conditions.
In retrospect, the tour made a wise decision to come back Monday because the sustained high winds Sunday afternoon and overnight downed several large trees on the course and caused other damage that might have imperiled player, volunteer and spectator safety.
When Monday dawned, a scheduled 8 a.m. restart had to be delayed twice while maintenance crews sawed tree limbs and removed debris from the course. But when Snedeker awoke in the hotel overlooking the course, he saw the winds had subsided. He figured that would benefit the players near him on the leaderboard.
“At 8 o’clock this morning, when they were supposed to tee off, I looked outside my hotel room and there was no wind; it was dead calm,” he said. “I was not liking my chances then – not at all. I just thought it was going to be a top-5 finish (for him).”
The forecasted high winds did arrive later – just as the final group arrived at the par-5 13th. Suddenly, the wind shifted directions and scoring conditions became even more difficult than Sunday on some of the holes. And suddenly it was hard to make pars, let alone birdies.
“When the wind started blowing, it made the last five holes play absolutely brutal,” Snedeker said.
There was a three-way tie for the top at 6 under – Snedeker, Choi and Walker – with five holes to play. The first break came when neither Choi nor Walker birdied the par-5 13th. The next break came when Choi and Walker both bogeyed the par-4 14th, giving Snedeker his first lead of the week.
He never lost it, as Walker bogeyed No. 15 and No. 17 to fall out of contention, leaving Choi with the only chance to tie Snedeker if he birdied the par-5 18th. He laid up to the 115-yard mark, but his approach was long and left him a 45-foot birdie attempt that never threatened the cup.
That’s when the celebration began – 100 yards away, on a practice green out of sight, where Snedeker was receiving updates via text messages before he got the word he had won without hitting a single competitive shot.
“I always wanted to do that,” he said, smiling. “So much had to happen … there were so many guys who had a chance. It was crazy how it all fell perfectly for me.”
