Ben Crane wins Farmers Insurance Open

Ben Crane finished one shot clear of Marc Leishman, Michael Sim and Brandt Snedeker at the Farmers Insurance Open to secure his first PGA Tour victory since 2005.

Ben Crane
Fergus Bisset
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Ben Crane finished one shot clear of Marc Leishman, Michael Sim and Brandt Snedeker at the Farmers Insurance Open to secure his first PGA Tour victory since 2005.

Crane began the final round two shots behind Ryuji Imada of Japan but he quickly overturned that deficit with three birdies in the first five holes. A 45-foot birdie putt at the 11th helped him extend his advantage at the top of the leaderboard.

Although a few missed putts on the run for home gave Crane's pursuers a little encouragement, the American was able to seal the deal, holing a three-foot par putt on the closing green to win by one. The victory sees Crane receive an invitation to the Masters and move into the top-60 on the Official World Ranking. He should now qualify to play in the WGC-Accenture Match Play.

"It's really cool to know I'm going in the right direction," Crane said.

Scottish born Australian Michael Sim was Crane's closest challenger for the majority of the round and he thought he'd tied things up on the 17th green when his 15-foot birdie effort defied gravity by not dropping.

Then, on the par-5 18th, Sim laid up but put too much spin on his approach and ended off the front of the green. He had to settle for par. "It would have been nice to have a putt at it," said Sim. Phil Mickelson had a disappointing final day. Starting the round four shots off the lead, he opened with three straight bogeys and never got back into the round, finishing in 19th spot.

Farmers Insurance Open Torrey Pines, California Jan 28-31, purse $5,300,000, par 72

1    Ben Crane (USA)        65    71    69    70    275    $954,000 T2    Marc Leishman (Aus)    68    69    71    68    276    $395,733 T2    Michael Sim (Aus)    73    62    70    71    276    $395,733 T2    Brandt Snedeker (USA)    71    68    68    69    276    $395,733 T5    Michael Allen (USA)    72    66    74    65    277    $186,163 T5    Ernie Els (RSA)        70    69    69    69    277    $186,163 T5    Rickie Fowler (USA)    67    70    70    70    277    $186,163 T5    Alex Prugh (USA)        67    71    73    66    277    $186,163 T9    Robert Allenby (Aus)    67    69    72    70    278    $127,200 T9    Lucas Glover (USA)    71    67    68    72    278    $127,200 T9    Charles Howell III (USA) 71    69    70    68    278    $127,200 T9    Ryuji Imada (Jap)    65    68    70    75    278    $127,200 T9    D.A. Points (USA)        68    65    74    71    278    $127,200 T9    Nick Watney (USA)    71    70    69    68    278    $127,200

Note: Player scores in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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