Scott Stallings wins Farmers Insurance Open

Scott Stallings birdied the closing hole at Torrey Pines to win the Farmers Insurance Open by a single stroke over a group of five players including K.J. Choi and Jason Day.

Stallings fired a four-iron for his second shot on the par-5 home hole, it narrowly cleared the water and left him with a 40-foot eagle attempt. He made sure of taking two putts to get down, set a clubhouse total of nine-under-par and take the lead by a stroke. He then had to wait to see if anyone on the course could catch him.

Gary Woodland was one behind with two to play and looked likely to match Stallings' score. But he hooked his tee shot on the 17th into a canyon and stumbled to a double-bogey.

"This one will be hard to swallow," he said.

Marc Leishman of Australia needed an eagle at the last to tie, but his tee shot went right and he wasn't able to go at the green in two. His third shot was a cracker but it didn't go in and, although he was left with a tap-in birdie, he came up one shy and tied for second place.

The other men finishing one-shot back were K.J. Choi who had earlier posted a superb 66, Jason Day of Australia and Canada's Graham DeLaet who both birdied the last for rounds of 68, and Pat Perez who closed with a 70.

"It's great and bad," said Perez. "I thought today might be my day, I'd like to be in that position again."

Nobody then could match Stallings' number and that meant a third PGA Tour title for the 28-year-old.

"You don't get very many opportunities to win golf tournaments on this tour," he said. "I didn't necessarily understand the situation I was in as far as the score on the 18th, but I did know I had an opportunity. ... I was playing to win."

With the victory Stallings climbed from 166th to 10th in the FedEx Cup standings and has moved to 53rd on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Farmers Insurance Open Torrey Pines, La Jolla, California Jan 23-26, purse $6,100,000, par 72

1   Scott Stallings (USA)   72   67   72   68   279   $1,098,000 T2   K.J. Choi (Kor)      74   70   70   66   280   $366,000 T2   Jason Day (Aus)      66   73   73   68   280   $366,000 T2   Graham DeLaet (Can)   70   73   69   68   280   $366,000 T2   Marc Leishman (Aus)   66   71   72   71   280   $366,000 T2   Pat Perez (USA)      67   71   72   70   280   $366,000 T7   Charley Hoffman (USA) 69   70   75   67   281   $190,167 T7   Ryo Ishikawa (Jap)   72   70   69   70   281   $190,167 T7   Will MacKenzie (USA)   72   69   70   70   281   $190,167

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Where next? European Tour - Sergio Garcia wins Qatar Masters