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.

Scott Stallings wins Farmers Insurance Open (Getty Images)
Fergus Bisset
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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

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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