The more things change, the more they stay the same…

Emergency 9

Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The South Course at Torrey Pines is the annual host.

King of England

Justin Rose now has the most wins on TOUR since WWII and if you’re surprised, you’re out to lunch. His 10th win came in rather ho-hum fashion as he opened with 63 and never looked back. Posting 21-under and winning by two won’t hurt his standing in the OWGR as he’ll add more rankings points to his top position.

Beginning Sunday with a three-shot lead he opened the door by playing his first five holes in two-over. Nobody took advantage and he played his final 12 holes in five-under to waltz home.

Statistically Speaking: Rose

Birdies (26): 1st

Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green 2nd (South Course only)

GIR: T2

Strokes-Gained: Approach-the-Green 5th

Proximity: 2nd

Putts per GIR: 2nd

Fantasy Island

Gamers please don’t forget all 72 holes are required. The top three on this list, plus Gary Woodland, should serve as reminders.

Rank	Player	Place	% Ownership
1	Tony Finau	T13	57.64
2	Jason Day	T5	54.49
3	Tiger Woods	T20	54.02
4	Marc Leishman	T43	40.41
5	Xander Schauffele	T25	37.16
6	Justin Rose	1st	33.46
7	Rickie Fowler	T66	33.29
8	Rory McIlroy	T5	31.65
9	Jon Rahm	T5	29.86
10	Brandt Snedeker	T62	28.87

Another week Another Adam

Last week it was Adam Hadwin and this week it was Adam Scott. Gamers had a pretty good sense that Hadwin would be in contention after not finishing outside the top six in his four previous attempts in the desert. This week the Aussie was changing putting grips in mid-round, putting with the flagstick in and was playing the event for the first time. Succinctly put, he gained the most strokes on the South Course for the week. I’d expect to see him back again next year.

Figuring it Out

Hideki Matsuyama posted the only round in the 60’s last year on Sunday. What a difference a year can make, eh? With barely any breeze to bother, he extended his excellent recent run on the South Course by adding 66-73-67 this week. His check for T3 will be his first inside the top 10 in six tries at Torrey Pines.

Clues: Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green (South Only)

Rank	Player	Place
1	Tony Finau	T13
2	Justin Rose	WIN
3	Hideki Matsuyama	T3
4	Adam Scott	2nd
5	Trey Mullinax	T25
6	Gary Woodland	T9
7	Talor Gooch	T3
8	Danny Willett	T25
9	Rory McIlroy	T5
10	Tiger Woods	T20

Foreign Legion

Rose becomes only the fifth international to win here joining Gary Player, Jose-Maria Olazabal, Jason Day and Jon Rahm. You’ll notice they’ve won the last three and four of five. Toss in Scott, Matsuyama, McIlroy and Cameron Smith all in the top 10 and stirring the pot, it was a banner week for the tourists.

Pay Attention

Playing at almost 7,700 yards at almost sea level, the South Course is no joke. I don’t think you can “fake it’ around there for three days. Gooch leads THE TOUR in SG:TTG so painting the top five two weeks running isn’t a fluke; he’s legit. … Scott Brown (T9) picked up his first top 10 since T6 at the 2017 Mayakoba Classic. … Smith had the best round of the day with 65 that included an eagle on the final hole. Talk about back-door cover! … Oh look, it’s my muse, Bud Cauley, almost cracking the top 10 again!

The Large Cat

T20 in his first endeavor of the season and first foray on Poa since Riviera last year. He hit it great except when he didn’t and same goes for the putting. Closing with 67 included a three-jack par on a Par-5 coming in so it could have been a little better. It’s nice to see his non-A game cash a top 25 rather than MC. Gamers will have to casually remind themselves that he’s 42, not 32, and this can and will happen more often than it won’t. He’s back in action at Pebble Beach in two weeks.

Study Hall

The South Course was quite easy this week because the weather was perfect and the set-up was also benign. There were 24 players 10-under or better. There were only six in the last two editions total. … There were zero bogey-free rounds on Sunday. … Jim Knous had a hole-in-one on No. 3 in the final round. He also didn’t have a bogey on Sunday but did square a double. … Woodland has never missed in 10 starts and T9 this week is his best.  … Aussies Scott and Smith had the co-low round of the week on the South Course with 65. … Jon Rahm opened with 62 to set the North Course “new” scoring record. … Bryson DeChambeau won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.