Playoff - Jason Day wins in sixth playoff hole

January 29, 2018

Australia's Jason Day sank an 18-inch birdie putt on the sixth playoff hole Monday to defeat Sweden's Alex Noren and win the US PGA Tour's Farmers Insurance Open.

Noren found the water with his second shot of the morning while Day placed his third inches from the cup to seal their fates.

Darkness halted their duel after five extra holes Sunday at Torrey Pines South Course after each finished 72 holes on 10-under par 278.

It was Day's 11th US PGA victory and his first since the 2016 Players Championship.

"It has been a long time coming," Day said. "It's special because I worked very hard in the off-season to get back in this position."

The triumph came after Day withdrew from a Wednesday Pro-Am with back issues that had him wondering if he could even compete after an MRI on his back 10 days earlier.

"I was in Palm Springs and I threw it out," Day said. "I'm always going to try to maintain and be on top of it."

He found bulging discs that can hit nerves under the stress of shotmaking.

"When they get bigger they get closer to the nerve and I get shooting pains down my legs," Day said. "I just have to keep my core strong and hopefully I'm out here battling when I'm 40 or 45."

The playoff continued at the par-5 18th hole, which both players birdied three times earlier in the playoff. The also parred 16 and 17 once in Sunday's late-day drama.

On Monday, Day pulled his tee shot well right to begin the sixth playoff hole while Noren found the edge of the short rough left of the fairway.

Noren blasted his second shot onto the raised green but the ball rolled back into a water hazard, prompting Day to leave his second shot short of the water.

"I'm not regretting my decision. It's just margins," said Noren, a nine-time European Tour winner seeking his first US triumph.

"I had the perfect yardage to the pin with the 3-wood, 230 meters. I had the advantage I thought. If I hit a good one it would hit the back of the green. If I hit it short it would be perfect."

Day rolled his approach inside of two feet from the cup, forcing Noren to try and hole his 40-yard pitch and run shot for birdie. He ran the ball well past, missed a long par putt and took the bogey before Day's victory tap-in.

"We just had to stay patient," Day said. "My goal is to get to number one and this is a start in the right direction.

"I've just got to take it in right now. I was up all night thinking about trying to get that 11th win."

World number 14 Day's US title total, topped by his 2015 PGA Championship title, also includes the 2015 Torrey Pines crown, putting him alongside such two-time winners as Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson.

Only Phil Mickelson with three wins and Tiger Woods with eight have won more often at the famed California course. Woods continued his latest comeback from nagging back injuries at the event, sharing 23rd.

World number 19 Noren's runner-up finish was his best in a US event.

"I like playing over here. I know what to expect more now," he said. "That's my goal, to win in these conditions. I learned a lot. I'm proud of myself for stepping up when it got tough. It's a good day anyway."

Day and Noren were joined in the playoff by American Ryan Palmer, who was eliminated with a par at the first playoff hole, 18.

No spectators were permitted on the course to see the finish of the tournament, organizers citing security reasons with only 12 course marshals available to handle the resumption.

It was the third playoff in as many weeks on the PGA Tour, all of them at least four holes and two of them lasting at least six.

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Round 4 - Day & Noren set for Monday finish as playoff suspended

January 28, 2018

Jason Day watched the flight of his wedge for as long as he could and had to listen to the crowd to realize he nailed it.

''I can't see,'' he said to his caddie.

Alex Noren was 5 feet away from extending the playoff Sunday at the Farmers Insurance Open, a putt he could easily have missed except that the Swede could rely on experience. He had a similar putt in regulation and knew it broke off to the right.

Day and Noren went at it for 77 holes at Torrey Pines, and after five sudden-death playoff holes, it still wasn't enough to crown a winner. They matched birdies in the dark on the par-5 18th, and then had no choice but to return Monday morning to decide the longest playoff in the 67-year history of the event.

''We both played some pretty good golf, especially down 18 going back and forth, back and forth, which is good entertainment for the fans,'' Day said. ''It's good to be back in the action, good to be back where I'm at right now. But I've got to get some rest.''

Day has gone 20 months since his last victory.

Both players had a good chance to end it - Noren from 12 feet on the 18th in regulation, Day from 12 feet on the third playoff hole at the par-3 16th.

''It's so important over every shot, and maybe not as much as stroke play, you know, you can play safe sometimes and you can play aggressive here,'' Noren said. ''Here, you need to play aggressive to finish it out.''

Ryan Palmer began the playoff with them at 10-under 278. He was eliminated with a par on the 18th on the first extra hole.

Day closed with a 2-under 70. Palmer hit wedge to 2 feet for birdie for a 72 to get into the playoff. Noren, who had a one-shot lead at the start of the final round, closed with a 73.

By then, Tiger Woods was long gone.

It was the third playoff in three weeks on the PGA Tour, all of them lasting at least four holes. And while it was entertaining, thousands of fans weren't around to see it. They left after Woods finished his round. In only his second PGA Tour event since August 2015, Woods closed with a 72 and tied for 23rd, seven shots out of the lead.

Woods said it was a mostly positive week, and it was hard to argue considering he was returning from his fourth back surgery. He at least was closer to the fairway in the final round, but hit only three fairways for the third straight day.

''I got a lot out of my rounds,'' Woods said. ''The short game wasn't something I was worried about. I knew what I could, what I've been doing at home. That wasn't going to be an issue. It was going to be, 'Can I shoot low scores?' I didn't, but I grinded out some good rounds.''

The final hour of the tournament was a big grind.

Day, Noren, Palmer and J.B. Holmes - the latter three in the final group - were tied for the lead with six holes to go.

Day twice missed the green with a short iron in his hand, and one of those shots led to bogey. He didn't make a birdie on the back nine in regulation. Noren appeared to have the steadiest game until he pulled his tee shot into the hazard on the 14th hole and did well to escape with bogey. Noren also made a pair of 7-foot par putts to stay in a share of the lead, and then he missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation.

Palmer, trying to win for the first time in eight years, made consecutive bogeys from the bunker on No. 14 and short of the 15th green. He came up big on the 72nd hole with a wedge to 2 feet to get into the playoff.

Holmes effectively fell out of the hunt when he missed the 15th green with a wedge and took bogey, and then missed a 4-foot par putt on the 16th hole. He needed an eagle on the final hole, and took some 4 minutes trying to decide on which club to hit. He finally, curiously, decided to lay up and try to make his 3 by holing a sand wedge. He laid up in the rough and didn't come close to holing the shot.

Noren went next and hit his fairway metal over the green, into the tunnel below the TV tower and out the other side. He took his relief, and smartly played away from the flag to keep it from running by the hole and possibly down the slope into the water, though he missed the putt.

The Sony Open took six holes before Patton Kizzire won. The CareerBuilder Challenge went four holes before Jon Rahm prevailed.

Rahm had a chance to reach No. 1 in the world with a repeat victory at Torrey Pines. He was two shots out of the lead until going into the water and making double bogey on the 18th hole of the third round. On Sunday, the 23-year-old Spaniard fell back early and never recovered. He closed with a 77.

Day's last victory was in May 2016 at The Players Championship when he was No. 1 in the world.

''I'll play all day tomorrow if I need to get the win,'' Day said.

Noren is a nine-time winner on the European Tour who is No. 19 in the world, trying to make his mark in America. He already has left quite an impression.

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Round 3 - Alex Noren grabs slim lead in California

January 27, 2018

Sweden's Alex Noren came back from a double bogey Saturday to close with a one-shot lead at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Noren who has won nine times on the European Tour is looking for his first US PGA Tour title. He carded a three-under par 69 to take the 54-hole lead on 11-under 205.

Noren slipped one stroke ahead of the overnight leader, Ryan Palmer, who led for most of the day but bogeyed the 14th and 16th after an eagle at the 13th and came in with a one-over 73 for 206.

"That double was very sour to me," said Noren, ranked 19th in the world. "Finally got some birdies coming back, which felt very good."

Despite his success on the European Tour, Noren is little known in the United States -- and he's happy to fly under the radar.

"I don't care too much if they know me or not," he said. "They're very nice to me. If you make a birdie, they're cheerful. I like playing here, played college golf here."

That's just another reason Noren says he has "dreamt of winning" on the US tour.

"To win would be very, very big for my confidence," he said.

J.B. Holmes and Michael Kim are tied third on 207 and former world number one Jason Day and Justin Rose are among a group of seven sharing fifth place on 208.

Tiger Woods, who had not made the cut in a US PGA event since August 2015, hit just three of 14 fairways on the Torrey Pines South Course but managed to salvage a two-under par 70.

"I didn't hit it worth a darn all day," said Woods. "I was really struggling out there, trying to find anything that was resemblance of a golf swing.

"But I was scoring. I was chipping, putting. I was grinding," he added.

Round 2 - Palmer takes 1-shot lead, Woods makes the cut

January 26, 2018

Tiger Woods birdied his final hole on Friday capping a back-nine rally that saw him make the cut in his return to the US PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open.

The 14-time major champion wrestled four birdies from his last nine holes on the North Course at Torrey Pines, carding a one-under par 71.

That was just enough to make the cut -- his first since the Wyndham Championship in August of 2015 where he finished tied for 10th.

Since then Woods has battled back trouble that sidelined him for all of 2016. He is playing his first official tournament since missing the cut here last year in an abortive comeback bid that ended with spinal fusion surgery in April.

"I was grinding my way around the golf course today," said Woods, who hit just three of 14 fairways and nine of 18 greens in regulation. "I fought hard. I was trying to post a number, which I was able to do."

Woods was one shot outside the cut line when arrived at his final hole, the par-five ninth.

He was in the right rough off the tee and his second shot left him on the edge of the green, 75 feet from the pin.

He nestled his first putt a few feet from the cup and made that for the needed birdie -- capping a 71 for a total of 143 and offering a big smile to cheering fans.

Woods was 10-shots off the 36-hole lead held by American Ryan Palmer, who carded a five-under par 67 on the North Course for 11-under 133.

Spain's defending champion Jon Rahm, who could seize the world number one ranking from Dustin Johnson with a victory, carded a six-under 66 and was alone in second on 134.

Luke List carded a 66 to share third place on 135 with first-round leader Tony Finau, who carded a 70.

Woods had opened the tournament on Thursday with a respectable even-par 72 on the South Course -- scene of his 14th and most recent major title at the 2008 US Open.

But he struggled off the tee all day -- sending his first drive at least 50 yards left.

He laid up in the rough and two-putted for par at the par-five 10th from about 40 feet.

But he couldn't get out of trouble at the par-four 13th, his fourth hole of the day, after another tee shot went left into a scrub hazard.

An irked Woods took an unplayable lie, then missed the green. His chip rolled through the putting surface and he walked off with a double-bogey that put him two-over and outside the cutline.

Woods responded with four birdies coming home.

He gave his massive gallery -- sent scampering several times by his errant drives -- something to cheer about for the first time all day when he rolled in a 50-foot birdie bomb at the first hole.

"It was nice to get one to fall in there and get something positive going into the back nine," Woods said.

He got back to even par with a birdie at the fifth, a short par-five, where a solid drive trickled into the first cut of rough and his second shot left him off the green but his chip left him an easy birdie.

"My short game's been good all week," Woods said. "I'm just trying to get used to the firmness of the greens. We can hear the ball land from the fairway."

Woods got up and down for birdie at the seventh, but was back outside the cut line after a bogey at the par-three eighth.

"I was just trying to get under par for the day," he said of his inward push. "I thought that would be a good, solid turnaround from being two-over at the turn."

Woods was looking forward to testing his game under pressure over two more rounds. He'll tee off on Saturday at the 10th hole of the South Course at 10:10 a.m. (18:10 GMT).

"It's one thing to do it at home, it's totally another thing to do it out here," he said. "These guys are all going low and I haven't done that in a long time."

Round 1 - Tiger kicks off with even par, Finau leading

January 25, 2018

Tiger Woods managed a couple of moments of old-style magic on Thursday as he launched his latest US PGA Tour comeback with an even-par 72 at the Farmers Insurance Open.

The 42-year-old former world number one said he was "a little rusty", but that didn't dim the enthusiasm of the galleries that thronged around him on Torrey Pines' South Course -- scene of his 14th and most recent major title at the 2008 US Open.

His six-iron off the tee at the par-three 16th nearly yielded a hole-in-one, tracking the pin all the way and settling eight inches from the pin for a tap-in birdie.

He grabbed the first of his three birdies at the par-five sixth, where he fired his tee shot 308 yards down the middle of the fairway.

His eagle attempt from 50 feet was inches short and he tapped that in for birdie.

"I hit a good putt," Woods said of the eagle try. "It was a double breaking putt and just hung on the lip."

Woods also rolled in a birdie putt from within two feet at the 10th.

"It was fun to feel that competitive rush again -- (to) have a scorecard in my hand and try and post a number," said Woods, playing his first Tour event since missing the cut here last year in an abortive bid to return from more than a year on the sidelines.

Woods says he's delighted to be playing without pain after spinal fusion surgery in April, but the day was not without its frustrations.

"I've got to hit my irons better than I did today," Woods said. "I didn't hit them very close. I didn't give myself a lot of looks out there.

"It's hard to make a lot of birdies when you don't give yourself a lot of looks."

Woods, an eight-time winner at Torrey Pines, will have work to do on Friday on the North Course, typically the more forgiving of the two in use over the first two rounds of the tournament.

Tony Finau seized the first-round lead with a seven-under par 65 on the North Course that included nine birdies and two bogeys.

Woods was among more than 20 players sharing 84th place.

"I didn't think there were going to be that many good scores out there," Woods admitted. "I mean I'm in over 80th spot and shot even par."

In a quick analysis of his round, Woods said he was happiest with his comfort with the putter.

"The greens are bumpy and I hit a lot of good putts," he said. "I missed one at 13, but I hit a lot of good ones, which is good, it's a good sign going into tomorrow."

The par-five 13th was a bit of a nightmare.

In the right rough off the tee, Woods's second shot left him in the fairway 97 yards from the flag. From there Woods found a greenside bunker, and he finally missed a three-footer to save par.

Woods's first bogey of the day came at the opening hole, where he was in the far left rough off the tee and then found a greenside bunker.

He narrowly missed a long birdie attempt at the par-three third before he was in two bunkers en route to a bogey at the fifth.

While Woods was relaxed enough to enjoy the Pacific Ocean view from the fourth hole, there were signs of frustration as well -- including a swipe of his club after he found the rough off the tee at the par-three eighth.

"I just didn't hit my irons very well today," he said. "I didn't give myself a lot of looks out there and consequently I didn't make a lot of birdies.

"So tomorrow hopefully I can drive it a little bit better, hit my irons a lot closer."

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