Patrick Reed stopped the noise – again – to win the Farmers Insurance Competition Sunday at Torrey Pines. Here’s everything you need to know:
Board of Directors: Patrick Reed (-14), Viktor Hovland (-9), Tony Finau (-9), Xander Schauffele (-9), Ryan Palmer (-9), Henrik Norlander (-9)
What it means: A day after a controversial fall from a ball rooted in the rough on the 10thth hole, Reed wasn’t unstable (okay, so fans didn’t help) because he pulled forward early and steered all the way. Not even a small set of rules for a mobile ball on the 17thth green – turned out to be nothing after Reed cautiously called for an officer – to stop Reed, who now has nine PGA Tour winners, the same number as Bobby Jones, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo. Reed has at least one win in seven or more seasons since 2013 (only Dustin Johnson, with nine, can claim).
How it happened: Reed started his day tied for the lead at 10 under with Carlos Ortiz. As Ortiz slipped, Reed stopped his first five holes before making a 46-foot eagle putt at the sixth par-5 hole. He then scored his only bogey, at eighth, with birdies at numbers 7 and 9. Hovland, a group ahead, got inside an early bullet behind nine, but grabbed the second at par-4 14th into the danger for the second straight day for the first of his three bogs in a four-hole race that also included a 2-footer lost for par at No. 17. At the same time, Reed made eight straight pars at the back before going down a 10-birdie to close out his 4-under 68 and five-shot victory, the biggest ever on Tour.
Tours of the day: Luke List and Francesco Molinari each fired 6-under 66 to finish T-9. This is Molinari’s second straight top-10 finish after not scoring one since the Masters 2019. But the bottom was down the board, as Sepp Straka put a card at 65 to move. into a ratio of 32nd.
Bullet of the day: Reed’s eagle bomb on the sixth hole, where he drained a 40-plus foot Saturday.
Hit the day: This drop by Hovland at 14th a hole that never seemed to end.
Most disappointing: Ortiz. Bound for the lead to start the day, Ortiz ‘s bid at his second inning of the season ended with a 78 shut. He finished 10 back.
Quote of the day: “Mind it, I hung in there and stayed the course. With everything that came up yesterday … I felt good, I felt great during the day, and at the end of the day I wouldn’t have seen any other way. I was able to get out there, pick up a good number and get the job done. “