
“Winning ugly” pretty much sums up Saturday’s final round of the Farmers Insurance Open, played under cold and windy conditions on the notorious South Course at famed Torrey Pines.
Harris English (73) managed to hold off Sam Stevens (68), and several others, to claim victory by a single shot.
After waiting 1,308 days, English finally secured his fifth career PGA Tour title with a total score of 8-under 280.
“Doesn’t have to look pretty,” said English, “But I just had to get the job done.”
Keeping one eye on the scoreboard and the other on his playing partner Andrew Novak (74), the Georgia native managed to maintain his slim lead by one stroke throughout the entire back nine.

Despite struggling down the stretch with his driver, leaving some difficult second shots, English finished his final round with 12 consecutive pars, denying Stevens and Novak a chance to sit atop the board.
“I knew it was going to be a tough day today, but I love that,” said the 35-year-old English. “I love this golf course when it plays really tough. I knew with the wind, you’re probably not going to get somebody … coming up and throwing a 65, 66 out here today.
“So, as a leader coming into the final round, you kind of like that. It’s going to be a grind, and you’re going to miss fairways, miss greens, but you’ve got to miss them in the right spot.”
English stayed focused from start to finish. He put his tee shot on the 18th into the rough behind some trees, forcing an extra shot to reach the green. Once on the green, he two-putted for the victory, finessing a 25-footer to 7 inches for a tap-in par.

“It’s hard to win,” said English, who last won at the 2021 Travelers. “I might have looked calm out there on the course, but inside your emotions are going crazy. I just know how hard it is to win. It’s just so much fun. You’ve got to soak it in when you do it
Stevens began the day six shots off the lead but managed to climb the leaderboard with a final-round 68. His desperate attempt to secure an eagle on the par 5 18th hole came up short when his second shot found the water in front of the green. He finished with a par.
When asked about his water ball on 18, Stevens responded, “Yeah, so I had 207 and like 200 to cover. Normally I had hit my 6-iron – fly my 6-iron about 200 yards, but it was straight downwind – but a little adrenaline I figured, so I thought I would be honestly a perfect seven iron if I hit it good. Didn’t make a terrible swing, but just kind of made the swing that you can’t make there and leave it out to the right kind of hit that soft right shot.
“When it was in the air, I was hopeful, but I was pretty sure that it was going to land about right where it did. They didn’t shave that bank this year like they have in past, but it still goes in the water.
“But I was able to save par. That was big, post a number and make those guys at least earn it coming down the stretch. If they play good and finish at better than 7 under there’s nothing, I can do about it, but glad I got up and down there.”
Andrew Novak was alone in third on 6 under, missing out on his first tour victory with a disappointing 74 after briefly taking the lead.