SAN DIEGO – On a chilly, cloudy Sunday, few things sparkled above the sea at Torrey Pines in the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open.
Cold weather, brisk breezes and overcast skies combined to make scoring less than suitable, but in the gloomy conditions, one man stood out like a blazing star on the grand seaside stage. That was Marc Leishman.
The tall Australian burst from the first tee and turned a four-shot deficit after 54 holes into a three-shot lead by No. 11 tee. While most everyone else was laboring, Leishman was scorching, notching three birdies on his first four holes, another at the sixth and another at the eighth to assume command.
Birdies at Nos. 11 and 13 kept the red-number binge going, but par saves from 20 feet on 12, from 12 feet on 14, from 15 feet on 15 and seven feet on 16 were just as key. A final birdie from six feet on the 18th capped his victory.
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Leishman closed with a 7-under 65 – tying for the low round of the day – to finish at 15 under and one shot ahead of world No. 3 Jon Rahm, whose bid for a tying eagle on the 72nd hole fell inches short.
“Pretty amazing, particularly with all the problems that have been happening back in Australia with the fires and people losing their lives. Just devastating really,” Leishman said. “So if this can bring them a little bit of joy, it’s a big win for me personally and then for them as well. I hope this can bring them a bit of joy.”
Leishman fired rounds of 68-72-68-65 for his fifth PGA Tour title. Rahm, the 54-hole leader who won his first PGA Tour title here in 2017 and got engaged near Torrey Pines, closed with a 70.
Two-time Farmers winner Brandt Snedeker (68) and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy (69) finished three shots back in a tie for third. McIlroy could have become the world’s top player with a victory. In his 2020 debut, Tiger Woods tied for ninth, his final-round 70 leaving him at 9 under.
“I knew if I played good, I could give myself a chance, but if the guys out ahead of me, if they had their best stuff, I wasn’t going to win,” said Leishman, who had tied for second here in 2010 and 2014. “To get off to the start I did, I was 3 under through four and I missed about a five‑foot birdie putt on three, so could have easily been 4 under through four. That’s the start you want to get off to.
“I saw that the guys out front didn’t get off to the best start and then that really got my determination up. Not that it wasn’t already up, but that got me right into it. I think I’ve led here early in the last round maybe once or twice and let it slip. I was very determined to not let that happen again.”
While Leishman was rolling, the final group – Rahm, McIlroy and Ryan Palmer – was reeling. All three bogeyed the first hole. McIlroy, making his 2020 debut, added another bogey on the second hole, Rahm a double-bogey on the third, McIlroy and Palmer both making bogeys on the fourth.
Palmer didn’t rebound – he shot 77 to tie for 21st – while McIlroy made a charge with a birdie on No. 5, an eagle on 6 and birdies on Nos. 8 and 9. A three-putt bogey on 11 stifled his chances.
“I’m happy with the fight that I put up today,” McIlroy said. “Marc played an amazing round of golf to go out there somewhat in contention and shoot 65. To shoot 69 myself after that start, I was trying to make eagle at the last to consolidate third on my own, but T-3 is a good way to start the year.”
Rahm took some time to get going but gave himself a chance to tie on the final hole after making an eagle at No. 13 and birdies at 14, 16 and 17. But from 53 feet on the last, he came up just short.
“I can say I can’t really play much worse for the first 10 holes,” Rahm said. “From 13 on, kind of got in the mindset of just loosen up, doesn’t matter, you’re six shots back, just try to maybe get the round to even par, not shoot over par in this tournament, which is obviously a hard thing to do.
“Made that eagle, started to get some good vibes, started hitting fairways and that birdie on 14 kind of got me going.”
But in the end, it was Leishman’s day, thanks in large part to his putter.
“I was driving it really well early in the week and then I think I might have only hit two or three fairways today. It just left me a little bit,” Leishman said. “But the thing that was trending in the right direction was the putter. I just found a feel on the putting green earlier in the week, which actually I said to (his caddie), when I had the putter in my hand, feels like it did in Malaysia a couple years ago when I won there, which it’s nice when it happens like that occasionally.
“I wish it could be like that every week.”
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