SAN DIEGO — On a rare Saturday final round, Harris English wins the fifth tournament of his career at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines with a final score of eight-under.
Just like during the second round, the wind was howling during the morning of round four, with pars being rather hard to come by. English found himself at two-over through five holes before carding his only birdie of the day on the par-five sixth. From there, English got a par on the following 12 holes to confirm his win at eight-under. Despite missing all but four fairways during the round, he played what some consider “boring” golf during the late stages of the fourth round, but that was exactly what Torrey Pines was demanding on the windy and cold day. On the 18th hole, English tugged his drive into the left rough, something he was familiar with throughout the day. Knowing all he had to do was par to win, he punched out to the middle of the fairway. English then stuck the middle of the green and two putt from about 20 feet before tipping his cap and waving his hand in celebration.
In his group was Andrew Novak, who had a very unstable front-nine before finishing in third place at six-under. To start Novak bogeyed the first two holes before catching fire and birdieing the next three. On his third straight birdie on the fifth, he drained a 54-footer that started a good 30 feet right of the hole before tracking all the way to the heart of the cup. Novak would bogey seven and eight before finding his last birdie of the day on nine. With two bogeys on the back, Novak finished two-over on the day and two back from English’s score.
The runner-up in the tournament was Sam Stevens, with a hot four-under day, which allowed him to finish one back from the lead at seven-under. On a day where low scores were hard to come by, Stevens was making the brutal South Course look simple, attacking nearly every pin and almost hitting a hole-in-one on the par-three third. Stevens finished with a bogey-free, four-under front side before finishing with an even back comprised of a bogey on the par-five 13th and a birdie on the par-four 17th. With a brilliant front side, he looked to make a serious run at English’s score but would come up just short in the end. The second-place finish did put him in the AON Swing 5, which makes him eligible for the no-cut field at Pebble Beach next weekend.
In the final group with English and Novak was the young Aldrich Potgieter, who struggled mightily during the fourth round. Despite hitting the ball a mile, Potgieter struggled to score well after the tee shot. He birdied the first hole before falling behind with a double on the par-three third and bogeys on three of the next four after that as well. The backside did not get much better, with Potgieter bogeying 11, 13 and 16 before finishing with a birdie on the final hole of the tournament. The 20-year-old has a huge amount of potential with his long-ball capabilities and certainly has a lot of time to figure out everything he needs to find his first win.
With his fifth win of his career, English now qualifies for Pebble Beach next week as well as the Genesis Invitational, which will come right back to Torrey Pines on Valentine’s Day weekend.