Not par for the course: Farmers goes extra day, sixth playoff hole
Day, Noren remain tied as Torrey Pines tourney sets record
SAN DIEGO — 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 par5 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.
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.
At Paradise Island, Bahamas,
LPGA:
Brittany Lincicome beat darkness — with help from floodlights on the Ocean Club’s 18th green — to win the Pure Silk-bahamas LPGA Classic for the second straight year.
Lincicome birdied the final two holes and four of the last five for a 7-under 65 and a two-stroke victory over Taiwan’s Wei-ling Hsu in the event cut to 54 holes after wind wiped out play most of Friday. The 32-year-old Lincicome won her eighth career title, finishing at 12-under 207.
At Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Li Haotong of China held off Rory Mcilroy to win the Dubai Desert Classic by one shot, closing with a 3-under 69 to deny the Northern Irishman in his bid to win for the first time in 17 months.
Leading by one shot going to the par5 18th, Li holed a 10-foot birdie putt after Mcilroy had reached the green in two. Mcilroy two-putted for birdie and a 69. Li finished at 23-under 265.
European PGA: