Torrey Pines was a compelling backdrop for a lot of Saturday (yes Saturday) drama at the Farmers Insurance Open. No less than a dozen players were right there with nine holes to play — any one of them could have won but at day’s end, with the sun setting over Torrey Pines and daylight dwindling, a man who spent the longest two hours of his life waiting for the final group to finish — Luke List — walked away with his first PGA Tour victory.
List posted an eye-opening 66 then had to wait around. Had to be a nervous moment when Will Zalatoris lined up an eight-footer at the final hole for the win. But the Z-man missed yet another shot putt and he headed for a playoff with List, the two tied at 15-under par.
He did it on the first playoff hole. There was only enough daylight for one. List knew the temperatures were dropping quickly. He was 135-yards out but played the key approach, his third, like it was 148. The result was one of the most dramatic shots of 2022. His shot landed well behind the hole but the slope on 18 carried his ball down toward the hole before it stopped just 10 inches from the cup.
The other principal in the playoff, Will Zalatoris, needed a 12-footer just to tie List. Form said he wouldn’t make it. After all, the Z-Man had just missed from eight feet for birdie in regulation — a put that would have handed him his first win.
Here’s how things shook out last week at Torrey Pines:
Luke List: He’s waited seemingly forever for this win. At age 37, he no spring chicken. But perhaps this is a break-through for him. He finished well in front of the rest of the contenders. He birdied the 16th, made bogey at 17 from the rough then made a great birdie at 18 for a closing 66, best round among the dozen or so players who were in the Saturday afternoon battle.
It will be a career-boost for List, who was still trying to soak in what he had accomplished. It’s a whirlwind,” List said afterward. “Still a lot of emotions going through my head, but to get that first win is definitely a relief.”
Will Zalatoris: Truth be known, rail-thin Will was the best ball-striker on the course Saturday. If he was just an average putter, he would probably have won this thing by six shots. He missed at least five putts during the week inside of seven feet and there were probably more. At one point he missed from two-and-a-half feet. If he could putt a lick, he would have already won. As it is, he’s still way up there in the world rankings.
Jason Day: J-Day hit the most resounding shot of the final nine when he jarred a wedge from 117-yards out at the par four 14th for an eagle two. It looked like Day had a great chance to end his long (nearly four years) non-winning streak. Alas, it was a disappointing finish for the former world’s No. 1 as he bogeyed 16 and 17 to take himself out of contention. Is he back? No telling but he did get a taste of the hunt and spit the bit. Good news for J-Day is that he says his body is finally pain-free.
Jon Rahm: Be careful what you wish for Jon Rahm. Rahm complained last week that the AmEx was basically “a putting contest.” Well this Farmers Open was a ball striking, fairway-finding, green-hitting contest and Rahm failed miserably over the final 36-holes. All he could manage were rounds of 72-71 on Friday and Saturday and that’s not going to get it done. The world’s No. 1 drove it poorly, missing too many fairways, too many greens and that put too much pressure on his putting and of course, that didn’t respond either. Rahm finished 14-under and tied for third with Day and Cameron Tringale.
Cameron Tringale: It’s hard not to pull for this guy. He has a lot of game, shot 70 and had only one bogey on his card over the final 18 holes. There’s a win in his future.
Justin Thomas: J.T. was in good shape heading into the final 36-holes. He was 13 under par and all he needed to do was shoot three-under over the final 36 holes to win. Alas, J.T. shot 73-74 over those two final days and still has a lot of unanswered questions regarding the state of his game.
Bryson DeChambeau: Bryson’s left wrist is hurting — really hurting. He tried with everything he had to try and make the cut. He shot 70-72, two-under and missed by a shot. Can’t question his determination. The left wrist left everyone wondering if he’s still making the trip to Saudi Arabia this week?
Dustin Johnson: D.J. is back, finally, was in good shape (11-under) heading into the final 36 holes. Responded with 73-73. You’ve got work to do, D.J.
The Under-Achievers:
Phil Mickelson: Lefty can’t make a cut which leaves some wondering if he should start spending more time on the Champions Tour.
Brooks Koepka: Didn’t come close to making the cut after shooting 70-74. If this guy’s gonna win 15 majors, like he’s been boasting, he might want to consider, you know, actually playing better in regular events on major-style golf courses.
Jordan Spieth: Jordy was an absolute mess on Thursday. Shot 78 and went home early.
Rickie Fowler: Pulled the 10-shot trick. Followed his 66 on the North Course with 76 on the South. Has anyone actually gotten better after leaving Butch Harmon?
6 Comments
baxter cepeda
Blew my mind that List is 37; I didn’t realize. This is a huge win for him. You mentioned some underachievers at the end of the article but most of those guys get it done routinely while List, who is very talented, has been quite the underachiever; until this last Saturday at least.
Btw You published the caddie hug but the family hug was the best in a while.
As for some of the rest:
Worlds number 1:
Rahmbo grumpied himself out of another win. He mentioned recently he is working on some things but didn’t want to share what. The assumption would be he is trying to take his ability to stay calm to another level but instead in the last two weeks it’s like the worlds number 1 has decided to be as grumpy as he wants…shot after shot…hole after hole. It not only is it off putting—because even he knows he is no Seve- it is clearly not helping.
Fire can pay off. But rahm isn’t just showing fire anymore, meaning a little anger or a red face here and there. He slumps his shoulders. He looks down. He acts exasperated. It all looks exhausting. And it just keeps on going.
I said from the beginning of Rahms career he would be in every tournament. But my question then was will he win a lot?
He does win quite a bit but he also doesn’t win a whole lot when he should. His temper is still the reason Rahm doesn’t win at the clip he should. IMO.
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Day is back to being competitive. His peak —when he won the PGA —will likely remain his peak. But if JD is not in pain, there is no doubt he will be competitive and will resume winning, including majors.
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Zalatoris is a machine tee to green but trying to be machine like with the anchored cheese stick is holding him back. IMO. It’s crazy to me how guys like zalatoris can be such perfect experts on the full swing but have such odd technique with the putter, almost like they don’t know what they are doing. The way Zs putter club head goes back way inside is something one of my girls does with her mallet putter. She can make putts in bunches but can go cold like Will as well. When her magic isn’t working we go to work on taking her putter more straight back and then just releasing on the thru stroke. It usually helps her. Science says the path is not as important as the face but imo the path influences the face in multiple ways: it can keep the face open and then lead to manipulations which cause pulls by closing the toe too much and/or some other issues.
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Morikawa is an amazing player. The concern is similar to Spieth back when he was on fire winning multiple majors in a short span at a very young age: setting an unsustainable standard they have to live with. This of course leads to never ending questions of when they will get back to that crazy level, which becomes a distraction for players who ideally just want to focus on the ‘process’.
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Tringale:
I agree with your take. He should win eventually. But he needs to make it happen already. Lukes Ls first win has to be making Cameron T think as much as anyone.
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Finally Bryson:
For so long Brysons act avoided even more criticism because he avoided injury. That’s not the case anymore. And we know how this guy handles criticism. His power style makes him great —sometimes— but quite inconsistent. And That’s before injuries. Something has to give.
Tom Edrington
As bad as Rahm was, and he was crooked off the tee, wasn’t great with the wedges and putted poorly and he still missed the playoff by just one shot. As for Will Z, his putting is as bad as I’ve ever seen for a player with his overall talent….he NEEDS to get with a putting guy and overhaul that part of his game….I mean he had a not-very-difficult eight footer to win…..
baxter cepeda
Yes Rahm is very talented. He is Jack with a short game. But he is the opposite of Jack with his emotions. If Rahm kept his cool just one time Saturday, he would have won by one. 2 times he wins by two. And so forth. IMO. He has been working on his temper but has clearly regressed this year.
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Yes zalatoris needs Fax. The first putt in regulation was the classic 50-50 putt at 8 feet that shows so much. Zman blamed the read but we saw the stroke.
Unlike Rory Zalatoris needs to do everything a Faxon says to a T. Rory still uses a mallet which faxon likely prefers he use a blade style putter like he uses. Still, Rory has been listening to fax and is putting well as a result.
But Someone who has really been listening to everything his putting coach has been saying is Luke List. List said this week how he had to completely change “everything” he knew and did with his putting, which didn’t even look bad but produced terrible results, arguably the worst in pro golf according to List himself. List started working with his new putting coach coach Stephen Sweeney last year, culminating in leading in strokes gained putting at Torrey before winding up 8th in the category. Clearly that change has meant everything for the 37 year old List.
Changing everything like that could mean even bigger things for a young ball striking machine like zalatoris. As good as Zalatoris is, he has nothing to lose by completely overhauling his putting; especially if he wants to be able to make more of those clutch 8 footers he will have many of under the bright lights.
Tom Edrington
Jack was a much better putter than Jon Rahm…..
baxter cepeda
Totally agree.
But rahm has a really good stroke and shows an affinity for making bombs and clutch putts. He is clearly one of the best Sunday putters on tour today.
My only question is how much better could he be if he kept his cool more?
Tom Edrington
He’s so much more calm than he used to be….like a fine wine, his temper control will improve with age…