GOLF: Justin Rose, 45, sails to wire-to-wire Farmers victory

San Diego – England’s Justin Rose, a veteran on the PGA Tour, proved age is no barrier to greatness, winning the Farmers Insurance Open for the second time with a 2-under-par 70 on Sunday at Torrey Pines.

“I’m still loving it,” Rose, 45, said. “Still working hard.”

Rose finished at 23-under 265, securing a seven-stroke victory and setting a new tournament scoring record. He became the PGA Tour’s oldest golfer in more than 15 years to win a wire-to-wire event and also the oldest winner in the tournament’s history.

“The whole week has sort of been a record-setting week,” Rose added. “I was just kind of aware of [the scoring record]. I was aware of a big lead, but I kind of wanted to play for that.”

Rose’s impressive start came Thursday with a 62 at the North Course, giving him a lead he maintained throughout the tournament, despite his two highest scores coming in the final rounds at the South Course. This victory marks his 13th career PGA Tour win.

“So I had my own mini-goals coming down the stretch, which kept me refocused. I think that was the key for the week,” Rose said.

Rose also won this event in 2019 and had only two PGA Tour victories since then. For comparison, Rocco Mediate, then 47, held a four-round lead at the Frys.com Open in 2010.

Pierceson Coody posted the day’s best round with a 65, earning a share of second place at 16 under alongside South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (69) and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune (69). Jake Knapp (67) and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger (68) tied for fifth at 15 under.

Rose credited his strong start each day for maintaining momentum. “Starting off the day each day with a big lead is kind of key,” he said. “I played the front nine well this week, which helped keep the momentum going.”

On Sunday, Rose was 3 under through the front nine before recording his only bogey on No. 12.

“Just don’t make a lot of putts out here, other than Justin Rose this week,” Tony Finau said after his round of 66.

Brooks Koepka, returning to the PGA Tour, shot 70 to finish at 4 under, tied for 56th. Improved putting helped him record five birdies and three bogeys in his final round.

“The biggest change is I probably don’t know about half the guys,” Koepka said. “It will be a fun year, just getting to know everybody.”

Finau, who made a 42-foot eagle putt on the par-5 13th, finished tied for 11th at 12 under. He also recorded a hole-in-one on No. 16 Thursday.

“There’s so much golf in front of us. Happy to put together a solid tournament,” Finau said.

—Field Level Media/Reuters