Farmers Insurance Open Recap: Snedeker, Weather Tear It Up

On a cold and ferociously windy Monday marked by knit hats and warm gloves in between golf shots, Brandt Snedeker was the only sane one in the bunch: He didn't play.

Snedeker finished a miraculous round in wind and rain Sunday, then watched as play was suspended and the final groups had to complete regulation Monday in perhaps even more difficult conditions. Jimmy Walker held a one-stroke lead as play resumed, but he bogeyed his first hole of the day and others joined him in falling down the leaderboard.

Snedeker's 3-under 69 -- already being hailed by some as one of the top rounds in memory and the only one among the 71 in the final round to break par -- stood up to give him his second career Farmers Insurance Open. A gallant K.J. Choi had a birdie try on 18, but finished alone in second a stroke back.

After Choi's attempt went wide left, Snedeker hugged his caddie on the practice green, perhaps as much for warmth as in celebration. (He then hugged his wife, kids and even Dottie Pepper!)

Torrey Pines took a beating from the El Nino storm that struck Southern California on Sunday, and many trees were felled as organizers raced to secure the course in time to complete the tournament. No spectators were allowed Monday, for safety reasons.

It turned out to be a compelling finish for event organizers, who saw their star-studded field decimated by trunk slams. Defending champion Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama, Bill Haas and Phil Mickelson failed to reach Saturday play. The only big names of consequence still standing were Snedeker; Walker; Dustin Johnson, who disappeared, figuratively, with a 74-80 weekend; and Patrick Reed, who disappeared, literally, after withdrawing with an ankle injury after the third round.

It was Snedeker's eighth career win, second at Torrey Pines and fourth in California. He also has won twice at Pebble Beach, where he will defend in two weeks. Everything that happened in the final round, good and especially bad, has to be taken with a grain of salt. But in fairness, Snedeker was showing signs of his former top-5 form before he blitzed the field with his memorable closing round.

His final 18 holes were otherworldly. He had the best score by three strokes amid a sea of rounds in the 80s. The field averaged 5.90 shots over par, the worst round in relation to par on the PGA Tour, not including majors, since 1999 at Pebble Beach (+7.38 in the third round).

Not to take anything away from Snedeker, who looked sharp in losing in a playoff to Fabian Gomez two weeks ago at the Sony Open, but the conditions were so dire that it's hard to draw many conclusions and bases future lineups on what happened Sunday and Monday.

MONDAY TAKEAWAY

K.J. Choi

The soon-to-be 46-year-old Choi had fallen on hard times in recent years (for a pro golfer, anyway). He hasn't won since 2011, didn't have a top-10 last season and his best showing this season had been T50. But Torrey Pines rewards players who keep their tee shots in the fairway, even at the expense of distance, and he may have come away with a win in any other conditions. Even in the wind and cold, he just missed. Can Choi use this as a springboard for a bit of career renaissance? Sure. But don't count on it. Again, you almost have to throw out anything that happened at Torrey Pines as an aberration.

Jimmy Walker

Walker traditionally plays his best golf at the beginning of the season, but so far in 2015-16 he doesn't have a win. You can't fault him for not closing the deal Monday, however. He played the final eight holes in 4-over and wound up with a 77 to tie for fourth. As the 2014 winner at Pebble, Walker is scheduled to resume action in two weeks. He has one only one of his five career titles later in the season than at Pebble.

Scott Brown

Brown won a tournament in 2013, the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open. But he's had a pretty pedestrian career by PGA Tour standards, so any time he gets into contention it's a big opportunity for him. He entered the final round tied for the lead with Choi and, while all the players were smacked around by the rain and wind, Brown faltered as badly as any other contender Sunday, going 6-over through 10 holes. He then punctuated his collapse with nine more strokes lost to par on Monday, for a 15-over 87. Ouch. Still, Brown already has two top-25s this season, so perhaps he is coming around. Something -- and someone -- to keep an eye on.

Branden Grace

Don't look now, but the South African is on the brink of cracking the top 10 in the world. Grace began the week ranked No. 11, then successfully defended his Qatar Masters title Sunday. It wasn't a star-studded field, but Sergio Garcia, countryman Louis Oosthuizen and others were there. Grace now has finished in the top 10 in all six of his 2015-16 starts and, last season, he finished top 5 in three of his final five events. This incredible stretch began with the PGA Championship. Grace's website doesn't indicate when he'll land stateside, but it should be no later than the WGC-Cadillac in early March. Whenever it is, he's obviously a must start.

Phil Mickelson

Oh, Phil. As we've noted here before, every time Mickelson says he feels good, or his game is coming around, bad things happen to him. After voicing such optimism following a T3 at the CareerBuilder Challenge, Mickelson imploded on the final three holes at Torrey Pines on Friday to miss the cut by a single shot. The bogey-bogey-bogey finish resulted in a career-worst score of 79 for Mickelson on the easier North Course. "Yesterday, I really thought I was on the cusp of coming out here today and really lighting it up and it just didn't happen," he said Friday. After Mickelson's five most recent top-10s, beginning with the 2014 PGA Championship, he has followed them up with: solo 78, MC, T65, T64 and, now, another MC.

Jordan Spieth

Jordan Spieth is still Jordan Spieth and will win his share of tournaments this year, perhaps even another major. But his whirlwind worldwide tour is doing him no favors. His latest faraway stop was Singapore, after other "offseason" jaunts to Australia and the Middle East. A week ago, Spieth said he was tired -- in January. Yes, he rebounded to finish second at the Singapore Open, but under most circumstances he should lap that unheralded field (Song Young-han of South Korea was your winner). Following a week off, Spieth will play at Pebble Beach, always a slog while paired with a celebrity partner. And the week after that, demanding Riviera.

Bud Cauley

Following shoulder surgery in September 2014, Cauley is back playing on a major medical extension (Web.com reshuffle). He missed two cuts in late 2015, but tied for 14th last week at the CareerBuilder. In San Diego, he shot three rounds or better before imploding, as did much of the field, with a final-round 79. Still, that was good for another top-25 showing. If you are looking for someone perhaps overlooked in your draft, Cauley might be a decent option.

Gary Woodland

Yes, Woodland is a frequent whipping boy in this space. And he again showed why. After beginning with a 68-67, Woodland shot 73 on Saturday but was still only a shot off the lead. On Sunday, while much of the field was under duress in the rainy and windy conditions, Woodland imploded as badly as any contender, shooting 6-over through 11 holes before play was suspended until Monday, when he finished off a 10-over 82. Woodland was 94th on tour in final-round scoring average last season, 116th the previous season, 159th the year before that and 166th the year before that. I guess you could say he's getting better. Or less worse.

Danny Lee

Lee burst on the scene last summer with his maiden win, starting a surge that carried him to the Tour Championship and a top-50 world ranking. It's still early this season, but Lee is nowhere that lofty status now. He's 5-for-5 in cuts, but his only high finish, T15, came in the limited field of the Hyundai. We'll give him a pass for shooting 80 at Torrey Pines on Sunday, but he already was out of contention by Saturday.