SAN DIEGO — Harris English held off hard-charging Sam Stevens to win the Farmers Insurance Open by one shot Saturday, securing his fifth career PGA Tour victory with a 1-over 73 in challenging weather at Torrey Pines.
English finished his first tour win since 2021 at 8-under 280, and his first victory since becoming a father. Stevens began the day six shots off the lead, but surged into contention with a 4-under 68 for the best final round of the tournament, which has a tradition of furious final-day rallies, before English posted the win.
“It’s always a journey,” an emotional English said in his postmatch interview on CBS while holding his daughter, Emilia Elizabeth. “I’m 35 now, I’ve been doing this for 14 years, and it never gets easier. I enjoy the grind of it. I love being out here on the PGA Tour. And I love doing stuff like this.”
Stevens’ impressive number didn’t rattle English, who made two early bogeys in a round that began in strong wind. English steadied his game and calmly finished with 12 consecutive pars.
“This is what we play for,” English said. “I have so much respect for this game, and respect for a lot of players out here. It’s hard to win. I might have looked calm out there on the course, but inside, your emotions are going crazy. I know how hard it is to win. You’ve got to soak it all in when you do it.”
English was businesslike to the end: He put his tee shot on the 18th into the rough, but got back into the fairway before putting his 115-yard approach shot on the green. He two-putted for the victory, rolling his 25-footer to 7 inches for a tap-in and a subdued celebration.
“I love how this course sets up for me,” English said. “I played to the right spots and kept myself in it, just kept plugging along.”
Andrew Novak was third at 6 under, missing out on his first tour victory with a disappointing 74 after briefly taking the lead. Sungjae Im and Kris Ventura tied for fourth at 5-under.
“It was just a roller coaster on that front nine,” Novak said. “Finally got it settled in on the back, but just wasn’t hanging approach shots close enough to give myself birdie opportunities.”
English hadn’t won since surviving an eight-hole playoff with Kramer Hickok at the Travelers Championships in 2021, although he still had nine top-10 finishes in the previous two seasons after missing five months in early 2022 while recovering from hip surgery. English already had a strong history at Torrey Pines, where he lost a four-way playoff to Jason Day in 2015 and then finished third at the U.S. Open in 2021.
English surged into the lead Friday with three straight birdies to close his third-round 66, capitalizing on the mildest day of weather to make his move at the gorgeous coastal course.
The wind that forced an 86-minute delay in the second round Thursday returned in intermittent force early Saturday on the oceanside holes, but calmed somewhat in the afternoon. Lanto Griffin wore a wooly white beanie with a pompom on top, while many fans broke out winter jackets that don’t normally get much use in San Diego.
Novak and English, who live on the same island in coastal Georgia, played together in the final group — and while English overcame his early hiccups, Novak was up and down.
Novak opened with two bogeys, but then surged into the lead with three straight birdies. He rolled in an astonishing 54-foot putt on the fifth, reading the drop from the green’s top tier perfectly. Novak put his hands to his head in disbelief.
But Novak made three bogeys and a birdie around the turn, while English began his string of pars, repeatedly getting up and down with minimal fuss.
Stevens finished his round several groups before Novak and English, keeping pressure on the leaders. Novak couldn’t apply his own pressure to English, making no birdies on the back nine.
“These greens are tricky, especially [when] you get a little wind,” Stevens said. “Today, I just made the putts. I guess they had just been waiting ’til Sunday to go in for me, and sometimes that’s how it goes. You take ’em when you get ’em.”
Stevens turned pro in 2018 and joined the tour in 2023. The Oklahoma State product matched his best previous result in his runner-up finish to Corey Connors at the Valero Texas Open in April 2023.
He charged up the leaderboard at Torrey Pines despite the wind, making four birdies on the front nine. Stevens even saved par on the 18th after putting his second shot in the water while trying to reach the green in two.
World No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama finished at 1 over. He’ll be back in San Diego in three weeks to defend his title at the Genesis Invitational, which has been moved from Riviera to Torrey Pines.
Ludvig Åberg, who led after each of the first two rounds, finished at 3 over after battling through illness in his final two rounds.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.