From day one, Justin Rose led the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour, breaking a Tiger Woods record at age 45.
At 45, Justin Rose left his competition behind at the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour. With a seven-stroke lead and a tournament record of 23 under par, Rose won at Torrey Pines. He held the lead firmly from the start and set new scoring records after each round.
PGA Tour: Justin Rose Wins with Tournament Record
In the final, a 70-round was enough to secure a comfortable victory. With three birdies on the front nine, the Englishman extended his lead, only dropping a bogey on the 12th hole on the back nine. Rose had enough cushion to remain confident. Instead, he focused on breaking the tournament record of 22 under par, last set by Tiger Woods in 1999. “That was the only thing I concentrated on during the final three holes,” Rose said afterward.
“The fact that I was able to increase my lead each day is something I’m naturally proud of as a player, because it shows I handled the pressure from start to finish and kept improving and moving forward,” Rose said at his winner’s press conference. “Maybe that’s something I hadn’t done before, so I’m very satisfied with that.”
While his golf game was nearly flawless, he credited his success mainly to mental strength. “I was very disciplined this week. Of course I played well, but I managed my game well, thought carefully, was patient at the right moments, and compensated for small mistakes by sinking the right putt at the right time. There was a lot of true mental maturity from a strategic golf perspective.”
Stephan Jäger Scores Top-5 Finish
With Rose unreachable at the top, the rest battled for second place. Pierceson Coody shot a 65, the best round of the day, climbing twelve spots to share the position with Si Woo Kim and Roy Hisatsune. Just behind them, Stephan Jäger finished tied 5th at 15 under par. His 68 in the final round secured his good result. After struggling with inconsistency earlier, his final day mixed three bogeys with seven birdies, allowing him to stay in the top 10. This is a positive sign for the new year and his best result since the Sony Open in January 2025, following a missed cut at the American Express.
Brooks Koepka closed the tournament with a 70, finishing tied 56th, completing his first week back on the PGA Tour. Koepka noted that half the players are new to him after several changes over the past four years. “It’ll be an exciting year to get to know everyone,” he said.