Brandt Snedeker called it one of the best rounds he ever played, one he doubts he could repeat if he had to start over. Still to be determined was whether his three-under 69 in a raging wind and occasional rain on Sunday at Torrey Pines will be good enough to win the Farmers Insurance Open.
Not long after Snedeker finished, the final round was suspended for the third and final time because of unplayable conditions. The wind was so fierce that the South Course was evacuated as the gusts started to push out windows in tents.
Stewart Williams, a meteorologist for the PGA Tour, said the peak gust was between 80kph and 88kph.
Play scheduled for yesterday was to be closed to the public, and the only volunteers on duty were to be drivers of the evacuation vans for the players.
In gusts that frequently topped 64kph, he delivered a major performance. Snedeker played the final 17 holes without a bogey. Of the 23 players who finished the round, 11 of them shot in the 80s and their average score was 78.9.
Snedeker’s one regret was not getting up-and-down for birdie on the par-five 18th hole, fearing that might leave him short of another unlikely victory at Torrey Pines. He posted at six-under 282.
As he stood on the 18th tee with the wind at his back, the final group of Jimmy Walker, K.J. Choi and Scott Brown were above him on the ninth tee headed in the other direction. When play was halted, Walker was at seven-under, one shot ahead of Snedeker and Choi. The final group was through 10 holes.
The next best score to Snedeker was a 73 by Shane Lowry of Ireland.
There were already 11 rounds in the 80s, and there was certain to be many more. The South Course is a beast in reasonable weather. Throw in the wind and rain, especially on the holes exposed by the bluffs along the Pacific Ocean, and this was as tough as it gets.
Billy Horschel hit a five-iron on the par-three third hole, which played 147 yards straight downhill. He came up well short of the green. In the same group, Colt Knost hit a long putt that actually blew slightly backward into the hole.
“The first six holes were the hardest I’ve ever played in,” said Chad Campbell, who grew up in west Texas and made no apologies for his 79 while playing alongside Snedeker. “Brandt played one of the best rounds I’ve ever seen. I don’t think he missed a shot.”
Snedeker started the final round six shots out of the lead. He won at Torrey Pines in 2012 by rallying from seven shots behind in the final round, needing help from a triple bogey by Kyle Stanley on the final hole to beat him in a playoff.
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