Farmers Insurance Open Recap: Rookie Rahm Wins First Tourney

There wasn't chance in the world we were picking Jon Rahm at the Farmers Insurance Open.

This just in: Jon Rahm won the Farmers Insurance Open.

Everything we – and by we, we mean me -- researched told us that scrambling would be critical at Torrey Pines, and we stand by that. Rahm entered the week 183rd in scrambling out of only 223. Rahm scrambled much better than usual, and now stands 155th. Further, his strong tee-to-green game did a great job taking scrambling out of the equation; he not only tied for 12th in greens in regulation but finished solo third in approach-shot proximity to the hole.

Of course, playing the back-nine on Sunday in 6-under with two eagles and two birdies kind of helped, too. Rahm rolled in a 60-foot dagger on 18 to end all the drama, with a bunch of golfers still on the course. At one point, 10 of them were tied for the lead. A multi-golfer playoff was a real possibility, if not likely, and a three-stroke win was a pipe dream.

Regardless, the rookie who is one of the few golfers to get his card without going to Q School (or now the Web.com Tour Finals) notched his maiden win. And by all indications, there will be more. This was only his 17th event, but the 22-year-old Spaniard by way of Arizona State had come close multiple times before.

Rahm now heads back to Phoenix for this week's Waste Management Open, where he tied for fifth two years ago in just his second Tour event. Normally, it would be prudent to tab Rahm in what amounts to a home game, but coming off his first win alters everything. It's a life-changer, and as you read this story he may still be reading congratulatory texts. Rahm's work week will surely be thrown off, and he'll still have his winner's high on the first tee on Thursday. Doing well in Phoenix would be a remarkable achievement.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Charles Howell III

A lot of us remember when Howell came on the scene for good in 2001 and won a year later. He's now almost 38 and has won only one other time – way back in 2007. It took that Herculean back-nine from Rahm to deny Howell another shot at victory. Instead, Howell was co-runner-up with C.T. Pan. Howell had 14 top-25s last season, six more already this year, and he seems to still have a lot in the tank. TPC Scottsdale hasn't been one of his strongest tracks, and he has withdrawn after initially being in the field.

C.T. Pan

How's this for symmetry? With Howell's WD, Pan is now in the Phoenix field (despite a top-10, the smaller field of 132 with a strong field was not a guarantee of entry). The Taiwanese native who attended the University of Washington has been hit-and-miss this season: eight tournaments, with two top-10s but also four missed cuts. That's not uncommon for a young golfer, and Pan is still 25. But he warrants further scrutiny, perhaps as early as this week.

Patrick Rodgers

The 54-hole leader was in front the early part of Sunday, but he couldn't close the deal for his first Tour win. Greatness has been predicted for the former Stanford star and No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, but he's now in his third season. This was his 62nd career event. Rodgers, 24, should get over the hump, maybe even this year, most likely where putting isn't as critical as other facets of the game (which is why he did well at Torrey Pines).

Ollie Schniederjans

Schniederjans, 23, was another former No. 1-ranked amateur and college phenom (Georgia Tech, but it's been a little slower going for him than Rodgers – he was relegated to Web.com Tour last year. Schniederjans is still more known for his hair – he doesn't wear a hat – than his game. He took steps toward reversing that this past week, at one point sharing the lead before ending tied for ninth. It was only his second career top-10, and they've both come in his past four events, so Schniederjans is another guy to keep on your radar. His price will go up, but it shouldn't be too high just yet.

Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler

They both missed the cut. Both of them played half a world away in Abu Dhabi the week before and, even though NetJets travel is not like we all travel, it's still a grind and there's still jet lag and all that goes with it. Johnson was almost 50 percent owned in DraftKings play and that is quite simply an unforced error for those who picked him. There was no reason to take a golfer at that price under those conditions. As for Fowler, this week he'll be in Phoenix, where he lost in a playoff last year, and he will be a much smarter play after a full week off (we aren't necessarily saying pick him in DK – we haven't crunched the data yet – but at least there won't be an obvious reason to bypass him). Johnson is taking the week off.

Hudson Swafford and Adam Hadwin

Here are two more guys of whom we wanted no part. Swafford was on Cloud 9 coming off of his first PGA Tour win, and there was little chance of him getting grounded for Torrey Pines. He was almost 25 percent owned across the DK board. Just another unforced error. We also faded Hadwin and, for a while, that seemed to be the wrong play. But he himself faded, no doubt tired after his fantastic CareerBuilder effort (shot a 59, was runner-up to Swafford). The Canadian opened 66-71 at Torrey Pines to be in the mix before a 74-76 left him tied for 49th. For someone never so deep in contention before, being in contention is mentally draining, and to ask for it a second straight week was a bit much.

Martin Laird

Laird was 35 percent owned! Just crazy. He was T8 last year and T7 the year before, and there was so much talk of Laird – he's Martin Laird, for goodness sakes – that we instantly took him off our board, even though he was also playing well coming in. It's one thing for everyone to jump on a Jordan Spieth or even a Howell, but to go ga-ga and run with the pack over a $6,500 golfer is another story. Laird gave everyone hope for two days, but he ended up MDF. Be happy with that.

Jimmy Walker

Stop picking him! Okay, he was only 10 percent owned, not terrible. But for the one in 10 of you out there, just cut it out. Sure, Walker is going to have some good weeks over the course of the season, but he's not the same guy he was a few years ago and picking him on the week he will do well is a blindfolded dart throw.

RotoWire value picks

Last week: Winner (Swafford), runner-up (Hadwin), five top-25s, four missed cuts.

This week: Runner-up (Howell), three top-fours, seven top-25s, five missed cuts. Of the 16 guys offered in the RotoWire value picks, seven of them finished in the top-25. But we had some stinkers, too. Five of the 16 missed the cut, beginning with an expensive misfire – top dog Jason Day at $11,400. Our next six guys, dollarwise, played the weekend. Next in line after that was, um, Tiger Woods. We admit it, too much of a fanboy pick (we are turning red right now). But Howell, Tony Finau and Pat Perez, all in our Tier 3, all finished in the top four. We also had Luke List in Tier 3, and we went to the well once too often on him. Even though he was playing well all season, he stepped up in class at Torrey Pines and we probably won't roster him again till we see how he reacts to his trunk-slam and more tough fields ahead. Our Tier 4 picks, which many of you rely on to fill out your roster, were so-so, with two of the four making the cut. And that's what we strive for in Tier 4 – weekend play, with anything else gravy. The two we were highest on, Aaron Baddeley and Nick Watney, didn't reach the weekend. Hunch play Hunter Mahan looked good until Sunday, when he ballooned to 8-over on the round and fell 49 spots to T67. John Huh was an MDF.

We played one DK contest, and every week we play only one, with one lineup. We used Brandt Snedeker ($9,500), Marc Leishman ($8,500), J.B. Holmes ($8,200), Brendan Steele ($8,000) Woods ($7,900) and Finau ($7,700). Five of the six made the cut and we totaled 424.50 points. Dang Tiger.