Farmers Insurance Open Recap: Rose Keeps Top Spot

Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka had a real good game of musical chairs going on for a few months. Each week when the music stopped, one of them was the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, the other was left standing. And they kept changing places. Koepka got dibs by being able to say he finished 2018 as the top guy. But on Sunday, Rose fired the first big shot of 2019.

The 38-year-old Englishman withstood the challenge of a star-studded leaderboard to win the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, holding off Adam Scott by two strokes. Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Jon Rahm all finished in the top five.

Rose thus has opened up some breathing room atop the OWGR. He now has 10.29 world-ranking points to the 9.03 for Koepka, who was not in the field. To be sure, Rose's position is far from solid, and the two could flip-flop in the near future. But the victory reinforced just how Rose is so steady week after week after week, while Koepka has been prone to the big splash, winning three majors over the past two years.

Since the start of the 2016-17 FedEx Cup playoffs roughly 17 months ago, Rose has played 35 tournaments worldwide. He has six wins, 11 other top-fives, nine other top-10s and five other top-25s. That means Rose has finished outside the top-25 only four times, and just one of those was missed cut. That is a remarkable stretch of sustained excellence.

Koepka, a decade younger than Rose, has played far fewer tournaments during that span, largely because he missed four months at the start of last year with a wrist injury. Of course, he recovered nicely, going on to repeat at the U.S. Open and then win the PGA Championship.

Rose recently raised some eyebrows by ending a longstanding equipment deal with TaylorMade, switching most of his clubs to the little-known Honma. A week ago, in his first foray with the Japanese firm, Rose finished tied for 34th at the Desert Classic, one of those four non-top-25s. The learning curve, apparently, was just one week, and no one will question Rose's decision anymore.

Rose and Koepka will both play at the controversial European Tour event in Saudi Arabia this week. They are still close enough that Koepka could take back the No. 1 ranking with a win, as long as Rose finishes worse than 36th – that according to OWGR expert @VC606 on Twitter. That's unlikely to happen, and even then it depends on no changes in the current field.

But with the bigger tournaments about to come at us with more regularity, beginning with the WGC-Mexico in late February, we'll see Rose and Koepka together more often. Would it surprise anyone if they resume their game of musical chairs on a weekly or almost-weekly basis?

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Adam Scott
Scott had only three top-10s all of 2018, during which the former No. 1-ranked golfer tumbled out of the top-75. That was a mighty big fall. At age 38, you began to wonder if that's that for Scott. But one of those top-10s was a solo third at the PGA Championship, and with Sunday's runner-up to Rose, the Aussie is suddenly inside the top-30 again. A return to the top-10 is probably out of the question – Scott doesn't play so much these days. But we saw that when he does play, he's still got a lot left in the tank. Scott even putted very well for him, ranking 14th in strokes gained: putting on the week.

Hideki Matsuyama
Like Scott, Matsuyama totaled only three top-10s during 2018, as he fell from the top five in the world to 33rd coming into Torrey Pines. The Japanese star wound up tied for third to notch his best finish since winning the WGC-Bridgestone almost a year and a half ago. Matsuyama still has some big problems putting – he was ranked 40th in strokes gained: putting on the week. The Farmers is one of the few stops where you can putt poorly and still contend, or even win. Next week at Phoenix is another one of those stops, so Matsuyama could challenge a second week in a row at a track where he won in both 2016 and 2017.

Talor Gooch
Last week, after the 27-year-old Oklahoman finished solo fourth at the Desert Classic, we wrote about him and some other lesser guys who wound up in the top-10: "It surely is a great moment for each of them. But before trying to pick them up in your season-long league or considering starting them next week in DFS, keep this in mind: They may not get another top-10 all season." Um … well … Gooch got another top-10. In fact, another top-five. Gooch, who had zero top-10s all last season, tied for third with Matsuyama on Sunday. So what now? Well, we won't predict doom and gloom for Gooch. But we know he won't do it again this week; he's not playing Phoenix.

Rory McIlroy
McIlroy's increased commitment to the PGA Tour has not paid off with a win as yet, but a pair of top-fives isn't too shabby. McIlroy followed up a T4 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions with a tie for fifth at the Farmers, another tournament he hadn't played before. McIlroy's next stop will be at a course he's more familiar with: Riviera, where he has tied for 20th two of the past three years. Stay tuned on Rory.

Tiger Woods
In his first start of 2019, Woods was never in the mix, certainly after opening 70-70-71. He closed with a 67 on Sunday to secure what can be called a backdoor top-20. And even then, he played his final nine in 5-under. For sure, it looks good on the scorecard and the leaderboard. Woods' game was strong tee to green, ranking 10th. Which means putting was a problem (he was 39th). Maybe Woods needs some reps before really challenging for another title. We'll know more in three weeks, when he tees it up again at Riviera.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth got the laugh of the week when he hugged Patrick Reed at the first tee on Saturday, their first grouping since Reed's inflammatory Ryder Cup comments. But Reed and 34 others got the last laugh, as Spieth's woes continued with a tie for 35th. Really, Spieth didn't do much well, finishing 49th in strokes gained: putting, 53rd in strokes gained: tee to green and 68th in strokes gained: around the green. This has a chance to get uglier for Spieth before it gets better. If it gets better.

Sungjae Im
We wondered how Im would do at Torrey Pines. He has been playing a lot of golf, as this was the ninth time he had teed it up already this season, including all four events in 2019. The rookie tied for 52nd, but a missed cut would not have surprised us, given his workload. Im is only 20, so he can handle all this golf more than someone a decade older. But it's still a lot, and it's concerning where he will be later in the season. For now, Im will play yet again for a fifth straight week beginning Thursday in Phoenix.

Bryson DeChambeau
The field at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic was far weaker than at the Farmers. Still, a win is a win, and DeChambeau won again. He cruised to a seven-stroke victory over Matt Wallace, giving him four titles in his past nine starts. The talk of DeChambeau challenging for No. 1 during 2019 just ratcheted up even further. But for now, the win did not even move him up one spot – he's still ranked fifth. But DeChambeau is now very close to overtaking Justin Thomas for fourth.

Matt Wallace
The Englishman is now up to a career-best 36th in the rankings after his runner-up in Dubai. Wallace is showing he is among the best on the European Tour. We're all eager to see where the 28-year-old stands opposite PGA Tour pros, and that will come no later than next month at the WGC-Mexico.

Ian Poulter
It's not a Ryder Cup year, but Poulter showed that's not what's driving him. He tied for third in Dubai, a week after tying for sixth in Abu Dhabi. As we said, they weren't the strongest of fields, but that's still a pretty impressive double, moving Poulter back to 35th in the world. It bodes well for Poulter backers in the weeks ahead of the PGA Tour.