Weekly Recap: Top of the List

The whole week was out of whack, from start to finish.

The Farmers Insurance Open began on a Wednesday, and everything seemed out of sorts the rest of the way.

And by "the rest of the way" we mean until the very end, when a 37-year-old non-winner who began the final round with less than a one percent chance to win actually won the tournament.

Luke List shot one of the best rounds of his life, a 6-under 66, then sat around for two hours waiting for the final groups to finish. He then hit the absolute best shot of his life on the first playoff hole to deny rising star Will Zalatoris his own maiden victory.

With Torrey Pines Golf Course in near darkness, List hit a third-shot wedge from about 120 yards to one foot on the par-5 18th hole for a kick-in birdie. When Zalatoris missed a 10-footer that would've sent the tournament to a second playoff hole, not to mention a dreaded Sunday finish, List had won for the first time 206 career starts.

The Augusta, Ga. native -- who for the first time will now get to play in a pretty cool golf tournament there -- began the day five strokes back in a tie for 19th place. Noted golf writer Justin Ray tweeted that into perspective: 

There were 14 guys within three shots of the lead as co-54-hold leader Zalatoris headed to the back nine. With world No. 1 Jon Rahm and other major winners bunched together, List was among the least likely to emerge. And when he had a soul-crushing bogey on 17, that seemed to be the end of his chances.

But then the guy ranked 208th on Tour in putting remarkably sank a 13-footer for birdie on 18 to get to 15-under-par. At that point, he waited. And waited. Until Zalatoris' birdie try from eight on 18 missed by an inch.

They were in a playoff, and the Tour desperately wanted the tournament to end. After all, it had rescheduled things to avoid going against NFL Championship Sunday. List's heroics were just what they needed.

List was in a playoff once before, losing on a miracle shot by Justin Thomas on the first playoff hole at the 2018 Honda Classic.

List was ranked top-50 in the world back then in 2018, but he entered this week outside the top 150. His big win will move him to about 55th in the OWGR. Plus it will get him into the Masters for the first time and, perhaps even more importantly, give him a two-year exemption through the 2023-24 season at a time when many golfers are on the downside of their careers.

So where do we see List going from here? For one, as we often see with golfers after their breakthrough win, there likely will be regression, at least in the short term -- though this year's Honda Classic is not too far off. He is one of the best ball strikers on Tour and has been for years, ranking top-25 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee every year since 2016, and missing in SG: Tee-to-Green only once during that time.

But he's never finished in the top 150 in SG: Putting. At Torrey Pines, he ranked eighth in the field and said he had been working diligently on the greens. He sure looked good making that 13-footer on the 72nd hole.

Putting will be the key for List, of course. It's hard to imagine someone who has putted so poorly for so long suddenly flipping a switch. But another golfer north of 35 years old, Jason Kokrak, did just and now is a three-time winner.

So, maybe?

SUNDAY BACKSPIN

Will Zalatoris
This one will sting for a while, so it will be interesting to see how Zalatoris rebounds this week at Pebble Beach. He led the field in both SG: Approach and Tee-to-Green – he's even better than List in that department and in fact gained 6.64 strokes Tee-to-Green in the third round, the best mark on the beastly South course since such tracking began 18 years ago. But he ranked 64th in SG: Putting for the tournament, and that's what cost him. Zalatoris had not been the same golfer who emerged in the latter stages of 2020 into 2021. But he said he added more than 10 pounds and 10 yards since last season, and he was exceptional last week at the Amex on a track not best suited for his game, and now delivered on a very long, narrow course perfectly suited for his game. Zalatoris will move back inside the top 30 of the OWGR, and it's clear his first PGA Tour win is coming. But like with List, he's going to have to make some putts.

Jon Rahm
Rahm did what Rahm does: He tied for third, missing a difficult 16-footer for birdie on the 72nd that would've tied him for the lead. We'll probably see him next at Riviera in three weeks.

Jason Day
The former No. 1 in the world entered the week ranked 129th, without a great Sunday in quite some time. He had only two top-10s in 2021, and in neither did he contend. So when he found himself with the co-54-hole lead at Torrey Pines, then electrified the crowd with an eagle from the fairway at 14 to regain a share of the lead, it harkened to the days when he was the best player in the world. It didn't last, with bogeys on 16 and 17 before a closing birdie, but Day showed what he can do when his game is on and his back is good. It's still a big "if" for those two things to happen at the same time with any regularity, but the timing could not be better for Day, as he heads to one of his best tracks this week at Pebble Beach. He hasn't finished worse than seventh there in the past five years.

Cameron Tringale
Tringale just missed cracking the top-50 at year's end (51st), which would've brought some nice perks. But he clearly was playing well, highlighted by a co-runner-up at the ZOZO, and now it's continuing in 2022. He birdied the 72nd hole to move into a tie for third, and that finish likely will move him into the top-50, though the official numbers won't be available till the DP World Tour tournament in Dubai ends later Sunday.

Justin Rose
Rose is now in his 40s – both his age and his world ranking. He had top-10s in the first two majors last year but none since -- until now. Rose tied for sixth. He had a real shot to win but incredibly found the water on the par-5 18th, bogeying the hole when a birdie would've gotten him into the playoff. Rose will continue on this week at Pebble Beach in a very weak field where he could shine again.

Pat Perez
Perez is just a month away from turning 46 and was sitting close to 300th in the world rankings. He's had a pretty darn good career, but he's no doubt counting the days till he's eligible for the Champions Tour. But first, he turned back the clock with a surprising tie for sixth, just missing his first top-five since the 2019 Shriners. It's a nice story, but we shouldn't expect a Perez renaissance.

Aaron Rai
The Englishman continues to make great strides as a PGA Tour rookie. He played in the final group in a big-time tournament and, while it wasn't the best day for him, he did tie for sixth with a birdie on 18. That's easily Rai's best finish, and he's now made seven of his past eight cuts. He clearly is coming.

Michael Thompson
Thompson has two great results in three starts already in 2022. He was fifth at the Sony and now tied for 11th at the Farmers, plus he had a top-15 at Mayakoba near the close of 2021. All very positive results and he bears watching, beginning this week at Pebble Beach.

Taylor Montgomery
The Korn Ferry player was in just his third-ever PGA Tour event on a sponsor invite. He tied for 11th, just missing a top-10 that would've landed him at Pebble Beach this week. Montgomery's prior PGA Tour start was last year's U.S. Open, and he made the cut there, too.

Justin Thomas
Beginning the third round in the final pairing, Thomas dipped a bit but stayed in the top-five heading in the final round. But from there, he and Bones Mackay plummeted to an over-par round to end in a tie for 20th. A stunning fall, really, and Thomas backers surely expected better.

Dustin Johnson
Johnson exceeded our expectations through three rounds of his 2022 debut, sitting just outside the top-10. But he shot a 1-over 73 on Saturday and would up T25. He still has not had a top-5 on the PGA Tour since his November 2020 Masters win.

Doc Redman
Redman hadn't finished in the top-40 anywhere since a runner-up at the Palmetto Championship in June. So a T25 at the Farmers, while welcome for him, is not enough to think he's turning things around. He's deep into the 200s in the world rankings after peaking at 76th in his sophomore season of 2020.

Sahith Theegala
The former Pepperdine all-American appears to be a comer, but not quite yet. After spending time on the first page of the leaderboard thanks to a 67-68 start, Theegala settled at T25. He's 3-for-3 in cuts so far in 2022.

Maverick McNealy
McNealy began the final round inside the top-10 but wound up tied for 30th with a 3-over 75. It could've been a lot worse, and it was till he closed birdie-eagle. He had four top-25s during the Fall Swing and just missed another at the Sony (T27). This one will surely sting for him, but it really was just one bad round.

Adam Schenk
Schenk found himself grouped with Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas for the third round after a Thursday 62. He couldn't sustain the run, closing 75-78 to tumble outside the top-50. Whereas McNealy has otherwise shown enough for us to think it was just a bump in the road, Schenk has not offered enough to think that round was anything more than an aberration.

Bryson DeChambeau
DeChambeau withdrew before the Sony with a wrist injury a few weeks back, then looked out of sorts in missing the cut at Torrey Pines. He didn't discuss things with reporters, so we don't know what's up, but we'll see whether DeChambeau keeps his commitment to play in the Saudi International starting Thursday.

Jordan Spieth
Since becoming a first-time father last month, Spieth finished 20th out of 20 at the Hero World Challenge, 21st out of 38 at the Tournament of Champions and now added a missed cut at the Farmers. Spieth was quite ill on Wednesday, to the point that he went to the hospital, but he returned for his second round on Thursday. They said it was non-Covid related. Spieth is in the field for this week's tournament at Pebble Beach, so we should get an instant update on his health.

Max Homa
Homa has won at Riviera and Quail Hollow, so you'd think Torrey Pines would be right up his alley. But he missed the cut and has struggled some since winning the season-opening Fortinet.
 
Rickie Fowler
Fowler opened with a 66 on the North course, offering hope that something good could finally happen for him this week. But no. A 76 on the South on Thursday ended his tournament. That's two missed cuts in two starts in 2022.

Tony Finau
Finau had never finished outside the top-25 at the Farmers and had a top-6 result in four of the previous five years. He missed the cut. He just hasn't been quite as good since winning The Northern Trust in August, and missing the cut at a place he's had such great success reinforces that. He hasn't had a top-10 in nine starts since the win.

Brooks Koepka
With Koepka, like with Bryson DeChambeau, it's always something. The latest something was that Koepka dyed his hair blond. Thankfully, he was able to get out of town before his brown roots started to show, missing the cut by three shots. We should see him next in two weeks for his Phoenix title defense. Probably as either a blonde or a brunette.