Harris English has a proven history of turning up with his best golf when the odds are high. Teeing off at the Torrey Pines Golf Course for the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open meant the making of history. Furthermore, the conditions had it in them to pack a double whammy for English as he chased his fifth win on the PGA Tour.
By the time the curtains had closed on Saturday January 25, a rare occurrence on Tour, English had added to the novelty by winning after a gap of 1,308 days. He didn’t just make a statement of character with the win; the result left him proud on several fronts.
Harris English wins 2025 Farmers Insurance Open in first PGA Tour win in 1,308 days
Let’s do the check in the ascending order. The winners’ list at Torrey Pines is like a rundown of who’s who on the PGA Tour. While English could have had his name on the mantlepiece a decade ago, he sadly lost a four-way playoff to Jason Day.
There was one more chance to set it right in 2021, the last time English won, at that year’s US Open here. But, English sadly fell short once more with the third finish. Torrey Pines was waiting to be tamed, but in the interim, English had to cope with matters that threatened to derail his quest for the next win on Tour.
Injury followed by a hip surgery in the first half of 2022 meant English wasn’t as proficient with a handful of top 10s the last two seasons, thus making the road back long and demanding.
Coming to the week of the triumph, the scores were an apt indication of the hard challenge thrown at players by the treacherous greens of Torrey Pines. English’s margin of victory was wafer-thin, reading 8-under 280 (68, 73, 66, 73). By doing so, he became only the third player in tournament history to win despite shooting over-par in the final round. But this brought forth the man’s resolve to set right an anomaly that he had been trying to correct for quite some time.
As the 54-hole leader going into Saturday, English did not sleep over the lead for a long while, and it was here that his fondness for a hard task took over. In this case, it was the tough setup of the course.
There’s more. As if the swirling wind wasn’t enough of a test through the week, it hurled a different test to the players on the final day by changing directions.
Up for the task
From his formative years, iconic golf courses with thick rough and other tests have suited the eye, and by ticking all these boxes, Torrey Pines ranks right up there despite English’s bruising past.
“I just love US Open-type setups and Torrey Pines has always been one of my favourites. It’s definitely kicked me in the teeth before because if you’re not hitting it too well, if you’re not missing in the right spots, you’re not going to play well,” he said.
English was speaking from experience. Coming from where he was, his brush with pain, going under the surgeon’s knife and his drop in form, English knew he had to remind himself of the past. Not just what he had been through, but also the days of glory when he won in 2013 and 2021 to be affirmed of his credentials as a four-time winner on the PGA Tour.
Rediscovering joy
The talk with his team on these lines would have happened in the past as well, and was discussed with renewed confidence given his fondness for Torrey Pines. It was also about rediscovering the joy on the golf course, and while he continued to be obsessed by the sport that defines him, English can report a difference post Saturday, armed as he is with a champion’s mindset.
“When you get in those ruts, you lose your competitiveness, you lose the fun in shaping shots and hitting different shots. That’s kind of what we’ve worked on last week. I spent a lot of the offseason working on some technique stuff. It was like time to get back in playing, getting back into having fun on the range like I was a kid back where I grew up hitting different shots, curving it around trees.”
Different mindset
Harkening back to his playoff loss to Jason Day a decade back, and then the struggles he endured this Saturday to grind out the win, English was probed on the different outlook. Back then, the analysis was that the results could have been very different had he been better with his driving.
Now, chastened by time, English came away saying that it is not always playing perfect golf that wins tournaments, a realisation steeled by being a professional for 14 years.
“What I’ve learned is you don’t have to play perfect golf. Playing this golf course years and years and having a lot of experience, I know where to miss it, and I’ve had a lot of those same shots before or same chips or same putts. You kind of build those in the memory bank and relive some of those good chips and putts,” he said.
Fully exempt till the end of the 2027 season, English’s victory in this San Diego, California tournament worth USD 9.3 million means he has jumped from 75 to 34 on the Official World Golf Ranking, He also received 500 FedExCup points and a prize cheque of USD 1.674 million.
Learning on the job
Compared to English, Sam Stevens is light in experience, having graduated to the PGA Tour in 2023. But the 28-year-old showed no signs of nerves or rawness as he stormed up the leaderboard with the final round’s best card of 4-under 68 to record only his second runner-up finish on Tour by finishing a shot adrift of English.
At seven-under 281, Stevens had his best result at the Farmers Insurance Open in three starts, and the result got him an exemption into the coming week’s Signature event, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, with an offering of 700 FedExCup points and USD 20 million prize purse.
Playing several groups ahead of English, Stevens’ power run cooled off towards close, but for which he could have challenged in a playoff scenario.
There were no regrets, however, as sometimes that’s how it goes. Stevens is content as he becomes better at getting hot on the golf course and staying that way.
“I just try and have a good perspective. It’s great to play well… Try and think of it as every time I get in contention or get those nerves as just kind of icing on the cake. I’m happy that I’m out here and I would love to be one of the best players in the world. I would love to win a lot, I would love to win Majors, but [I’m] just [trying to] have that perspective of being thankful and appreciating those moments,” said Stevens.
The learning continues for Andrew Novak as well. In search of his maiden win since graduating to the PGA Tour in 2022, Novak’s sole third was his second top three in his last five starts.
The start to the season may not have started on the right note with missed cuts at the Sony Open and The Sentry, but holding his own in a competitive field and tough golf course makes the future appealing after qualifying for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The Pebble Beach Golf Links is a stern test of skill and temperament, and Novak will be a lot more confident when Torrey Pines’ South Course plays host again for Tiger Woods’ Genesis Invitational in mid-February.
“Definitely happy with where my game’s at… I like a tough golf course. Definitely positives to take from this week, even though it’s not the win that I wanted,” said Novak.
Asia’s pride
The sole third at The Sentry and T4 at Torrey Pines, Sungjae Im is taking the results as an omen for bigger glories this year.
The season that went by was frustrating despite the string of top 10s. The W has continued to elude the South Korean as he seeks to add to his two wins on Tour. In a tie for fourth at 5-under 283, Im, who last won in 2021 at the Shriners Children’s Open, will be banking on his pure long game when he returns for the Genesis Invitational.
A start has been made, and Im hopes the force will be with him as the season progresses. “Getting a top 10 is not easy; I’ve had two top 5s, so I’ve had a start to the season compared to last year,” he said.
(Main and featured images: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
