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Farmers Insurance Open: Luke List lands first win after beating Will Zalatoris in play-off

Luke List wins the Farmers Insurance Open

The 37-year-old came from off the pace to end his long wait for a victory after a dramatic final round at Torrey Pines.

Luke List was last man standing as a thrilling finale in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in California saw him come from five off the pace at start of play and nail a first PGA Tour win in his 206th start.

List played a superb final round of 6-under 66 to set the clubhouse total of 15-under on Saturday after the tournament had been brought forward a day to avoid a TV clash with the NFL play-offs.

That included a testing 13-foot downhill birdie putt at the last although, at the time, his score of 273 looked at least one too many with numerous players still out on the course within striking distance.

Would List ultimately regret missing a short par putt on the 17th?
That looked the case but in the end he did not.

List had to wait nearly two hours before he knew what would happen next. He finally got his answer when Will Zalatoris's eight-foot birdie putt for the win at 18 wobbled away from the cup, meaning the two Americans needed a play-off.

Both landed virtually side by side in a bunker with their tee shots at the first extra hole, the 18th, and had to lay up.

But List seized the day with a brilliant wedge from 131-feet to tap-in range.

Zalatoris couldn't match that birdie and, at last, List had his first PGA Tour win.

List said: "I really believed I could win on this course, and it's a dream come true. I told myself if I was in a play-off, I was going to make birdie.

"To get that first win is definitely a relief. You wonder if it's going to be your turn, but I truly believe I found something this last six, eight months of golf.
"I've worked so hard with my coach, Jamie Mulligan, and I've done all the right things."
Zalatoris, who was also runner-up in last year's Masters, reflected: "It was a lot of fun. I fought like hell all day.
"I was kind of more disappointed with what I left out there on the second and third round. I thought today I battled really well.
"I thought the putt I hit on the 72nd hole, I thought I made it, I just needed a hair more speed. I've seen enough putts through the years coming down that hill to know that that putt just doesn't go left and it happened to go left."
Torrey Pines
Zalatoris had started the day tied for top spot with Jason Day on 14-under.
While Zalatoris shot a 1-under 71, Day could only manage an even-par 72 and finished in a tie for third - one shot out of the play-off - with World No.1 Jon Rahm and Cameron Tringale.

Day looked to have struck a potentially decisive blow when spinning his approach from 118 yards back into the hole at 14 to join the lead with a thrilling eagle but two bogeys after that cost him.

Joaquin Niemann, Justin Rose, Pat Perez, Sungjae Im and Aaron Rai shared sixth place.

Course form again a big factor at Torrey Pines

A play-off between two players who hadn't won before possibly hints at a surprise set of results.
But the idea that past course form at Torrey Pines is a big factor when trying to identify the winner played out once more.
List had finished tied 10th last year and also tied 12th in 2018 while Zalatoris was tied 7th in the 2021 edition.

Rahm, who finished one back, had captured the US Open at this venue last June and also had a win and a second in this event.

Day, another of the third-placed finishers, is a two-time Torrey Pines champion while another past winner, Justin Rose, would have made the play-off had he birdied rather than bogeyed the 72nd hole.

Pat Perez, a surprise name in tied sixth, is a past runner-up (2014) and also made the top four in 2017. He played numerous rounds at the course growing up.
With Tringale also owning a past top four, the first five finishers had all previously posted a top 10 finish in the event and two of that quintet, Rahm and Day, were two-time winners on Torrey Pines South.

Big names left frustrated

Jon Rahm was the pre-tournament favourite here and the smart money said he'd knock his rivals aside on the final day.

But the Spaniard was battling himself and the course for most of the round.
Rahm hung in there and when he drained a snaking 26-foot putt for birdie on 17 to get to 14-under, the signs looked ominous.

Another birdie at 18 would get him into a play-off while a repeat of his 72nd hole eagle in 2017 would give him the win.

Rahm managed neither. Another loose drive stopped him going for the green in two and he couldn't convert his birdie try after wedging to 17 feet, eventually signing for a 1-under 71.

At least Rahm had a shot at it.

Justin Thomas was tied for the lead at halfway after rounds of 68 and 63 and some were billing this as a Rahm v Thomas shootout over the final 36 holes.

But Thomas limped home with laps of 73 and 74 to finish tied 20th.

Dustin Johnson still hasn't won since winning the 2020 Masters and had to be content with tied 25th after closing with a 73.

Had he matched List's final-round 66, DJ would have won by a shot.
Of the other fancied names, local star Xander Schauffele finished down in tied 34th after a flat closing 72 while Tony Finau missed the cut.
Ryder Cup stars Daniel Berger, who was fighting a hip injury, and Scottie Scheffler took tied 20th alongside Thomas.

READ MORE: Rory McIlroy hunting hat-trick of titles at the Dubai Desert Classic

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