Ben Crane celebrates with his daughter after winning at Torrey Pines (Photo by Don Kohlbauer)
He didn’t know it at the time when his par putt found the cup on 18, but Ben Crane secured the inaugural Farmer’s Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on Sunday by a one-stroke margin.
“You know, I did not know that I had won when it was over,” Crane said. “I didn’t know what was really going on in front of me.
“It was nice to get through the last putt there and — actually the first person that told me was (group mate) Ryugi (Imada). He goes ‘Congratulations.’ And I go: ‘Did I win?’”
Crane instructed his caddy to not give him leaderboard updates unless it was essential to make a decision. Evidently, his caddie didn’t see any of those situations. Whatever the case, the strategy worked for Crane.
Meanwhile, nearby Murrieta, Calif. native and 21-year-old Rickie Fowler sat in the clubhouse two strokes back thanks to a double bogey on 17 that cost him a chance for the win.
His second shot on the par 4 ended up right of the green in thick rough. His chip came up short of the green and a two-putt left him staring at a 6.
“It was the right club. We had the right yardage — just came out of it a bit,” Fowler said of his errant second shot.
Clad in bright orange pants and flanked by a gallery pulling for him and group-mate (and San Diegan) Phil Mickelson, Fowler said he was happy with the experience despite the disappointing finish.
Meanwhile, Mickelson couldn’t recover from a shaky putter that left him with four bogeys in the first seven holes and five strokes back at 8-under.
“I had a good warm-up session,” Mickelson said. “I got off to a terrible start, and then throughout the round didn’t get much out of it.”
With Mickelson out of it early, the stage was set for Crane, Sim and Imada.
Crane came out on fire with birdies on three of the first five holes. He took the lead at 13-under on the third hole from Saturday leader Imada and never relinquished it.
It wasn’t easy down the stretch though.
With a chance to take a commanding lead to the 18th tee, Crane’s putter failed him. He played it safe from the 17th tee and hit a 3-wood to take fairway bunkers out of play. He hit the green in two with two putts left for par.
After watching Sim’s birdie putt rim out, Crane looked ready to carry the two-stroke lead to 18. But his second putt missed the target, setting up some drama at 18.
Crane’s drive at 18 found the right rough, but his layup short of the green-front pond gave him a good luck at the pin on the par 5.
Sim’s drive found the left side of the fairway on a reachable green that seemingly had him in good shape to make the aggressive play to try and force a playoff.
But instead of a 3-wood, Sim pulled an iron out of the bag and laid up. His approach rolled back past the front-edge pin and on the fringe, leaving him with a chip for birdie that didn’t come close.
“Yeah, I hit a perfect drive down there the left side, had 224 meters front; and for me, that’s really stretching a 3-wood, so I decided to lay up to a nice yardage,” he said. ”I think I could have got there, but like I said, it had to be all of it. I had 224 meters front , and I reckon I can probably carry it 225, 230, but like I said, I had to hit it flush, and I wasn’t swinging that well.”
Imada struggled with his putter after being near or atop the leaderboard for most of the tournament. The 33-year-old from Japan stayed within striking distance until a three-putt bogey on 17 put the tournament out of reach. His 3-over for the day left him at 10-under for the week.
The PGA Tour moves to the Riviera Country Club in L.A. next week for the Northern Trust Open, where Mickelson is the defending champ.
Jason Owens is the SDNN sports editor. email: jason.owens(at)sdnn.com
