ON THE PGA TO UR
Adam Long wins Desert Classic
ven Adam Long wasn’t certain where
he stood after hitting his approach into
the Desert Classic’s ¿ nal hole. Winning
wasn’t at the top of his mind when he teed
off in the ¿ nal group with Phil Mickelson and
Adam Hadwin. A top-10 ¿ nish, and a spot
in next week’s event, would have been nice.
Long was an afterthought in a ¿ nal group that
included a World Golf Hall of Famer and a
Canadian playing in front of countrymen who
À ock to the California desert in the winter.
Long was just a 31-year-old rookie making
ustin Rose overcame a few nervous
moments early in the ¿ nal round with
enough key putts down the stretch for a
3-under 69 to hold off Adam Scott and win the
Farmers Insurance Open on 27th January.
Rose, the defending FedExCup champion,
had a three-shot lead shrink to a single shot
when he opened with three bogeys in ¿ ve
holes, and Jon Rahm made birdie on the par-5
sixth. Rose answered with a bold play on the
next hole for a short birdie, restored his lead
at the turn and then kept in front of Scott, who
birdied his last four holes for a 68.
Rose ¿ nished at 21-under 267 for a two-
shot victory, becoming the ¿ rst player since
Peter Jacobsen in 1995 -- when the South and
North courses at Torrey Pines were 700 yards
shorter -- to post all four rounds in the 60s at
this event.
“The offseason was short and sharp,” Rose
said. “I didn’t know how I was going to come
out. It’s awesome to play that well this week.”
He won for the 10th consecutive year
worldwide, including his gold medal at the
2016 Olympics. His 10th victory on the PGA
TOUR gave him the most of English players,
breaking a tie with Nick Faldo. “He’s the No.
1 player in the world, and he’s showing why,”
Scott said. “Even when he was a little off, he
kept it together.” Rose failed to convert a 54-
hole lead in the BMW Championship late last
year in Aronimink, and he had a 3-6 record on the PGA TOUR when leading going into the
¿ nal round. He struggled with his swing early,
missing tee shots to the right and missing the
green from the fairway on No. 5, and his putter
looked shaky. But he delivered big birdie putts
on No. 7 and No. 10, short-game shots that
took stress off his putter on consecutive holes
22 G o l f P l u s 2019
FEBRUARY
his sixth PGA TOUR start. And then he was
the champion. He won in a way that most
players can only dream of: by making
a 15-footer for birdie on the last
hole. Long arrived at the ¿ nal hole
tied with Hadwin and Mickelson.
After hitting his drive into the
right rough, Long hit his 175-yard
onto the green. That’s when he
asked his caddie to con¿ rm that he
shared the lead. “I wasn’t 100 percent
sure. I didn’t care. I had nothing to lose,”
Long said. The stage was set for him after
Hadwin’s bunker shot stopped inches from
the hole and Mickelson barely missed a long
birdie try. Mickelon’s miss helped Long see
the line for his career-changing putt. His 65th
stroke of the day found the bottom of the hole.
Long, who was 20 over par in his previous
¿ ve PGA TOUR starts, shot 26-under 262 on
the Desert Classic’s three-course rotation. He
shot 63 in the ¿ rst and third rounds, then ¿ red
a 65 that was Sunday’s second-lowest score
on PGA West’s tricky Stadium Course. Long,
who started the ¿ nal round three shots behind
Mickelson, chipped in twice on the back nine.
He didn’t make a bogey.
JUSTIN ROSE WINS AT FARMERS
INSURANCE OPEN
on the back nine. He won with a new set of
clubs having signed an endorsement deal with
Japan-based Honma. Rose also won without
his regular caddie, Mark Fulcher, who had a
heart procedure last week. Rose used Gareth
Lord, the former caddie of Rose’s longtime
Ryder Cup partner, Henrik Stenson.