
Harris English picked up the win at the Farmers Insurance Open by beating Sam Stevens by one stroke. For Harris, this is his fifth career win and first since the 2021 Travelers Championship. In less than ideal weather conditions, English shot a 1-over 73 to beat Stevens, who shot the best round of the day with a 4-under 68.
After his third round score of 66, English held the 54-hole lead for the first time in four years. Andrew Novak sat one stroke behind English at 8-under while runner up Stevens was 6 strokes behind the leader. Novak finished third at 6-under par, and both he and Stevens were looking for their first career wins.
English’s final round started off poorly with a bogey on the opening hole. He made another bogey on the fifth hole but bounced back immediately with a birdie on the following hole. English proceeded to make 12 straight pars to close out his round.
English said it best after his round. “It doesn’t have to look pretty, you’ve just got to get the job done,” English added. His round was not pretty by any means – he hit only four fairways and 9 greens during his final round but grinded through it to win.
After winning two times in 2021 and being a member of the winning 2021 Ryder Cup team, English’s career seemed to be on the upswing. But in February 2022, he had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip. Dealing with the recovery during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, English did not have the same level of success he had in 2021. English’s swing coach Justin Parsons said, “He went from 6 to 8 degrees of rotation to having 30 degrees, the surgery was no joke.” English had a better year in 2024 with four top-10 finishes and finished 55th on the FedEx Cup list.
“It’s hard to win, I might have looked calm out there on the course, but inside your emotions are going crazy. I just know how hard it is to win. It’s just so much fun. You’ve got to soak it in when you do it,” English said after his win.
Up next for the PGA Tour is the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. This tournament is played on two courses – Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course. Last year’s event was shortened to 54 holes due to inclement weather, and Wyndham Clark won the event with a course record of 60 in the third round. This week, world number one Scottie Scheffler will be making his season debut after cutting his hand making Christmas dinner.