Mickelson comes up just short despite late charge
Bubba Watson won the Farmers Insurance Open by a single stroke after a nerveless final round of 67 at Torrey Pines on Sunday evening.
The 32-year-old held off Phil Mickelson and Jhonattan Vegas - winner of last week's Bob Hope Classic - down the stretch to clinch his second career PGA Tour title.
Watson finished at 16-under-par, while Mickelson eventually had to settle for second just a stroke back following a 69, with Vegas (68) taking a share of third alongside Dustin Johnson (66) at 13-under.
DA Points (67) was fifth on his own at 12-under, while Nick Watney fired a spectacular course record 63 over the South lay-out to claim a share of sixth with Anthony Kim and Hunter Mahan.
Starting on the tenth tee, Watney produced an extraordinary start to his round as he birdied eight of his first nine holes to hit the turn in just 28 shots and went on to add an eagle at the sixth as he rocketed up the leaderboard.
Hot putter
But it was Watson who emerged triumphant as he showed calmness under pressure and superb touch with his putter to outlast his rivals.
The Ryder Cup star made a crucial up-and-down from off the back of the green at 17 to maintain a one-shot lead over Vegas heading to the par-five 18th.
Playing in the group behind, Mickelson then produced a tap-in birdie at 17 after an exquisite approach to join Vegas at -14 just one back of Watson.
Vegas' challenge hit the buffers when his five-iron approach to the 570-yard final hole came up short and found water short of the green.
Crucial birdie
He would go on to take a bogey-six while Watson conjured another wonderful up-and-down, this time from a greenside bunker, to close with a birdie.
That ensured Mickelson had to hole his third shot at 18 from around 75 yards for an eagle to force a play-off and, while a brilliant effort, it came to rest just a few feet from the hole to confirm Watson as champion.
An emotional Watson - who recently lost his father to cancer - said afterwards: "It's hard every time you look at it (winning).
"You've got Phil, you've got the guy that won last week, Vegas, you've got all these guys up the leaderboard that have won before and any bad step and they're going to catch you.
"All I thought about today was getting my head down and just playing my game, I birdied every par-five and it helped me out today."
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods endured a disappointing end to his week in San Diego with a closing 75 seeing him drop back to one-under-par in a share of 44th.
The former world number one had never previously finished outside the top-10 at Torrey Pines and has won on no fewer than seven occasions at the course.
The 32-year-old held off Phil Mickelson and Jhonattan Vegas - winner of last week's Bob Hope Classic - down the stretch to clinch his second career PGA Tour title.
Watson finished at 16-under-par, while Mickelson eventually had to settle for second just a stroke back following a 69, with Vegas (68) taking a share of third alongside Dustin Johnson (66) at 13-under.
DA Points (67) was fifth on his own at 12-under, while Nick Watney fired a spectacular course record 63 over the South lay-out to claim a share of sixth with Anthony Kim and Hunter Mahan.
Starting on the tenth tee, Watney produced an extraordinary start to his round as he birdied eight of his first nine holes to hit the turn in just 28 shots and went on to add an eagle at the sixth as he rocketed up the leaderboard.
Hot putter
But it was Watson who emerged triumphant as he showed calmness under pressure and superb touch with his putter to outlast his rivals.
The Ryder Cup star made a crucial up-and-down from off the back of the green at 17 to maintain a one-shot lead over Vegas heading to the par-five 18th.
Playing in the group behind, Mickelson then produced a tap-in birdie at 17 after an exquisite approach to join Vegas at -14 just one back of Watson.
Vegas' challenge hit the buffers when his five-iron approach to the 570-yard final hole came up short and found water short of the green.
Crucial birdie
He would go on to take a bogey-six while Watson conjured another wonderful up-and-down, this time from a greenside bunker, to close with a birdie.
That ensured Mickelson had to hole his third shot at 18 from around 75 yards for an eagle to force a play-off and, while a brilliant effort, it came to rest just a few feet from the hole to confirm Watson as champion.
An emotional Watson - who recently lost his father to cancer - said afterwards: "It's hard every time you look at it (winning).
"You've got Phil, you've got the guy that won last week, Vegas, you've got all these guys up the leaderboard that have won before and any bad step and they're going to catch you.
"All I thought about today was getting my head down and just playing my game, I birdied every par-five and it helped me out today."
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods endured a disappointing end to his week in San Diego with a closing 75 seeing him drop back to one-under-par in a share of 44th.
The former world number one had never previously finished outside the top-10 at Torrey Pines and has won on no fewer than seven occasions at the course.
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