Adam Scott has become the first Australian to pass $US50 million in career earnings on the US PGA Tour, but it’s what his solo second at the Farmers Insurance Open signifies that has the Queenslander most excited.
A new putting grip and tactic of leaving the flagstick in paid immediate dividends on the greens as Scott converted spectacular iron play into four straight birdies to round out the tournament, falling two shots shy of world No.1 Justin Rose at 21-under par.
The cheque for outright second of $US766,800 – his best result since winning the WGC–Cadillac Championship in March 2016 – boosted his career earnings on the PGA Tour to $50,184,193 to sit seventh on the all-time list.
Torrey Pines once again proved to be fertile ground for the Australians in the field with two-time champion Jason Day’s five-under 67 in the final round lifting him into a tie for fifth and Cameron Smith delivering the round of the day – a seven-under 65 – to climb 39 spots into a tie for ninth.
It was also a strong finish for Matt Jones whose tie for 13th was his best finish since a tie for 12th at the John Deere Classic last July, while Marc Leishman (T-43), John Senden and Cameron Davis (both T-57) also qualifying for the weekend.
Trailing Rose by three strokes at the start of the final round, 38-year-old Scott knew that even his best might not be good enough to rein in the in-form Englishman and took until late to convert opportunities into birdies.
An “inconceivable miss” from inside two feet cost Scott a shot at the par-4 fifth, earning it back with a birdie at the ninth as he made the turn in even-par.
A laser-like 4-iron at the par-3 11th wasn’t converted and another missed opportunity at the par-5 13th meant he failed to make up ground on the runaway leader.
Four birdies coming home – including a brilliant approach to the par-4 17th – was a great way to complete his second start of the year and injects some confidence as the tour builds to the run of big tournaments starting with the Players Championship in March.
“It was a bit of a grind leading up to the (US) PGA Championship last year, and to get back in contention was definitely good for the confidence,” Scott said of his third-place finish at Bellerive Country Club last August.
“And the other thing I took from it was it felt like that’s where I’m meant to be. I felt like I was in the right place and I wasn’t worried about being in contention.
“I’ve done it a lot. It’s just been a bit of a grind to get my game back up to this level, but now I’m starting to see it a bit more frequent and that’s good for the confidence, too. I’m looking forward to all the great golf that’s coming in the next two-and-a-half months.”
Defending the title he won in a playoff last year, Day moved up 11 spots on Sunday thanks to his 67, one of the highlights a booming 3-wood from 263 metres at the 556-metre, par-5 13th.
That set up one of six birdies on the day and highlighted the areas he needs to improve prior to his next start at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am from February 7.
“You take a lot of what you do on the South (course) away,” Day said post-round.
“I know I need to go back and work on some wedges; my wedge game hasn’t been as solid as it should be. That’s one part that I’m going to look forward to trying to get better.
“I’ve got Pebble coming up, another good place that I play well at.”
Coming off a tie for 22nd at the Sony Open, Smith too showed that his game is trending in the right direction, a second shot from 224 metres to just outside 12 feet delivering an eagle at the final hole for his second top-10 of the wraparound season.
Justin Rose missed 21 straight cuts to start his professional career. It’s an entertaining footnote now when you consider how many he has made since… and how much money he’s earned in his career.
With his victory at the Farmers Insurance Open, the 38-year-old Englishman took home $US1.278 million and became the sixth player ever to surpass $50 million in career PGA Tour earnings – he’s at $51.02 million and counting. What’s even more amazing about the accomplishment is how much cash he’s been accumulating in recent years.
• Since the start of the 2017-’18 season, Rose has played in 21 tour events and made the cut in 20 of them. In those 20 events, he has earned $10.025 million (19.65 percent of his career money). That translates to Rose taking home an average of roughly $501,273 per made cut and about $477,403 per overall start in that time.
• Since turning 35 on July 30, 2015, Rose has played in 64 tour events, making the cut in 57 of them. In those 57 events, he has earned $18.44 million (36.1 percent of his career money). That translates to Rose taking home an average of roughly $323,533 per made cut and roughly $288,146 per overall start in that time.
• Since turning 30 on July 30, 2010, Rose has played in 161 tour events, making the cut in 136 of them. In those 136 events, he has earned $38.027 million (74.5 percent of his career money). That translates to Rose taking home an average of roughly $279,615 per made cut and $236,196 per all starts in that time.
Remember, none of this includes money earned on the European Tour or the Olympic gold medal he won in Rio in 2016.
Here the others who are part of the $US50 million club:
Tiger Woods, $115,584,657
Phil Mickelson, $88,773,284
Vijay Singh, $70,971,328
Jim Furyk, $68,633,709
Dustin Johnson, $56,601,122
As for the rest of the field, well here’s the prizemoney earned for every player who played all four rounds this week at Torrey Pines.
Win: Justin Rose, -21, $US1,278,000
2: Adam Scott, -19, $766,800
T-3: Talor Gooch, -16, $411,800
T-3: Hideki Matsuyama, -16, $411,800
T-5: Jason Day, -14, $259,150
T-5: Rory McIlroy, -14, $259,150
T-5: Jon Rahm, -14, $259,150
8: Billy Horschel, -13, $220,100
T-9: Scott Brown, -12, $184,600
T-9: Joel Dahmen, -12, $184,600
T-9: Cameron Smith, -12, $184,600
T-9: Gary Woodland, -12, $184,600
T-13: Bud Cauley, -11, $121,714.29
T-13: Matt Jones, -11, $121,714.29
T-13: Ryan Palmer, -11, $121,714.29
T-13: Sepp Straka, -11, $121,714.29
T-13: Tony Finau, -11, $121,714.28
T-13: Patrick Reed, -11, $121,714.28
T-13: Michael Thompson, -11, $121,714.28
T-20: Doug Ghim, -10, $79,804
T-20: Charles Howell III, -10, $79,804
T-20: Sung Kang, -10, $79,804
T-20: Jason Kokrak, -10, $79,804
T-20: Tiger Woods, -10, $79,804
RELATED: Justin Rose cruises to his 10th US PGA Tour title at the Farmers Insurance Open
T-25: John Huh, -9, $56,622.50
T-25: Trey Mullinax, -9, $56,622.50
T-25: Xander Schauffele, -9, $56,622.50
T-25: Danny Willett, -9, $56,622.50
T-29: Jonas Blixt, -8, $45,144.17
T-29: Mackenzie Hughes, -8, $45,144.17
T-29: Si Woo Kim, -8, $45,144.17
T-29: Robert Streb, -8, $45,144.17
T-29: Jim Knous, -8, $45,144.16
T-29: Hank Lebioda, -8, $45,144.16
T-35: Sangmoon Bae, -7, $35,003
T-35: Keegan Bradley, -7, $35,003
T-35: Wyndham Clark, -7, $35,003
T-35: Jordan Spieth, -7, $35,003
T-35: Adam Svensson, -7, $35,003
T-40: Sam Burns, -6, $29,110
T-40: Luke List, -6, $29,110
T-40: J.T. Poston, -6, $29,110
T-43: Julián Etulain, -5, $21,158
T-43: Russell Knox, -5, $21,158
T-43: Martin Laird, -5, $21,158
T-43: Marc Leishman, -5, $21,158
T-43: Nicholas Lindheim, -5, $21,158
T-43: Sam Ryder, -5, $21,158
T-43: Scott Stallings, -5, $21,158
T-43: Nick Taylor, -5, $21,158
T-43: Kevin Tway, -5, $21,158
RELATED: The clubs Justin Rose used to win at Torrey Pines
T-52: Emiliano Grillo, -4, $16,557.20
T-52: Sungjae Im, -4, $16,557.20
T-52: Chris Stroud, -4, $16,557.20
T-52: Chris Thompson, -4, $16,557.20
T-52: Braden Thornberry, -4, $16,557.20
T-57: Cameron Davis, -3, $15,762
T-57: Bill Haas, -3, $15,762
T-57: Beau Hossler, -3, $15,762
T-57: Adam Schenk, -3, $15,762
T-57: John Senden, -3, $15,762
T-62: Grayson Murray, -2, $15,123
T-62: Ben Silverman, -2, $15,123
T-62: Brandt Snedeker, -2, $15,123
T-62: Shawn Stefani, -2, $15,123
T-66: Rickie Fowler, -1, $14,555
T-66: Brandon Hagy, -1, $14,555
T-66: Stephan Jaeger, -1, $14,555
T-66: C.T. Pan, -1, $14,555
T-70: Ryan Blaum, E, $14,129
T-70: Rory Sabbatini, E, $14,129
T-72: John Chin, +1, $13,703
T-72: Sebastián Muñoz, +1, $13,703
T-72: Joaquin Niemann, +1, $13,703
T-72: Nick Watney, +1, $13,703
76: Sean O’Hair, +2, $13,348
77: Morgan Hoffmann, +3, $13,206
