Worth wait as Snedeker lifts Torrey Pines trophy

Heavy rain and wind on Sunday halted the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, delaying play until Monday.

Snedeker started his final round three hours ahead of and six shots behind the joint leaders K.J. Choi and Scott Brown.

The American had been six shots off the pace but set the clubhouse target at six under, a total that couldn’t be matched by any of the 49 players coming back on Monday to finish their final round.

Snedeker’s one regret was not getting up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 18th hole, fearing that might leave him short of another unlikely victory at Torrey Pines.

Snedeker was thrilled with win, his eighth on the PGA Tour, fourth in California and second at Torrey Pines.

“I didn’t get off to the best of starts, kind of hung in there, but I made a long putt for par on four, about a 45-footer”.

“I had one of those lies (in the rough) going against you and it was really wet and I thought it was going to come out really soft”, he said of his third-shot chip that rolled past the pin and stopped on the fringe, 15 feet from the cup.

Kim rebounded from a bogey on the 16th hole with a 9-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th and closed with a par for a two-stroke victory over Lewis, 2015 champion Sei Young Kim and Anna Nordqvist.

His wife, Mandy, finally made him go outside, where he received regular updates from TV commentator Dottie Pepper – on the putting green, on the range, on the putting green again.

Brandt Snedeker watches his drive on No. 18 at windy Torrey Pines on Sunday.

“I was not liking my chances then”, Snedeker said. The marquee foursome wasn’t around on a weekend in which the weather turned violently foul and ultimately made a victor of a man who never hit a shot on the final day.

When play resumed in strong winds at 10am local time, overnight leader Jimmy Walker immediately slipped into a three-way tie for the lead alongside Snedeker and Choi with a blemish at the par-four 11th. Snedeker, who won here in 2012 after a Kyle Stanley meltdown on the 72nd hole, is the only player under par for the final round.

SAN DIEGO (AP) – Brandt Snedeker signed his card, tried to explain how he put together a 3-under 69 in the toughest conditions this side of Britain and then went on Twitter to express one last wish.

With the final five holes playing into the wind, birdies were scarce. “But if the weather was better I would have been worse, so I was glad for the bad weather”.

“He was unlucky not catch the slope there and I think on a drier, rolled green that would’ve ended up being several feet closer”. It also was his fourth comeback of at least five shots in the final round.

This time, he’ll need some help from Mother Nature.