Sam Stevens had 207 yards left to the flag at Torrey Pines’ par-5 18th gap, 200 yards to cowl the steep financial institution that leads down into the water guarding the entrance of the inexperienced.
Straight downwind.
Slightly adrenaline.
An ideal 7-iron – or so he thought.
Stevens’ ball landed only a few ft in need of the inexperienced, flying into the financial institution and trickling again into the water, successfully ending the 28-year-old Stevens’ bid for his first PGA Tour victory Sunday on the Farmers Insurance coverage Open. Stevens almost holed a spinny pitch for birdie, however his closing par ultimately left him a shot again of winner Harris English.
“Didn’t make a horrible swing, however simply form of made the swing you can’t make there and go away it out to the precise, form of hit that mushy proper shot,” Stevens defined. “When it was within the air, I used to be hopeful, however I used to be fairly positive that it was going to land about proper the place it did. They didn’t shave that financial institution this yr like they’ve in years previous, however it nonetheless goes within the water.
“However I used to be in a position to save par. That was massive, publish a quantity and make these guys not less than earn it coming down the stretch. In the event that they play good and end at higher than 7 underneath, there’s nothing I can do about it, however glad I obtained up and down there.”
Stevens’ solo second earned him $1,013,700, the largest test of his profession. To place that into context, Stevens received six instances on the All Professional Tour throughout his mini-tour days a couple of years in the past, accumulating a complete of $160,000 for these victories.
However Stevens’ runner-up comes with extra. He was one in all 5 gamers to earn their method into subsequent week’s signature occasion at Pebble Seaside, the AT&T Pebble Seaside Professional-Am, through the Aon Swing 5. Right here is the checklist:
Sam Stevens
J.J. Spaun
Andrew Novak
Justin Decrease
Lee Hodges
English’s win now exempts him into every of the remaining signature occasions this season. Usually, he would counted as a part of the Swing 5, since he didn’t end final season within the high 50 in factors, however he punched his Pebble ticket through the Aon Subsequent 10, which was finalized final fall.
There shall be one other Swing 5 cutoff for the Genesis Invitational in three weeks, additionally at Torrey Pines, with the WM Phoenix Open factoring into the Sony-AmEx-Farmers mixture. With 311.329 FedExCup factors, Stevens is in good place to play Genesis, too, as he leads Charley Hoffman, the primary participant out of the Swing 5, by over 170 factors.
“Clearly, there’s an enormous alternative there,” Stevens stated of Pebble. “They’ve loads of factors, and we received’t get into the quantity of factors that the signature occasions have, however make the most of the chance hopefully and preserve taking part in effectively. You recognize, every occasion form of is particular person, so hopefully, I can reset and get sizzling early and keep sizzling.”
