SAN DIEGO — Harris English first flirted with fame at the Farmers Insurance Open a decade ago when he shared the third-round lead and was part of a four-man playoff for the 2015 championship.

Jason Day came away the winner that year at Torrey Pines, but English was encouraged, not discouraged.

On the eve of the final round of the 2025 Farmers, English said a victory would be “massive.”

“It’s one of my favorite places,” he said. “And the list of winners here is pretty incredible.”

The tournament’s former champions include some of the game’s biggest names: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Day, among them.

And now tournament officials can put some English on it.

The 35-year-old Georgia native’s patience and perseverance, perhaps some of it gleaned from that now long ago tour of Torrey, paid off in Saturday’s final round with a 1-over 73 for a one-stroke victory over Sam Stevens.

“I knew it was going to be a tough day today,” English said of a final round in which only 12 of 70 players broke par. “I love that. I love this golf course when it plays really tough. I knew with the wind you’re probably not going to get somebody … coming up and throwing a 65, 66 out there today.

“As a leader coming in the final round, you kind of like that, that it’s going to be a grind.”

How tough was Torrey in the tournament?

English’s 8-under score of 280 was the second-highest winning total since the South Course redesign in 2001. Only Brandt Snedeker’s 6-under 282 in 2016 was higher. English also was the first winner to shoot over par in the final round since John Daly carded a 3-over 75 on the way to the 2004 title.

On a day when the wind picked up (gusting to 24 mph), the temperature dropped (ranging from 54-60 degrees) and clouds threatened to soak the spectators, English did what he had to do for his fifth tour victory, which came with a $1.67 million paycheck.

He played with the ease and quiet confidence of someone who had been here before and was in no rush to reach the finish. The final group played the front nine in three hours (where’s a marshal when you need one?) before picking up the pace in a 5 1/2-hour round.

That gave English time to wave to the crowd after putting out for par on 18, kiss his wife and 18-month-old daughter, accept the winner’s check, trophy and surfboard — and still have time to see the sunset.

“I guess being out here (on tour) for 14 years now, that’s kind of what I’ve learned is you don’t have to play perfect golf,” English said. “That’s playing this golf course years and years and having a lot of experience, I kind of know where to miss it, and I’ve had a lot of those same shots before or same chips or same putts. You kind of build those in the memory bank and relive some of those good putts and good chips that you’ve hit.”

Andrew Novak, an eight-year pro still looking for his first tour win, was English’s closest competitor much of the round, starting the day a stroke off the lead. The 29-year-old North Carolinian had his ups and downs with four birdies and four bogies on the front nine.

“It was just a roller coaster,” said Novak, who shared the lead with English at 8 under when they made the turn.

A bogey at the 10th dropped Novak a stroke behind again. Another bogey at 15 put him two shots back. Too much, as it turned out.

“Definitely positives to take from this week, even though it’s not the win that I wanted,” Novak said in consolation.

Stevens began the day six strokes off the lead. He climbed onto the leaderboard with four birdies over his first nine holes on the way to the day’s lowest round, a 4-under 68.

“When I got up to the 8th green there was a big leaderboard there and I looked and I saw that Harris was either even or 1 over at that point and the lead was at 8 under, so I was only a couple back,” Stevens said. “I was like all right, now we’re in this thing.”

Stevens got within a stroke of English on the back nine and made a bid for the lead when he went for the green on his second shot of the 547-yard, par-5 18th hole.

Stevens’ shot hit the bank in front of the green and rolled back into the water. Somehow he saved par, then bided his time near the putting green, waiting for a potential playoff that never came as English played his final five holes.

Sungjae Im also made a go out of it with a 1-under 71. He got within two strokes of the lead with back-to-back birdies to begin the back nine, but failed to get putts to fall and move closer. Im finished tied for fourth with Kris Ventura (71) at 5 under.

English had bogeys on two of his first five holes, steadied himself with a birdie on the par-5 sixth hole, then contented himself with 12 straight pars the remainder of the round.

He finished birdie-birdie to close out Friday’s third round with a one-stroke lead.

All English needed Saturday was par-par at the 17th and 18th holes to secure his first tour winner since the 2021 Travelers Championship.

And that’s what he did.

“When you win, you never know when your next time’s going to be, so you’ve got to really cherish the moment,” said English, who had surgery in 2022 to address a nagging hip issue. “It’s so hard to win out here on the PGA Tour, there’s so many good players. There’s young guys coming out here every single year that are trying to take your job, and it’s awesome to see it.

“It pushes me to get better. And, at 35, I feel like I’ve got a lot more years out here to compete and just keep getting better at this crazy game.”

English will get another opportunity to enjoy the course in less than three weeks. The Genesis Invitational has been relocated to Torrey Pines following the Los Angeles wildfires.

“I was hoping they would choose this course to come back to,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Notable

— World No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama’s only birdie of the day came on the 18th hole, giving him a 4-over 76 for the day and 1 over (T32nd) for the tournament. Matsuyama will have a chance for a better showing at Torrey when he returns to defend his Genesis Invitational title.

— Florida State’s Luke Clanton had a final-round 73 and finished tied for 15th. Auburn’s Jackson Koivun, the other amateur in the field, shot a 78 to finish in a tie for 56th.

— Locals watch: San Diego State alum J.J. Spaun shot 1-under 71 for the second straight day, making him 1 under (T15) for the tournament. The finish earned him a spot in next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as an Aon Swing 5 qualifier.

San Diegan Charley Hoffman, who started on No. 10 South, birdied his final hole to shoot 72, making him even on the day and even for the week (T25th).

Fellow San Diegan Norman Xiong shot 73 to finish 2 over (T40th) for the tournament.

— APGA Tournament: South Africa’s Cole Stevens shot an even-par 72 on the North for a one-stroke lead in the Advocates Professional Golf Association event at Torrey Pines. Rwanda’s John-Baptiste Hakizimana is one stroke behind in second, with three others two strokes behind heading into Sunday’s final round on the South.

It will be televised live by Golf Channel from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. The winner in the 18-man field will receive $30,000 of the $100,000 purse. The AGPA was founded in 2010 to provide minorities with greater opportunities in golf.

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