Jason Day beats Alex Noren in Farmers Insurance Open play-off

Final leaderboard

-10 Jason Day*, Alex Noren, Ryan Palmer

-9 J.B Holmes

-8 Keegan Bradley

*Day won the play-off

Play-off report

Jason Day birdied the sixth play-off hole - and first on Monday morning - to beat Alex Noren to the Farmers Insurance Open title.

The pair could not be separated on Sunday night as they traded blows at Torrey Pines, but it took just 15 minutes upon their return for Day to be crowned champion.

Noren took on the par-five 18th with his second shot but came up agonisingly short, his ball falling back into the lake which guards the green.

Day took full advantage, hitting a superb wedge to little more than a foot which effectively ended the contest before Noren could play another shot.

The Swede was unable to hole his fourth having taken a drop and eventually ran up a bogey, allowing Day to tap-in and record his first victory since the 2016 PLAYERS Championship.

Victory was Day's 11th on the PGA Tour and sees him priced up as 14/1 fourth-favourite for the Masters with Sky Bet.

Round four report

Jason Day is 4/5 with Sky Bet to beat Alex Noran (evens) when the pair resume a tense play-off at the Farmers Insurance Open on Monday.

After round four, Ryan Palmer joined the Australian and Swede on the extra holes after they all completed regulation play at 10-under 278 at Torrey Pines.

Palmer was knocked out on the first par-five play-off hole after both Day and Noren were one shot ahead of their rival with a pair of birdies.

After that it was impossible to determine a winner after both players matched each other shot for shot for a total of five holes.

Day came within inches of lifting the trophy with a birdie attempt on the par-three 16th, the fourth hole of sudden death, but eventually time was called as Day made a 6ft birdie putt on the fifth, matched by a 5ft birdie from Noren at the par-five 18th in the fading light.

Speaking as dusk fell, Day told the PGA Tour website: "Alex is playing some tremendous golf. To be able to go shot for shot there was pretty special, so I'm just going to try to get some rest tonight and I'll play all day tomorrow if I need to get the win."

Earlier in the day, Tiger Woods recorded his best finish in a full-field PGA Tour event since August 2015, carding four birdies and four bogeys in a closing 72 for a three under par total.

That left him inside the top 30 - his best finish since tying for 10th at the Wyndham Championship three years ago.

Defending champion Jon Rahm had work to do after slipping to 12th place at the start of day four, but a run of four bogeys on the front nine left him on five-over 77 and further down the leaderboard tied for 29th by the end of regulation play - and ending his chance to become world number one.

Noren has won nine times on the European Tour - six in the last three seasons - and will continue to chase his first PGA Tour title when play resumes on Monday.

Round three report

Alex Noren emerged as the surprise 54-hole leader at the Farmer Insurance Open as Jon Rahm's hopes of retaining his title took a hit at Torrey Pines.

Noren's 69 lifted him one-shot clear of long-time leader Ryan Palmer, but Rahm will have to come from four behind to replace Dustin Johnson as world No 1 after he double-bogeyed the final hole to return a disappointing 75.

Justin Rose is just three adrift of his fellow European Tour star after he kept a bogey off his card and made three birdies to jump to eight under, while Tiger Woods is eight off the pace following a battling 70 in which he was indebted to a sharp short-game having hit only three of the 14 fairways on the South Course.

Noren will go into Sunday's final round with the lead in a PGA Tour event for the first time in his career after Palmer, Rahm and Luke List all faltered down the stretch on Saturday evening.

Sky Bet's Farmers Insurance Open odds:
(Click here for latest prices)

• Alex Noren 11/4
• Ryan Palmer 13/2
• Justin Rose 15/2
• Jason Day 8/1 (odds correct at 1040 GMT 28/01/2018)

The Swede opened with five pars and then appeared in the mix when he rolled in a 40-foot putt for eagle at the sixth, although he then broke another run of pars with a double-bogey six at the 12th, where it took him four shots just to find the green.

But he responded with a birdie at the next, and Noren picked up further shots at two of the last three holes to claim the clubhouse lead on 11 under, and he was suddenly the leader outright when Palmer followed an eagle at 13 with dropped shots at 14 and 16 before parring in to card a 73.

JB Holmes stormed into the hunt with a sensational seven-birdie 29 on the front nine which added up to a 65, the low round of the day, and the Ryder Cup star shares third on nine under with Michael Kim.

Rose is one further back after a birdie at the last capped a flawless three-under round which lifted him to eight under alongside former champion Jason Day, whose erratic 71 featured three birdies over the opening five holes but also three bogeys in four holes after the turn.

American powerhouses Tony Finau and Gary Woodland are also three off the lead along with List, CT Pan and Beau Hossler, with in-form Australian Marc Leishman one shot further back with a frustrated Rahm.

The Spaniard made a confident start with a birdie at the first, but he then bogeyed the next three holes before clawing one back at the long sixth.

Rahm added another birdie at the 10th only to give the shot back with a scrappy five at the 12th, and he failed to take advantage of a perfect drive at the last as his second came up short and found the water hazard, and he took three to get down from the drop zone to run up a costly seven.

Phil Mickelson looked likely to haul himself into contention when he birdied both par-five on the outward half to get to seven under, but the veteran left-hander plummeted down the leaderboard when he double-bogeyed 12 and then made three consecutive bogeys from the 15th to card a 76 and end the round on two under par.

Round two report

Tiger Woods produced a ragged performance in the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open, but a final-hole birdie saw him make the cut.

At the height of his powers, Woods was known for many things: his athletic brilliance, mental fortitude, extreme will to win - and a remarkable ability to make the weekend even when not at his best.

While there have been few signs of the old Tiger at Torrey Pines, a course at which he's won eight titles as a professional, that old knack of somehow advancing to the third round remained in evidence.

Woods was erratic throughout a difficult afternoon at the North Course, redesigned to become tougher since the latest of his successes here, and it was only a razor-sharp short game which kept him in with a chance over the closing holes.

Even so a mistake at the eighth, his penultimate hole, meant Woods headed to the par-five ninth hole in need of a birdie to scrape through on the number.

Another missed fairway this time went unpunished, as he found a path to the green with a mid-iron before demonstrating exquisite touch to lag a long-range eagle attempt to within a foot of the hole.

Woods added a second-round 71 to Thursday's 72 to shoot one-under, which leaves him 10 shots back of leader Ryan Palmer.

The Texan finished in style at the North Course, carding eagle, birdie over the final two holes to add a round of 67 to his opening 66.

He leads by one to defending champion Jon Rahm, seeking back-to-back victories following last week's play-off success in the CareerBuilder Challenge. The Spaniard, who will go to number one in the Official World Golf Rankings with another win this week, sits one behind after a bogey-free 66 at the easier North Course.

First-round leader Tony Finau made three bogeys and five birdies in a round of 70 at the South and is now two behind, alongside fellow big-hitter Luke List who carded a round of 66 on the same layout thanks to eight birdies.

Round one report

Tiger Woods marked his return to PGA Tour action after a 12-month absence with a level-par 72 at the Farmers Insurance Open.

The 14-time major winner hit the opening round's halfway point one over par but recovered that shot on the back nine in a steady comeback.

Sky Bet offer Woods at 50/1 to go on and win the Farmers Insurance Open.

Woods endured a frustrating start, suffering a bogey on the opening hole at Torrey Pines after missing a tricky putt to save par.

He dropped another shot at the par-four fifth but birdied the next hole and picked up another two gains either side of a bogey after the turn.

The 42-year-old closed his round holding a share of 83rd place, seven shots adrift of clubhouse leader Tony Finau.

Summing up round one, he told the PGA Tour website it was "fun to compete again" but admitted he was "probably a little bit rusty".

After nearly making an ace the par-3 16th, he said: "It was just a full six-iron. I just had to throw it up in the air as high as I could. It felt good, it looked good and then we were just listening for some noise."

Asked what adjustments he would need to make for round two, he added: "I've got to hit my irons a little better than I did today.

"I didn't hit them very close, didn't give myself a lot of looks. It's hard to make a lot of birdies when you're not giving yourself any looks and I didn't do that today.

"So tomorrow hopefully I'll drive better and hit irons a lot closer and we've got the better of the two greens tomorrow so we'll see what happens."

Meanwhile, Tony Finau (6/1 second-favourite for victory with Sky Bet) got off to a hot start and made five birdies in an outward 32 before picking further shots at 10 and 13 to get to six under, although he then missed the green at the short 15th which cost him his second bogey of the day.

But the big-hitting American responded with two birdies over the last three holes to snatch the outright lead from Ted Potter Jr and Ryan Palmer, while Hunter Mahan made a welcome appearance at the top end of the leaderboard with a 68 on the South.

The former Ryder Cup star shares fourth with the ever-consistent Francesco Molinari and Jon Rahm (Sky Bet's 4/1 favourite), who would replace Dustin Johnson as world number one with a successful defence of his title this week.

The Spaniard, fresh from his win at the CareerBuilder Challenge last week, was just one under through 12 holes after an erratic day on the greens, but the putts started dropping as he reeled off three birdies in four holes before parring safely in to stay at four under.

Justin Rose was frustrated at being unable to convert a number of good drives on the par-fives on the North Course, although the Englishman did sign for a three-under 69 along with Shane Lowry and Russell Knox.

Phil Mickelson, who has not won at Torrey Pines since clinching his third title back in 2001, opened with a 70 while Rickie Fowler failed to build on a flying start to his round on the North.

Fowler teed off at the 10th and birdied four of his first seven holes, but he gave one back at the 18th and then dropped three shots in five holes while not managing a birdie over the front nine to sign for a disappointing 72.

Former world number one Jason Day was forced to withdraw from Wednesday's pro-am due to a back injury, and the 2015 champion faces a tough task to make the cut after he struggled to a one-over 73.