Just moments after Thomas Detry’s third shot went well past the hole and spun back into the pond in front of the green, costing him the lead, Stephan Jaeger made a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at Torrey Pines Golf Course’s South Course to take a one-shot lead in the Farmers Insurance Open on Friday.
High above the Pacific Ocean, on the blufftop municipal jewel, it was a challenging day of high scores. The biggest gut punch came when Detry dropped two strokes off the pace on the 18th hole after leading by one.
Tennessee-based German Jaeger shot 1-over 73 to lead the field to 11-under after 54 holes. Nicolai Højgaard (73), of Denmark, and Matthieu Pavon (72) of France were tied at 10-under, while Detry (73), of Belgium, was at 9-under.
After the final round, there’s a good chance that someone will win the PGA TOUR for the first time. None of the eight players within three strokes of Jaeger have ever won on the TOUR.
“I had a fantastic drive. On 18, I had excellent driving. I was only in the middle of a 3-wood, hybrid. We’ve had a really busy day. We played for, maybe, 5 hours and 45 minutes. There was some muck on the ball that I had. The light was beginning to go out and the lie wasn’t perfect. There were several distinct elements that did not work in my favour. Clearly, short is unacceptable. We therefore made the wise decision, and as a result, I was struck in the face.” he said.
He took a penalty, hit the ball to twenty-four feet, and then two-putted.
The pond is called Devlin’s Billabong after Australian Bruce Devlin, who took seven hacks to bring his ball out of the water on his way to a ten, and was a finalist for the 1975 Andy Williams San Diego Open.
The high scores were a result of several circumstances, including thick dirt that was drenched on a rainstorm Monday that severely damaged parts of the city and challenging pin placements.
“There were a lot of back flags, and I believe that the majority of the greens here slope from back to front. Obviously, you have a lot of spin if you’re coming in with a wedge. Since long miss is obviously not acceptable either, it is nearly impossible to get it all the way back there. That was, I believe, most likely one of the primary causes. In addition, I believe that the rough is more juicy than ever because of the recent heavy rain and obvious heat waves. It’s obvious that it’s difficult to make putts on those greens because so many players are making the cut, people are walking on them, and the greens themselves are soft.” Detry said.
Nine players, including Tony Finau and San Diegan Xander Schauffele, who is rated No. 5 in the world, were at 7 under, while 5 players were tied at 8 under.
