SAN DIEGO (AP) — Justin Rose won two trophies from the Farmers Insurance Open. One was the bronze of a Torrey pine that he carried with him on the flight home to London. The other is a surfboard he posed next to after his seven-shot victory.
Rose didn't recall getting the surfboard from when he won at Torrey Pines in 2019. The Century Club of San Diego was more than happy to send him both, except that Rose had a favor. He wanted one of them to go his caddie, Mark “Fooch” Fulcher.
Sunday's victory was meaningful to Rose beyond breaking the tournament's scoring record most recently held by Tiger Woods. He had his longtime looper at his side, and that wasn't the case when he won seven years ago.
Fulcher was home in England recovering from heart surgery in 2019. Rose used Gareth Lord, a longtime caddie who was on the bag for Henrik Stenson during his record win at Royal Troon.
“I think that win was always a tough one for Fooch, not fighting for his life but he was in a pretty bad way in the hospital,” Rose said. “And seeing us kind of cruise to victory and hugging Lordie on the 18th green, (he) nearly had to have another procedure after that, I think.”
Even with a seven-shot lead, Rose didn't begin to celebrate until his wedge safely cleared the pond on the 18th green. He exchanged happy words with Fulcher and meant to speak into the camera, but there were so many on him that he wasn't sure where to look. No one heard what he said.
“I think we were just trying to have a little bit of banter and make light of the fact, ‘Hey, Lordie, I hope you’re watching because now it’s Fooch’s turn to be walking down the 18th with me here at Torrey,’” Rose said. “That was fun to enjoy that with him.”
Fulcher returned to work for Rose at the Masters in 2019 after the heart surgery, but it was slow going and they parted about a month later. Rose brought him back in time for the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone in Italy and they've been together ever since, a total of some 14 years.
The Century Club was happy to send Fulcher his own surfboard, along with the two now won by Rose. But Rose had another request — just one surfboard for him was enough, with the years “2019” and “2026” on it.
PAC election
This is one election that is likely to be missing any vitriol, but it's still interesting.
Adam Scott and Lucas Glover are part of the 16-man Player Advisory Council, and they were selected to run for PAC chairman. It's an important role because the PAC chairman then moves on to the PGA Tour board the following year for a four-year term.
The winner replaces Scott, of all people, whose term expires.
Hasn't the Australian been through enough? Instead of a term where big issues were pace of play and how to distribute FedEx Cup points, Scott has been in the mix for negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which have been off the table for nearly a year. There was a Player Equity Program to get started, and pathways created back for LIV Golf players.
“I don't think it's going to happen,” Scott said of another PAC chairmanship.
Glover, 46, is serving on the PAC for the first time. The former U.S. Open champion has been outspoken about the shrinking of fields and the $20 million signature events, fearing they limit opportunities for players.
Scott said he would like to stay involved, primarily because “there are some things I've been involved in that probably won't be resolved this year.”
“I would be happy to have a say, and the only way to do that is to be involved,” he said.
The tour did not say give a deadline for the players' vote for PAC chairman, only that results would be announced at a later date.
LIV replacements
LIV Golf begins its fifth season Wednesday without Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood, both announcing they will have to skip the opening events in Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Mickelson cited a “family health matter” without elaboration for having to stay home. As the captain of the HyFlyers, he said Ollie Schniederjans would replace him those two weeks. Schniederjans played four times on LIV last year as a reserve, his best finish a tie for 30th in Riyadh. He is joined by Cameron Tringale, Brendan Steele and NCAA champion Michael La Sasso.
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Westwood said he injured his wrist getting ready for the season.
“Thankfully, it's nothing too serious” Westwood said in a social media post. “However, I’ve been advised to manage my rep count over the coming weeks.”
Westwood said English golfer Ben Schmidt would replace him on the Majesticks.
British Open qualifiers
The Singapore Open and the Korea Open are now part of the Open Qualifying Series that offer spots at Royal Birkdale this summer in the British Open. This follows the Asian Tour finalizing it schedule for 2026.
The Singapore Open, which is part of the International Series on the Asian Tour, will be April 23-26 and offer two spots to the leading players not already exempt for the British Open. The R&A used the International Series in Macau last year.
The Korea Open returns to the Open Qualifying Series. It will be May 21-24 and offer one spot.
Penge's big month
Marco Penge was the leading European tour player to earn a PGA Tour card this year, and he already is feeling plenty of stress. After finding a home (West Palm Beach, Florida) and a golf club (Old Palm), he began his season in California with his wife expecting their second child.
“I’m playing these four weeks and then straight home for the birth,” Penge said last week. "Yeah, it's been a bit hectic. For us to have moved over here, it meant that she had to give birth here. At the moment she’s in Florida without her family and friends and I’m over at Torrey Pines and the next three weeks for me.
“She's been great,” he said. “We're both really looking forward to having our second child.”
Finding a golf club wasn't all that easy. Penge found that a few clubs did not seem terribly inviting, and he was happy to find the atmosphere he wanted at Old Palm. It probably didn't help his cause to show up with shorts and a T-shirt.
“I was kind of a little too casual, I think,” he said. “But myself and Old Palm is a good match and facilities are great there. So yeah, it’s nice to be at a golf club that wants to have me there.”
Divots
Scottie Scheffler said upon winning the Phoenix Open in 2022 for his first PGA Tour victory, “I think the first one is probably always the hardest.” Four years later, he has 20 wins on the PGA Tour, including four majors and an Olympic gold medal. ... Nelly Korda says she will not play again until the LPGA returns to the U.S. in March. This will be her third straight year skipping the LPGA's first Asia Swing. ... Pontus Nyholm and A.J. Ewart have been added to the Phoenix Open field because Brooks Koepka is playing.
Stat of the week
Ryan Gerard and Si Woo Kim have played all three PGA Tour events this year without having finished worse than a tie for 11th.
Final word
“If Brooks really wants to create some goodwill, he should enter every tournament and then withdraw on Tuesday.” — Lanto Griffin, on the PGA Tour decision to add two players to the field when Brooks Koepka is playing.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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