Ageless Wonder: Justin Rose Romps Field for Record Farmers Insurance Open Win

Joel Dahmen was in second place after 54 holes of the Farmers Insurance Open. Yet, he didn’t necessarily have his eyes on the win Sunday.

“My only hope is if [leader Justin Rose] doesn’t set his alarm or he somehow starts hitting in the rough on the back nine, maybe,” Dahmen said. “I don’t know. The way [Rose’s] playing and what he’s doing, I would be pleased with second place.”

Dahmen’s analysis was spot-on. Rose, the 45-year-old Englishman, set the tournament scoring record at 23 under, one better than Tiger Woods in 1999 and George Burns in 1987, romping the field at Torrey Pines for his 13th title on the PGA Tour, where he’s held full status since 2005. Now, he’s the oldest wire-to-wire winner on Tour since Rocco Mediate at the 2010 Frys.com Open and the first at the Farmers Insurance Open since Tommy Bolt in 1955.

“I was keenly aware of [the scoring record], actually,” said Rose, who also won the 2019 Farmers. “It was the only thing I was focused on the last three holes.”

Rose shot a final-round 70 for a seven-stroke triumph over Pierceson Coody, Si Woo Kim and Ryo Hisatsune.

MORE: Final results, payouts from the Farmers Insurance Open

Entering the final round with a six-stroke lead, Rose began his day with five consecutive pars until a birdie on the par-5 6th, another on the par-3 8th after hitting his tee shot to 9 feet and a third on the par-5 9th, dropping a 37-foot putt.

On the back, Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion, didn’t have his best stuff—but he didn’t need it. Playing the second nine at even par, with a birdie on the last, still yielded a victory with ease.

A record-breaking performance 🏆

Justin Rose sets the tournament scoring record @FarmersInsOpen at 23-under par. pic.twitter.com/gTuhvcVvZ7
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 1, 2026

Rose’s late-career resurgence is nothing short of remarkable. He ended a four-year winless drought at the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, made that year’s Ryder Cup team, and proceeded to finish runner-up at the 2024 British Open. Then, at last year’s Masters, he lost in a playoff to Rory McIlroy, but won in August at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events, topping J.J. Spaun, the reigning U.S. Open champion, in a playoff.

How has he done it? Part of it could be attributed to his ball speed. Last year, he began searching for a new driver, trying as many as four throughout the season. But ahead of the FedEx St. Jude, he switched to a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max. That, plus a tighter grip, has done wonders. Rose now frequently hits the ball nearly 180 mph, averaging 176 mph so far this season. Just four years ago, he averaged 170 mph, below the Tour’s average. And in 2007, it was 165 mph.

This week, he was first in the field in strokes-gained total, second in approach and 10th in putting.

It’s not hyperbolic to say Rose is playing the best golf of his career. With the win the former world No. 1 will jump to No. 3 in the world rankings (he entered the Farmers No. 10), his highest mark since 2019. That makes Rose the second-oldest player to ever be top 3 in the world, just eight weeks younger than Vijay Singh in 2008.

“Would say I’ve always tried really hard, but I think maybe post-Covid-ish, at that time, like 2021, that era,” Rose said of mentally recommitting himself toward success. “So coming off the back of getting to World No. 1, started to play pretty poor golf, I think in 2020, 2021, maybe in 2022. I can’t even remember, they all blend into one another. But I felt like at that point, I needed to make a shift, but I don’t want to go out like this. I don’t want to just having been No. 1 in the world and just kind of drift into nowhere.”

As for Dahmen, he finished T7 and had a front row seat to Rose’s dominance all weekend. However, there was still plenty to play for in the final round.

Having lost his card after the 2025 season, Dahmen got into the field by the skin of his teeth, only because it was comprised of 147 players, slightly larger than usual because the first two rounds were played on two courses (Torrey Pines’s North and South course).

He’s in next week’s WM Phoenix Open as a sponsor’s invite, but doesn’t have a guaranteed start after that, with two ensuing signature events. Therefore, a top 10 at Torrey would lock the 38-year-old into the Cognizant Classic, the last week of February.

Dahmen stepped up to par-5 18th, sitting ninth on the leaderboard. He hit his third shot to 3 feet and sank his birdie putt, punching his ticket to South Florida in a few weeks.

A nice consolation, but as Dahmen correctly predicted Saturday night, Rose was simply too good to catch.

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