Farmers Insurance Open: Five Who Could Rally to Win Sunday

Carlos Ortiz and Patrick Reed hold the 54-hole lead at the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open. But it will be the players chasing that duo that receive a lot of the attention on Sunday.

Ortiz and Reed are at 10-under par. They are two shots clear of a five-player tie for second place. In that group are Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm and Adam Scott.

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Just one shot further back, at 7-under, is a group of four players that includes Rory McIlroy. If you add the number of PGA Tour wins between Hovland (two), Rahm (five), Scott (14) and McIlroy (18) you get a total of 39 wins, or an average of about 10 for each player.

On the other hand, Ortiz has one career PGA Tour win and Reed has eight. That’s a total of nine wins for those two players, compared to an average of 10 wins for the prior four.

It’s probably less likely for Ortiz to win than Reed. The former United States Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup player has gone toe-to-toe with the world’s best players.

However, it seems more likely that one of the hunters will catch the pair of hunted. And it may be the player you least expect to be the one who ultimately wins. Here, in order, are the five players not named Ortiz or Reed that could win on Sunday, in order of likelihood to win.

5. Xander Schauffele – Yes, he’s four shots back and yes, he would have to climb out of a tie for 12th place, but Schauffele has the game and the talent to mount that kind of rally. The biggest problem is the group of players he would have to overcome to get to the top. It would take a monumental effort on his part.

4. McIlroy – The seventh-ranked player in the world, McIlroy sits just three shots behind the lead and could certainly rally to win on Sunday. He played well last week and is playing well again this week. He will need to play a special round to make it happen but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

3. Scott – He seems to be in a good spot with his game and, just two shots back, Scott could find himself at the top of the leader board with not a lot of problem on Sunday. Seeing the Australian win, again, would not be a big surprise.

2. Rahm – The world’s number two player would seem to be the most likely player to overcome Ortiz and Reed on Sunday, although he comes in second on this list. Still, Rahm is uber-talented and could easily claim PGA Tour title number six on Sunday.

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1. Hovland – While it seems like the previous four players are more likely to win on Sunday, here’s why I like Hovland. He has two PGA Tour wins, and he has rallied for them both. The first came in February in Puerto Rico, where, in the final round, Hovland eagled the 15th hole and birdied the 18th to beat Josh Teater by one shot. Then in December of 2020, Hovland shot 65 in the final round to win the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Sunday shapes up to be a fantastic finish at Torrey Pines.

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