Jason Day wins first title in 20 months after epic play-off

Alec Brzezinski

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Jason Day wins first title in 20 months after epic play-off image

After five play-off holes failed to settle the Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday, Jason Day prevailed over Alex Noren in short order in a Monday finish at Torrey Pines.

MORE: Jason Day stuck in staggering PGA tour playoff | WATCH: Moron yells out as Tiger Woods attempts birdie putt

Day landed a wedge inside three feet and birdied the pair's first hole of the morning, and sixth overall in the play-off, after Noren – going for the green in two on the par-five 18th – found the greenside pond with his second shot.

"I was up all night," Day said of the nerves he felt after he and Noren matched each other shot for shot the previous evening. 

Playing in rapidly fading light on Sunday, Day and Noren birdied the 18th hole three times in the sudden-death play-off, while also sharing pars on the 16th and 17th, forcing play to spill over into another day.

Day hit his opening drive on the sixth extra hole into the rough, while Noren found the first cut on the left, but the Swede's fairway wood landed into the face of a slope and dribbled back into the water.

"Just got a little skinny in the first cut," Noren told the Golf Channel afterwards. "I had a perfect yardage and just came up a bit short.”

With the door open, Day was able to lay up with his second shot and then hit the wedge that effectively settled matters.

"Warming up on the range, I moved up to wedge distance … and thankfully it paid off," Day said of his third shot that gave him his 11th PGA Tour victory, but his first since the 2016 Players Championship.

Noren was seeking to win his first PGA Tour event, though he has won five times on the European Tour since July 2016.

Ryan Palmer was also in the play-off after the three finished the regulation 72 holes at 10 under, but he was eliminated on the first hole. 

Alec Brzezinski