Jon Rahm will be hard-pressed to enjoy a 72nd-hole moment better than the one he had on Sunday to clinch his first PGA Tour win.

The 22-year-old Spaniard sank a 60-foot eagle bid on the final hole at Torrey Pines’ South Course, capping off a final-nine 30 and a closing 65 to notch a three-shot win at the Farmers Insurance Open.

“I never thought it was going to be for eagle from 60 feet, especially at Torrey Pines, but the fact that it went in is just incredible,” Rahm said after the win. “The emotion just overwhelmed me. But man, that was a satisfying feeling.”

Rahm, enveloped by the cheers, had to wait to clinch the title, however, with the final four threesomes in front of him still to finish. However, as many of those players struggled on the tough Torrey South layout, it became clear that their final few holes were played in futility of chasing down the Arizona State product.

“I thought if I could get two more (birdies) coming in, I probably would have the trophy outright,” said Patrick Rodgers, recalling his thinking on the 13th tee. “And by the time I stepped up on 16 tee, I was four behind. I was out of the tournament by then.”

In the end, Charles Howell III and rookie Cheng-Tsung Pan were Rahm’s closest challengers at 10-under 278.

For Rahm, he’s a PGA Tour winner in his 12th start, a win anticipated since he finished tied for second in his pro debut at last year’s Quicken Loans National. Within four starts, Rahm had secured his PGA Tour status, making his just the eighth player in PGA Tour history to do that right out of college. Now, after becoming the first maiden PGA Tour winner at Torrey Pines since 1991, Rahm is in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and heading to the Masters.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

For Tiger Woods, Torrey Pines used to be a place that solely defined some of his greatest moments. However, the more recent chapters of Woods’ story at the San Diego courses are ones of disappointment and embarrassment.

Woods missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open on Friday, shooting a second round of even-par 72 on the easier, and recently renovated, North Course. His 4-over two-round total, however, will have him miss a cut on the PGA Tour for just the 16th time in his career.

“It’s frustrating not to be able to have the chance to win the tournament,” Woods said. “Overall, today was a lot better than yesterday. I hit it better, I putted well again, I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in, but I hit it much better today. … I made a couple little tweaks and changes in my setup, which was good.”

Woods was better, finding 10 of 14 fairways after struggling to hit just four in the opening round on the bunker-lined South Course. However, Woods also admitted the ring rust of having not played competitive golf since August 2015 led to some strategic mistakes that could have been prevented.

“Playing tournament golf is a little bit different than playing at home in a cart,” Woods said of his pre-tournament preparation in Florida. “I need to get more rounds under my belt.”

This week marked Woods’ return to the PGA Tour after a pair of back surgeries following a mind-bogglingly poor 2015 for the 14-time major winner, including withdrawing from this tournament with an injury that introduced the term “glute activation” to the public. Torrey Pines is also site of Woods’ finest hour, winning his 14th and, to date, final major championship on one leg, beating Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff for the 2008 U.S. Open.

The good memories at Torrey Pines were little help on Thursday, when Woods shot a 4-over 76 which forced him to go low Friday to make the cut. After opening his second round with a birdie on the par-5 10th, Woods was unable to build momentum, making one more birdie, two bogeys and the rest pars.

That left him four strokes back of the cutline of even-par 144, with a crowded weekend field slated for the final two rounds on Torrey Pines’ South Course. It’s not consolation for Woods, but his playing partners for the first two rounds, world No. 1 Jason Day (+3) and defending U.S. Open champ and the third-ranked player in the world Dustin Johnson (+2), also missed the cut.

If there is any solace for Woods, it’s that his back held up, he showed flashes of brilliance with the short game amid frustrating driver play and some uncharacteristic hiccups.

Woods will be back at it next week at the Dubai Desert Classic in the United Arab Emirates, then will take a week off before returning stateside to compete in the Genesis Open in Los Angeles, a tournament he will be hosting, before competing in the Honda Classic near his Florida home in Jupiter.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

Rory McIlroy isn’t playing in next week’s Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour, missing the second leg of what is typically an early season United Arab Emirates double for the Ulsterman.

He’s sidelined with a rib injury that almost forced him out of the South African Open and led to him withdrawing from the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and Dubai. When he first announced the true nature of the injury, he left the timetable for his return undefined. However, McIlroy now has a target date to return.

Speaking to Fox Sports’ Shane Bacon on the Clubhouse podcast, McIlroy said he’s looking to come back in March at the WGC-Mexico Championship.

“I’m trying to get back for Mexico,” said McIlroy. “That’s my timetable for return. I could probably get back before that. For example, if I were to play Honda [the Honda Classic at the end of February] and then go straight to Mexico, I would be playing two weeks in a row.

“I’d like to ease my way back in gently. Mexico is the perfect time to return because it’s four rounds, there’s no cut. I can see how everything feels. I have a week off after that. All signs pointed towards Mexico being the one I could come back to and be 100 percent comfortable at. Hopefully it works out that way, and that’s when I’m back.”

The WGC-Mexico Championship, which essentially replaces the WGC-Cadillac Championship formerly held at Trump Doral near Miami, starts March 2 and is a no-cut event.

From there, McIlroy could look at another start before the Masters in the Florida Swing or in Texas. Were McIlroy to win a fifth major at Augusta National, he would complete the career Grand Slam.

 Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — After missing all four major tournaments in 2016, on Monday Tiger Woods kind of, sort of committed to playing the 2017 Masters.

“Yes, I’m hoping I get everything right,” he said. “So, yes, I’m looking forward to it.”

So far, Woods has formally announced a four-tournament schedule in his return from a back injury that kept him out of tournament play for some 16 months.

When asked Monday at Riviera Country Club, where next month he’ll host the Genesis Open, at what point he’ll start thinking about Augusta, Woods didn’t mince any words.

“Now,” he responded without hesitation. “I’ve been thinking about it.

“Once the season ends, typically, in the fall I start thinking about what I need to do for Augusta. I’ve done that for 20 years.”

Of course, this is all contingent on his back holding up after two surgeries and a year-plus-long layoff from tournament golf. Woods will tee it up this weekend in San Diego, then three times in February – in Dubai, Los Angeles and Palm Beach, Fla.

It will be the most tournament golf he’s played since August 2015.

“That is a concern, no doubt about it, but I’m also looking forward to it,” he acknowledged. “I’ve sat out long enough here. Got my body in a pretty good state where I feel I can handle that workload. But I still gotta go out there and do it.

“… Feeling good about it and doing it is two totally different things.”

While he dusted off the cobwebs in his “official” return to tournament play in December, when he tied for 15th in a 17-player field at the Hero World Challenge, that event is more a high-stakes exhibition then an actual tournament.

Thursday the real test begins when he tees off at Torrey Pines, a course where he’s won eight times, including the last of his 14 major title victories.

In the run-up to his return, Woods said he has played about four to five times a week. That preparation, while not exactly tournament play, has been crucial.

“If my back feels good, I know I can prepare, I know I can play. I know how to shoot scores,” he said. “But I need to have my health in a state where I can prepare to get my game ready to play at an elite level.”

If all goes well – if that back holds up – he’ll be at Augusta in April.

“I’d love to play [the Masters],” he said. “I’d love to win. I’ve won it four times. Hopefully I can add a fifth.”

LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) — Phil Mickelson hit his opening tee shot so poorly in morning rain and cold that he hit a provisional ball just to get in another swing.

He scrambled to par the hole and went on to shoot a 4-under 68 on Thursday in the CareerBuilder Challenge, leaving him four strokes back in his return from two sports hernia surgeries.

”I struck it horrible, but I scored out of my mind,” Mickelson said. ”So, I’m very happy with it. My first round of golf was Saturday and I’ve been able to work out just the last two weeks.”

Lefty hooked his first tee shot into the trees at La Quinta Country Club, then reloaded and hit the provisional into the fairway.

”That next hole, the second hole’s an extremely difficult drive and I wanted to just get another swing,” Mickelson said.

He found the first ball and hammered a shot under the trees to just off the front of the green.

”It was really a great day for me because I scored so much better than I played,” Mickelson said. ”And when I finally did hit some really good shots I ended up close and made a few birdies. And when I hit some really bad shots – and I hit some really bad shots – I was still able to salvage some up-and-downs for pars.”

Tour rookie Dominic Bozzelli shot a 64 on the Stadium Course at PGA West – the most difficult of the three courses – to top the leaderboard. He holed out from 115 yards for eagle on the par-4 14th.

”Been working hard back home, doing all right things on and off the course, and it’s nice to come out and have that hard work pay off,” Bozzelli said.

Jhonattan Vegas, the 2011 champion, was a stroke back at 65 along with Harold Varner III, Hudson Swafford and Patton Kizzire. Vegas and Kizzire played PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course, and Varner and Swafford opened at La Quinta.

Rain fell off and on in the morning and more was expected Friday, with the PGA Tour moving the tee times up an hour.

”Ain’t nobody never comfortable when you’re having to play golf when it’s raining and a little cool like it was,” Boo Weekley said after a 66 on the Stadium Course.

Play started with the temperature in lows 50s and it barely climbed into the 60s in the afternoon. The forecast high Friday was 61.

”The ball didn’t go as far, but you don’t have to hit it that far out here,” Varner said.

The 46-year-old Mickelson had surgery Oct. 19 – three days after tying for eighth in the season-opening Safeway Open – and again Dec. 12.

”I feel fine,” Mickelson said. ”I’ve been able to work out the last two weeks. And again, you start out real slow, but you get back to it, you get it back pretty quick.”

His caddie, Jim ”Bones” Mackay also made a comeback after having both knees replaced.

Mickelson won the 2002 and 2004 events and tied for third last year. The first-year tournament ambassador won the last of his 42 PGA Tour titles in the 2013 British Open.

”There’s no better place to learn and to get better than to come out here on these great golf courses and put it to the test,” Mickelson said. ”You can get away with some mistakes, and I was able to salvage a few pars with up-and-downs, so it doesn’t beat you up too bad. It’s a perfect place to start the year.”

Wearing a jacket with a logo of his leaping celebration in the 2004 Masters, Lefty hit a wedge to 2 feet for birdie on the par-4 fourth and also birdied the par-5 sixth and par-4 eighth. On the par-4 ninth, he made a 45-foot birdie putt after driving left onto the adjacent first hole.

Mickelson had his best par save on the par-4 16th after losing another drive to the left. He hit under the trees into the front left bunker, blasted short into the fringe and holed an 18-foot chip. He bogeyed the par-4 17th after driving into the left bunker, and made an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th.

DIVOTS: The players averaged 71.423 on Stadium Course, 70.327 on the Nicklaus layout, and 70.154 at La Quinta. … Bill Haas, the 2010 and 2015 winner, played alongside Mickelson, and matched him at 68. … Patrick Reed, the top-ranked player in the field at No. 9, had a 69 at La Quinta. He won in 2014, shooting 63-63-63-71 to break the PGA Tour record for relation to par for the first 54 holes at 27 under and become the first player in tour history to open with three rounds of 63 or better. … Defending champion Jason Dufner shot a 70 at La Quinta.