Filed under: PGA

SAN DIEGO — For a player who had two career PGA Tour wins in nine seasons before arriving at Torrey Pines for the Farmers Insurance Open, Ben Crane on Sunday looked very much like he knew exactly what he was doing.

At least he did until the winning three-foot putt for par on the final hole dropped.

That’s when Crane turned quizzically to caddie Joel Stock, looking very much like a man suddenly realizing his pants were on fire.

“You know, I did not know that I had won when it was over,” Crane said. “I didn’t know who was playing well. I didn’t know what was really going on in front of me. I had no idea what was going on.

“I’m thankful I didn’t. Someone said, ‘one-shot lead’ when we were going to the last hole, so I thought he might be right.”

Still, Crane insisted victory did not register until final-group playing partner Ryuji Imada made it official.

“He goes, ‘Congratulations,’ and I go, ‘Did I win?’ ” Crane said. “He kind of looks at me. I said, ‘Did I win the tournament?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah.’ “

It meant the 33-year-old golf wallflower did everything the pros with their own airplanes did, only a little bit better.

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