Harris English leads the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open with more wind on the horizon

Saturday's final round of the Farmers Insurance Open is gonna be one for the PGA Tour sickos.

There aren't many stars within shouting distance of the lead, making it the perfect opportunity for a lesser-known name to make his introduction to golf fans around the country, a la Matthieu Pavon less than a year ago at this very course. Torrey Pines has been home to some of the best finishes in the sport's history — looking at you, Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate — and we may be 24 hours away from another one with six players at or within four shots of the lead.

The man standing above the rest, however, is Harris English, who used three birdies in his final three holes to get to 9 under for the week and one shot clear of Andrew Novak.

Despite struggling to find fairways (5 of 14), English was third in Strokes Gained: Approach and fifth in SG: Putting on Friday, a combination that propelled him to a 6-under 66 that included seven total birdies and a bogey.

"Had some really good numbers on those last three holes and sometimes you've just got to be aggressive when you have really good numbers," he said of his final stretch. "It's nice to finish like that, some good momentum heading into tomorrow."

English's last win came at the 2021 Travelers Championship when he defeated Kramer Hickok on the eighth playoff hole. In two starts this season, he's missed the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii and tied for 43rd at the American Express.

"Winning on the PGA Tour's hard," he said." Winning in a place like this will be massive. It's one of my favorite places. And the list of winners here is pretty incredible, so I love being in the mix and looking forward to tomorrow."

Novak, the world No. 130, survived blustery conditions at the South Course on Thursday, signing for an even-par 72 that kept him at 2 under for the week. Looking for a spark on Moving Day, the 29-year-old's putter finally woke up. A day after gaining just a quarter of a stroke on the greens, Novak gained over three on Friday, the fourth most in the field. And thanks to a perfect up-and-down success rate, the North Carolina native made six birdies and no bogeys on his way to a 6-under 66.

"Game is good. It's been really solid all week," he said. "I feel like I've been hitting it well, short game's been super solid. I just haven't made a lot of putts, but I've been patient, a lot of them have been very close. Then last 10 or 11 holes, just got hot. All the ones that were just missing by tiny margins just started falling in. Just had to be patient and finally got them to go."

Still searching for his first win, Novak's best finish was a runner-up at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in November.

One shot back in third is a 20-year-old by the name of Aldrich Potgieter, who at the end of last year became the second-youngest player ever to earn a Tour card via the Korn Ferry Tour. The South African has made two starts already this season, missing the cut at both the Sony Open and American Express.

This week has been a different story for the 216th-ranked player in the world.

Potgieter struggled in the wind on Thursday, limping his way to a 4-over 76 around the South Course. But a 6-under 66 on Wednesday at the North Course gave him enough wiggle room to make the cut at 2 under. After a bad wedge shot into the first green that led to a bogey to begin his third round, Potgieter locked in. Over his remaining 17 holes, he made four birdies and a hole-out eagle on his way to shooting a 5-under 67.

"I had a perfect 8-iron distance," Potgieter said, "a little bit breezy into us, so had something to stop the ball on top of that plateau that I had to land it on. I've seen the video once really quickly, but from the fairway, looked all the way good."

As for some of the bigger names, Joel Dahmen is tied for fourth at 5 under, Ludvig Aberg is 4 under at T-8, and Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day and Sahith Theegala sit at 3 under, in a share for 15th.

The wind is projected to pick back up for the final 18 holes, blowing in the mid-teens with gusts up to 30 mph.

Saturday coverage begins on Golf Channel at 3 p.m. ET before moving to CBS at 5 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Harris English leads 2025 Farmers Insurance Open heading into Saturday