LA JOLLA, January 27, 2014 (AFP) - Stallings secured his third win in three years on the PGA Tour with a four-under-par 68. It wasn't always pretty, but it was enough for a winning nine-under-par total of 279.
He finished one stroke in front of a field that was so closely packed that 10 different players held at least a share of the lead during the round.
None of them had to worry about a sneak attack from world number one Tiger Woods, an eight-time winner at Torrey Pines who stunningly missed the secondary cut after a third-round 79.
Nor was local favorite Phil Mickelson on hand. He pulled out on Friday night with a sore back.
South Korean veteran K.J. Choi was among those whose named topped the leaderboard on Sunday afternoon. He posted the low round of the weekend with a six-under-par 66 that eventually left him tied for second on 280 with Canadian Graham DeLaet, Australians Jason Day and Marc Leishman and American Pat Perez.
Leishman, the 2010 runner-up, went into the final round one shot off Gary Woodland's lead and closed with a 71. DeLaet and Day both carded 68s while Perez notched a 70.
Charley Hoffman leapt 20 places up the leaderboard with a five-under 67 that gave him a share of seventh on 281.
He was joined by Japan's Ryo Ishikawa and Will MacKenzie, who both carded 70s.
Woodland struggled to a 74 to fall into a tie for 10th place with South Africa's Trevor Immelman, South Korea's Noh Seung-Yul, Scotland's Russell Knox, Canadian Brad Fritsch and Justin Thomas.
Stallings' victory brought with it an invitation to the Masters, but he acknowledged that his swing was anything but dialed in during a round that included seven birdies and three bogeys.
Stallings had six birdies and two bogeys in his last 11 holes and hit only four fairways in the final round.
His second shot at the last just cleared the water, and he got up and down for birdie at the par-five to seal the win.
Woodland looked to have the best chance of catching Stallings. He was one stroke behind before hooking his drive at 17. He three-putted from 45 feet for bogey, then missed a makeable birdie attempt at the last.
"This will be hard to swallow," Woodland said. "I felt like I kind of gave one away today."
Leading final-round scores on Sunday in the $6.1 million US PGA Farmers Insurance Open (USA unless noted):
279 - Scott Stallings 72-67-72-68
280 - K.J. Choi (KOR) 74-70-70-66, Graham DeLaet (CAN) 70-73-69-68, Jason Day (AUS) 66-73-73-68, Pat Perez 67-71-72-70, Marc Leishman (AUS) 66-71-72-71
281 - Charley Hoffman 69-70-75-67, Ryo Ishikawa (JPN) 72-70-69-70, Will MacKenzie 72-69-70-70
282 - Trevor Immelman (RSA) 68-74-71-69, Noh Seung-Yul (KOR) 68-73-72-69, Russell Knox (SCO) 71-67-74-70, Justin Thomas 68-73-72-69, Brad Fritsch (CAN) 69-70-72-71, Gary Woodland 65-73-70-74
283 - Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 72-72-70-69, Keegan Bradley 69-72-71-71, Morgan Hoffmann 72-66-72-73
284 - Erik Compton 69-69-74-72, Robert Streb 73-69-70-72, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) 69-67-75-73, Jordan Spieth 71-63-75-75
285 - J.B. Holmes 71-68-75-71, Billy Horschel 70-67-77-71, Luke Guthrie 76-68-71-70, Bubba Watson 70-73-73-69, Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 74-68-69-74