Methodical he may be, but in the big scheme of things it is hard to identify much fault in Ben Crane, whether you’re talking about his character or his ability to play golf.  The 33-year-old Oregon native and all-around nice guy  was completely focused Sunday as he won the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.

Just how occupied was he with the task at hand?  So much so that when he rolled in the final 3-foot putt to finish at 13 under par and win, he had no idea that the trophy was his for the taking.  He had begun play on Sunday two shots back of the lead and did not seem to realize that his final-round score of 70 had been enough to earn him his third PGA Tour victory – his first in five years.

Ryuji Imada, the leader to start the day, faltered early in the final round and Crane quickly gained ground with the skill he is best known for, putting. The pursuer got off to a fast start on Sunday with a short birdie on the second hole followed by a 46 foot birdie bomb on the third.  His 3rd birdie of the day, a 22 foot putt on the fifth hole, propelled him to a two-stroke lead that he would hold for the balance of the front nine.

The field came nipping on Crane’s heels early in the back nine but yet another lengthy birdie, this time one from 48 feet on the 11th hole, put his lead margin back to two strokes.  That would drop to one after the 17th hole when he stumbled in missing a 3-foot par putt, creating a compelling situation on the final hole of the Torrey Pines South course.

There, on the dramatic par five closer, Crane drove the ball into the rough – effectively eliminating any chance of reaching the green in two to set up an easy birdie.  At the same time Australian Michael Sim drove to the short grass and just 245 yards to the hole, creating a great scoring opportunity.  Too much surprise he chose not to go for the green in two, ultimately leaving him with just a par and sharing second place with Marc Leishman and Brandt Snedeker.  “…for me that is really stretching a three wood so I decided to lay up to a nice yardage,” said Sim when questioned why he did not go for the green on the 18th. “It would have been nice to have a putt at it for birdie to get to 13, but it wasn’t the case.”

Phil Mickelson, who will defend this week at the Northern Trust Open and was mired in a debate over his use of a non-confirming yet legal Ping wedge, got off to a terrible start at Torrey Pines and could not recover from a flurry of early round bogeys.  “What we were talking about, my rhythm and timing were off,” Mickelson explained about his erratic final round play that dropped him to 19th place. “I wasn’t able to accelerate through the ball very well and hanging back a little bit. At least I know what it is that I need to work on and I have a couple days to do it”

Although Crane rejoiced at the thought of winning $954,000 and earning an invite to the 2010 Masters it seemed that the success had a higher meaning – that it was validation for all the effort he had put into developing a plan for success on the PGA Tour over the last few months.  “…it’s certainly really cool to know that I’m going the right direction,” he stated with a genuine smile in the press room. “But in the past when I’ve played well, I think I’ve rested on it, and I think I have a better plan in place this year. It’s a nice by-product. But really the goal was to sit down with my team this November and talk about the plan that we put in place and reevaluate.

Crane referred to himself as sticking to “The Process” when interviewed immediately following the win and he explained more about it when prompted.

“Yeah, I sat down with my team. I have eight guys that kind of help me, a few therapists and then a mental coach, a guy named Lanny Bassham, Greg Rose my fitness guy, caddie. Anyway, we all sat down in a room and my manager, and we all just said, all right, what are the things we need to improve on, and what are the things we think we’re doing well. We pulled up every stat for the last nine years. It was kind of fun, and my manager ran this whole meeting, and basically what we came up with was a few things that I need to do.

One of the things is I need to play ready golf. I’ve been too slow in the past, and it’s bothered me. So I’m just — that’s one of the things I’m working on is being ready when it’s my turn to play.  Anyway, so we just came up with a few things that I need to do in order to improve. And so we determined when we left that meeting, we all knew what I was doing so that when I finish a round, we talk differently about the round. We don’t talk directly about results, we talk about the process I went through before, during and after every shot and how that went. And to judge myself based on that as opposed to just the outcome. “

Crane will have another chance to test “The Process” this week when he plays in the Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.

After more than few bungles by Crane’s chasers this week, something tells me a few of his fellow competitors might be spending their preparation time this week investigating a “Process” of their own.

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This report provided to GolfWRX.com by Flagstick Golf Magazine (www.flagstick.com)