They say Mother Nature can't be beaten.

She took a loss this weekend.

Brandt Snedeker, playing in the most brutal conditions seen on the PGA Tour in a very long time, fired a final round 69 on Sunday and held on to win the Farmers Insurance Open. While many players were struggling to stay on the golf course, Snedeker birdied four of first five holes on the back nine, and finished his final round on Sunday while many players had to return to the golf course the following day. Snedeker also prolonged his stay, but he didn't need to hit a single shot on Monday as the leaders fell to him in windy conditions.

"I didn't sleep last night. It was awful." Snedeker said after he was crowned the champion.

How great was Snedeker's final round? He was the only player under par. Shane Lowry shot a one over par 73, and moved up 28 positions on the leaderboard. The final round played an average of nearly six over par over the course of the two day, which was second highest among non-majors since 1983. Winds were so bad on Monday that spectators were forbidden from the course for their own safety. The tree off the 15th fairway fell due to the winds, and while the grounds crew did their best to clean parts of it from the fairway, golfers still had to avoid the fallen tree. Snedeker himself called it "one of those special days that I don’t think I could go out there and recreate. But I’m glad I did it.”

For Snedeker, this victory comes off the heels of some terrific play as of late. He had a T3 and a second place finish in his most recent starts leading into the Farmers Insurance Open, so it's safe to say Snedeker is the hottest golfer on the planet right now. 

Given the conditions he had to play in, K.J. Choi should not feel bad about his second place finish. His four over 76 would have been good enough to beat everyone else this week had it not been for Snedeker playing one of the greatest rounds in PGA Tour history. Choi had failed to register a top 10 finish all last season, and entered this week with nothing better than a T50 on his resume for this season. Choi, along with several other players, such as Hiroshi Iwata, Shane Lowry, and Billy Horschel, notched their first top 25 finish of the season. If these players look at their results rather than their weather inflated final round scores, they should be able to use this as momentum in the coming weeks.