Sweden’s Alex Noren and Australia’s Jason Day must return today to decide the Farmers Insurance Open after they remained deadlocked after five extra holes in San Diego.

Overnight leader Noren shot 73 to 70s by Day and Ryan Palmer to leave them tied on 10-under par after a six-hour round on the South Course at Torrey Pines.

Palmer was eliminated when he parred the 18th the first time around and Noren and Day made birdies.

But another four extra holes were not enough to separate them as they birdied the 18th again, then parred the 16th and 17th before sharing the 18th in birdie for the third time when darkness forced play to be suspended.

The playoff and some slow play by JB Holmes on the 72nd hole were big talking points after Tiger Woods finished tied 23rd in his comeback event after 12 months away.

Holmes had bogeyed three holes in a row to lose the lead and needed an eagle three at the 18th to get to 10-under. But he took what Golf Channel timed as four minutes and 10 seconds to make up his mind deciding whether or not to go for the green, much to the frustration of many, including colleague Luke Donald.

Fans nearby and those at the green, made their irritation known before he finally decided to lay up, finishing in the left rough short of the pond.

While he belatedly made a birdie, he had no qualms about his actions, telling Golf Channel's Ryan Lavner, “No, I was still trying to win. So that’s part of it.”

There was to be no birdie on the 72nd for Noren, who spent so long staring down his approach and practice swinging in the fairway that he changed to a longer club.

He needed a birdie four for outright victory but flew the green and eventually missed a 13 footer for his maiden PGA Tour title.

He will return with Day at 8am today as the world of golf mulls over Woods' return to action.

The 79-time PGA TOur winner looked healthy but hit just 17 fairways all week, propping up the 77-man field, as he closed with a battling 72 to finish on three-under par.

"Very pleased," Woods said after completing his first 72-hole event (complete with what was reportedly a 25-minute wait at a par-three late in his round) on the PGA Tour since the Wyndham Championship in 2015.

"After not playing for a couple of years and to come out here on the tour and play a solid four days... I fought hard for these scores."

Woods shot rounds of 72, 71 and 70 to go into the final day eight shots off the lead but admitted he hoped to close with a 65 and set a 10-under par target for the leaders.

His eye for the winning score remains sharp and had it not been for his poor driving, he might have gotten close to his goal.

"This was a lot of fighting. I had to fight for every score on every hole, and sometimes those are more pleasing than the boring rounds. It shows that I have heart. I fought my tail off.

"I was trying to post early and see what might happen, but I'll take 72.”