The Farmers Insurance Open has become one of the most exciting regular-season PGA Tour events on the schedule, thanks in no small part to the host course, Torrey Pines, and Tiger Woods‘ incredible winning record there, including his epic 2008 U.S. Open triumph. We’ll have to wait a little longer to see Tiger tee it up in an official tournament, but plenty of the current crop of stars are in the field this week. Among them are U.S. Ryder Cup stalwarts Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, and Max Homa, all of whom ranked within the top seven in the Official World Golf Ranking.
However, two important details make this year’s Farmers different from the norm. Firstly, the tournament will be contested from Wednesday to Saturday to make way for a big NFL Sunday. In addition, players will compete across two courses, Torrey Pines’ North and South courses, on Wednesday and Thursday, before sticking to the famous South course for the final two rounds.
Sandy Lane writes:
Jeepers, Creepers, following impossible-to-find winners at 150-1 and 400-1 in the opening two tournaments of the year, who should come along to take The American Express at 300-1 but Nick Dunlap, a fresh-faced 20-year-old and the first amateur to triumph in a regular PGA Tour event for over 30 years. Two of our Big Five each-way picks, Poston and Cole, were in the top ten after 54 holes, leaving space for a little hedging, but both ran on just at one pace to finish 11th and 21st respectively.
Perhaps the cows will come home for us at the Farmers this week? As already indicated, your bets need to be placed by 4.30 pm on Wednesday. Torrey Pines is a classic course with tiny greens and unusually, it suits bombers off the tee who score plenty of birdies, a somewhat odd combination. Plenty of experience at the course is vital – since 1990, only two players have won on debut With all of this in mind, Sandy Lane presents his Big Five for the Farmers. Each player’s Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) is given in brackets followed by the best price available this morning. Most Bookies are 8 places 1/5 odds – Bet 365 is 5 place ¼ and Coral is 10 places 1/5, paid for with dreadful odds:
- Max Homa (7) 12/1: The defending champion whose record in his last 5 tournaments in his home state of California reads 10-1-1-2-7.
- Sepp Straka (17) 40/1: The Austrian has played well here in the past and is one of the toughest competitors in the game. Seventh in last year’s PGA Championship and 2nd in The Open.
- Jason Day (18) 28/1: Sublime tournament form includes 2 victories and 7 top tens.
- Sahith Theegala (20) 35/1: Grew up nearby. He has good current and event form and scores lots of birdies.
- Tony Finau (21) 25/1: Loves the course, where he has finished in the Farmers top ten on several occasions.
Recommended stakes are 2 points each-way on Homa and 1 point each-way the others, Add in a 1-point each-way saver on Will Zalatoris 55/1, who lost in a play-off here in 2022 after finishing seventh the year before.
Good Luck – Sandy Lane
For what it is worth, I have dutched all six on Betfair at a guaranteed return of ~9/2 and will hope to trade out on Sunday or earlier.