Farmers Insurance Open
Torrey Pines Golf Club
South Course (host)
North Course
La Jolla, California
Golfbet articles from the entire crew – click here
Chalk
My thoughts on the top players for betting purposes:
I’m not going through the players who WD early this week. International travel is part of it. Cold and flu season is part of it. TGL is part of it.
Who IS playing is important.
Ludvig Aberg (+850): Smoked The Sentry to close 17-under on the weekend. Destroys courses tee to green and that plays this week.
Hideki Matsuyama (+1200): Already a winner this year, his power and short game acumen always works at Torrey Pines.
Sungjae Im (+1800): Blew a tire last week (77 Round 1) and missed the cut. Blew a tire here last year to kill his streak of T4-T6 and five straight.
Will Zalatoris (+2200): I’m not going to wait. Site of his PGA TOUR debut in 2018, he’s usually a factor.
Jason Day (+2500): The two-time winner killed me here last year with a MC. Cashed T3 last week in the desert and always is excellent in January.
Tony Finau (+2800): The only thing left to do here is hit the podium. Never worse than T24 in nine of 10.
Keegan Bradley (+2800): Absolutely flying at the moment, he ran second here to Homa in 2023. Strike while he’s hot.
Taylor Pendrith (+3000): Bomb and gouge specialist who has no problem holing putts, and no problem playing here (T9 2024, T16 2022)
Max Greyserman (+3000): An incredible putter, let’s see how he plays out of the rough this week after racking up big finishes without.
NOW PLAYING:
| Host Course | South Course |
| Yards (per official scorecard): | 7,765. |
| Par: | 72 (36-36). |
| Greens: | Poa annua; 5,000 square feet on average. |
| Stimpmeter: | 13 feet plus. |
| Rough: | Overseeded ryegrass at FOUR inches and growing. |
| Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play | 82/1/1. Pond in front of Par-5 No. 18. |
| Architect(s): | William P. Bell (1957) & William F Bell (1957); Rees Jones (2001, 2019). |
| Defending Champion (event): | Mattieu Pavon (-13). |
| Multiple Champion(s) Entered: | Jason Day (2018, 2015); Brandt Snedeker (2016, 2012). |
| Course Record (last): | 62; Tiger Woods (1999). |
| 72 Hole Tournament Record (2016-current rotation): | 22-under; Tiger Woods (1999; last). |
| Fact of the Week: | EVENT RUNS WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY for the fourth straight season. |
| Fact of the Week II: | Tiger Woods won this event eight times. Sadly, he’s not in the field this week. |
| Fact of the Week III: | Three winners since 2017 have made this their first victory on TOUR. |
Notes:
- Field of 156.
- Second of three multi-course events in three weeks.
- The OWGR is represented by 21 of the top 50.
- Top 65 and ties will make the cut and play the weekend after 36 holes (play each course once).
- $9.3 million – $1.674 million – 500 FedExCup points – Sentry and Masters ticket punched.
- Points available for the Aon Next 5 for Pebble Beach qualification.
Recent Winners
2025 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| The Sentry | Hideki Matsuyama |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Nick Taylor |
| The American Express | Sepp Straka |
| Farmers Insurance Open |
2024 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| The Sentry | Chris Kirk |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Grayson Murray (Rest in Peace) |
| The American Express | Nick Dunlap (a) |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Matthieu Pavon (rookie) |
| AT&T Pebble Beach | Wyndham Clark (54 holes) |
| WM Phoenix Open | Nick Taylor |
| The Genesis Invitational | Hideki Matsuyama |
| Mexico Open at Vidanta | Jake Knapp (rookie) |
| Cognizant Classic | Austin Eckroat (first time) |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Scottie Scheffler |
| THE PLAYERS Championship | Scottie Scheffler (2) |
| Valspar Championship | Peter Malnati |
| Texas Children’s Houston Open | Stephan Jaeger (first time) |
| Valero Texas Open | Akshay Bhatia |
| 88th Masters Tournament | Scottie Scheffler (3) |
| RBC Heritage | Scottie Scheffler (4) |
| Zurich Classic | Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry |
| THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson | Taylor Pendrith (first time) |
| Wells Fargo Championship | Rory McIlroy (2) |
| 106th PGA Championship | Xander Schauffele |
| Charles Schwab Challenge | Davis Riley |
| RBC Canadian Open | Robert MacIntyre (first time) |
| The 49th Memorial Tournament | Scottie Scheffler (5) |
| 124th United States Open | Bryson DeChambeau |
| Travelers Championship | Scottie Scheffler (6) |
| Rocket Mortgage Classic | Cam Davis |
| John Deere Classic | Davis Thompson (first time) |
| Genesis Scottish Open | Robert MacIntyre (2) |
| 152nd Open Championship | Xander Schauffele (2) |
| 3M Open | Jhonattan Vegas |
| 2024 Paris Olympics | Scottie Scheffler (7) |
| 3M Open | Jhonattan Vegas |
| Wyndham Championship | Aaron Rai (first time) |
| FedEx St. Jude Championship | Hideki Matsuyama (2) |
| BMW Championship | Keegan Bradley |
| The TOUR Championship | Scottie Scheffler (8) |
| FedEx Cup Fall | |
| Procore Championship | Patton Kizzire |
| Sanderson Farms Championship | Kevin Yu (first time) |
| Black Desert Championship | Matt McCarty (first time) |
| Shriners Children’s Open | JT Poston |
| ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP | Nico Echavarria |
| World Wide Technology Champ | Austin Eckroat (2) |
| Butterfield Bermuda Champ | Rafa Campos (first time) |
| The RSM Classic | Maverick McNealy (first time) |
Recent Winners – Farmers Insurance Open
Italics – not entered this week.
| Year | Winner | Notes |
| 2024 | Mattieu Pavon (-13) | First TOUR victory in just his third start with a card; 11th TOUR start. First appearance. |
| 2023 | Max Homa (-13) | Defeated Keegan Bradley by two shots. |
| 2022 | Luke List (-15) | Shot 66 on Sunday and then defeated Will Zalatoris in a playoff. First TOUR win. |
| 2021 | Patrick Reed (-14) | Only player to finish in double digits under par. Won by five shots. |
| 2020 | Marc Leishman (-15) | Won by a shot. |
| 2019 | Justin Rose (-21) | Missed tying the course record by a shot. |
| 2018 | Jason Day (-10) | Knocked out Ryan Palmer and Alex Noren (not entered) in a playoff for his second win and second win in a playoff. |
| 2017 | Jon Rahm (-13) | Won by three shots on debut and secured his first TOUR win. |
| 2016 | Brandt Snedeker (-6) | Extreme weather turned the event upside down. Snedeker won for the second time without having to play the final day. |
Angles
- The South Course is annually one of the toughest tracks on TOUR. The North Course scores almost 2.5 shots easier, on average.
- Power players, elite short-game artists, and grinders will litter the top of the leaderboard on SATURDAY.
- The last 10 winners ranked in the top 10 for Bogey Avoidance.
- The cut has never been worse than Even over the last decade.
- Gaining strokes tee to green and on the greens will go a long way.
- Only Snedeker posted a round in the 70s on the North Course and went on to win.
- South Course – take your medicine, attack when given the chance, and try to get up and down on the Par-5 holes.
- North Course – Time to score!
Players to consider for Top 10, Top 20, or Top 40 action:
Beau Hossler: Long Beach native knows Poa.
Nicklas Norgaard: If he’s 70-1 in this field, you have my attention.
Rico Hoey: Led the field in GIR last week and was T3 at Sony. SoCal.
Michael Kim: San Diego HS alum.
Austin Eckroat: Can flush it. That never goes out of style.
Taylor Moore: Did NOT make a bogey last week (T7). That will change this week but still #Evidence.
Patrick Rodgers: Three top-10 finishes and six missed cuts. DO YOU LIKE VOLATILITY??
Vincent Norrman: Good start, great ball-striker.
Hayden Springer: Played really well on the South Course in 2024.
Taylor Montgomery: If he’s in decent shape physically this number is free money.
Peter Malnati: He won’t win, but he’ll make the cut and sneak into the top 40.
Good luck!
One and Done – Spotter’s Game
1 player per event (plus a backup pick if your guy gets kidnapped on Wednesday night and doesn’t make it to the first tee Thursday).
1 use per year.
With EIGHT Signature Events spread out throughout the season, player management becomes a major issue. These events do NOT include the four majors or THE PLAYERS Championship. These events do NOT include the FedExCup Playoffs. This game ends with the BMW Championship.
LAST WEEK – AMEX
MY CHOICE: Adam Hadwin – MC
Just Missed: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Davis Thompson, J.T. Poston, Si Woo Kim, Tom Hoge
Just terrible on every level. I keep reminding myself that this is hard, but it shouldn’t be this hard.
| Event | Selection | Place | Earnings |
| The Sentry | Sungjae Im | 3rd | $1,360,000 |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Russell Henley | T10 | 195,025 |
| The American Express | Adam Hadwin | MC | |
| Farmers Insurance |
THIS WEEK – Farmers Insurance Open
A perfect event for overreaction after a terrible week in the desert!
Plenty of course horses to saddle, but after last year’s first-timer barrage, I’m experiencing paralysis by analysis.
MY CHOICE: Will Zalatoris
His spiritual home and the results followed. Led the field in Bogey Avoidance last year and is trending nicely to start 2025. Time to kick open the door!
Others to consider: Jason Day, Tony Finau, Max Homa, Aaron Rai, Maverick McNealy
Glass Houses 