Farmer’s Insurance Open: Expert Picks

Tournament Information

Farmer’s Insurance Open

Date: January 24^th – 27^th

Course: Torrey Pines

Purse - $7.1MM ($1.3MM to the winner)

FedEx points – 500 to winner

2018 Winner: Jason Day (-10)

Course

Torrey Pines - Created in 1957 by William F Bell and redesigned by Rees Jones in 2001, this 7,600 course (longest on PGA tour) runs right along the Pacific Ocean. They host canyons and thick grass along the perimeter, given the longevity, they require a long shot off the tee and while they are fairly open for the more inaccurate tee shots, there are traps placed throughout to trip up the golfers not prepared. The greens can run into the ocean and it’s best to fall short.

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

My Starting 4

Alex Noren (1^st selection this year). Three starts and three top 20 finishes inaugurate Alex into a great season. Add to that he had a 2^nd place finish here last year and he could be a good top 10 pick. He is currently 58^th in Greens in Regulation Percentage and his OWGR is 21^st.

Charles Howell III (2nd selection this year) — I picked him last week and he didn’t disappoint with another top 20 finish. He has top 20 finishes each of his last three years here which is enough for me to pick him.

Keegan Bradley – (1^st selection this year) – He has top ten finishes each of the last two years here. He is also proving my early season prediction wrong with a strong start where he has finished in the top 30 in each of his five tournaments (and finished in the top 20 in three of them). He’s 42^nd in strokes gained approaching the green and 40^th in strokes gained tee to green.

Tony Finau (1st selection this year) — He has finished in the top 20 in four of his five tournaments this season. Beyond that he is with Charles Howell as the only two golfers with top 20 finishes each of the last three years at Torrey Pines. He’s 9^th in strokes gained around the green and 37^th in strokes gained off the tee. He just needs to improve his approach shots.

My Bench 2

JB Holmes (1st selection this year) — He has a decent season so far with top 25 finishes in three of his first four tournaments. His record here is strong with top ten finishes in two of the last three years. He’s 3^rd in strokes gained around the green and 8^thin total strokes gained.

Harris English (1st selection this year) — he doesn’t have the strongest lead into this tournament but if you look at previous years, he struggles leading into the tournament in a likewise fashion. His track record here includes 2016 (31^st), 2017 (14^th) and 2018 (8^th). My dark horse pick.

2019 Stats

Starting 4: Avg 52nd place (50%)

Bench 2: Avg 53th place (48%)

Fun fact: Four active golfers have at least two wins here: Tiger, Phil Mickelson, Brandt Snedeker and Jason Day