The PGA Tour continues its West Coast Swing this week when it heads to the host of this year’s US Open for the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego. This is always one of the better tournaments on the calendar with Torrey Pines always an excellent host.
Marc Leishman certainly enjoyed it on the two courses in operation for this tournament last year when he landed the title and he is back to attempt to defend it. He will be up against a pretty good field here though.
Recent Winners
2020 – Marc Leishman
2019 – Justin Rose
2018 – Jason Day
2017 – Jon Rahm
2016 – Brandt Snedeker
2015 – Jason Day
2014 – Scott Stallings
2013 – Tiger Woods
2012 – Brandt Snedeker
2011 – Bubba Watson
The Courses
For the second week in succession we have two courses in use this week. We are at Torres Pines where the North Course and the South Course will be used. The field will play the first two once over the first two rounds before those who make the cut will play the final 36 holes on the South Course, the track which will stage the US Open in June. Both courses at par 72s with the North measuring 7,256 yards which probably needs to be taken advantage of because the South is a monster at 7,765 yards, comfortably the longest on the PGA Tour.
The weather often has an impact in this tournament and it is expected to be cold and damp for the most part so that South Course is likely to play like a bit of a beast. You need a bit of length here but it can be important to hit the fairways too. With the course preparing to host the US Open we’ve got to think that scrambling will be a big thing, especially as these greens are on the shorter side of average in terms of size.
The Field
There is a pretty decent field in situ here even though the desert events on the European Tour are attracting plenty of stars at the minute. Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy headline the field but it is one which also contains the defending champion Marc Leishman as well as a couple of former winners in Jason Day and Bubba Watson. The home favourite Xander Schauffele also tees it up although he will be lacking in the home support to cheer him on with crowds not allowed into this event.
There are plenty of other household names teeing it up here including Patrick Reed, Tony Finau, Hideki Matsuyama, Matthew Wolff, Scottie Scheffler and Adam Scott. Recent event winners Harris English and Viktor Hovland have a tee time this week as do the likes of Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Sungjae Im and Billy Horschel. Si Woo Kim also heads to San Diego looking for successive wins having taken down The American Express last week.
Market Leaders
It is the European pair who head the way in the betting this week. Jon Rahm did something not many do and won here on his debut a few years ago and he is a 7/1 favourite to win the crown back again. The immediate concern is that he pulled out of The American Express last week with an injury. He says that has cleared up and the fanfare about it was an overreaction and there is no reason to disbelieve him but it is enough to put me off at a short price.
Rory McIlroy has a decent record here having finished fifth and third in his two starts but the long trek over from Abu Dhabi where you would have to say he left with disappointment having been outgunned by Tyrrell Hatton has to be something of a negative. The fact you have to go back more than a year for the last time McIlroy won is another concern although conditions might just suit him this week. I wouldn’t rule him out by any means but I’m not racing to get involved at 8/1.
Considering it is his home game Xander Schauffele has a terrible record in this tournament with four missed cuts and a T25 in five outings. That is immediately enough to put me off backing him at 12/1 but even if it wasn’t he doesn’t come in here in inspiring form and this field is much more competitive than for him to be this price just because he knows the course well. I’m certainly happy to overlook the San Diego native this week.
Tony Finau added another place to his growing list last week but again he led in the fourth round of an event and failed to get it done. Admittedly the three who finished above him excelled themselves on the Sunday but it was still a familiar tale for Finau. He simply doesn’t win anywhere near as much as he should do and although he has a fairly decent record here with five straight top 20s coming in, at 18/1 you really need him to win to get any chunky return. He needs to get over the line before I trust him to do that at these sorts of prices. Needless to say he isn’t for me either.
Main Bets
I’ll go with two main bets this week although I have to admit Jason Day and Matthew Wolff were extremely hard to get off the shortlist! The first of those is Harris English who has a pretty good record around here and who is definitely arriving here in the best form he has ever done having taken down the Tournament of Champions to kick off the year. The confidence he had for that might well have come from partnering Matt Kuchar to success in the QBE Shootout to round off a 2020 which he actually finished well anyway with a top five at the US Open and in Mexico as well as top 10s at Shadow Creek and the RSM Classic. English has three top 15 finishes here in the last six years but we can probably write off the last two efforts as his game was in a slump then. It certainly isn’t now so I think the American could go one better than he did in 2015 when he finished second.
I was encouraged to hear Gary Woodland speak so positively and emotionally last week about how he has overcome his injuries and is finally playing pain free golf. We are about to kick off a set of tracks where he can really showcase his talents and that starts here where he has five top 20 finishes in the last seven years. If you were being critical only two of those were top 10s but he hasn’t been able to drive the ball very well for a while because of injury. He drove it brilliantly in an encouraging effort last week so as long as successive weeks hasn’t come too soon for him, and I would imagine he would have pulled out if it had, then with the short game skills he has I expect the former US Open to be right there this week.
Outsiders
I’ll throw three darts at the bigger prices with the first of those coming in the form of Charles Howell III who remains one of the better ball strikers on the PGA Tour and one who is underrated in the length department. His short game has improved in recent times so he has all the tools to go well here and improve his perfectly acceptable record in the tournament. Howell III has never missed the cut here in 17 attempts and has eight top 10s in the event, three of which saw him finish as runner-up. He also has another four top 20s so it is fair to say that Chucky three sticks loves it here. He was in the top 20 at the Sony a couple of weeks back so ticks a lot of boxes here.
Brandt Snedeker might not be carrying the form which has seen him win this title twice, come second twice and add a third placed finish to the mark but I keep repeating myself when I say golfers can catch fire at places where they have special memories and if he can drive the ball acceptably we know he still carries one of the better short games on the tour. There is something about Torrey Pines which clearly inspires Snedeker because he has a couple of top 10s in addition to those finishes I mentioned. His game wasn’t in the best shape last year coming in and he still finished third. At 150/1 I’ll pay to see if he can emulate or better that here.
Finally I’ll go with another ball striker who has had some good results here in Martin Laird. Laird arrives here having been back in the winners’ circle when he landed the Shriners earlier in the season and while you would say his results have been a bit up and down since then that is understandable given the courses that events are played on this days. Laird is only ever going to feature on courses where accuracy is a premium and while it isn’t completely that here it certainly does no harm. He is one of the best drivers of the ball on the tour and has a couple of top 10s here. He should be confident enough to get into the mix again this year at a monster price.
Tips
Back H.English to win Farmers Insurance Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 23.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-8)
Back G.Woodland to win Farmers Insurance Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-8)
Back them here:
Back C.Howell III to win Farmers Insurance Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-8)
Back B.Snedeker to win Farmers Insurance Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 151.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-8)
Back them here:
Back M.Laird to win Farmers Insurance Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 201.00 with 888sport (1/5 1-8)
Back him here:
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