Farmers Insurance Open Tips & Predictions: Three against the field at Torrey Pines
The PGA Tour continues this week at the beautiful Torrey Pines and the Farmers Insurance Open.
Similar to last week's American Express, the tournament is played over two courses, with one round on the North course and three rounds on the South.
The South course at Torrey Pines is the longest on the PGA Tour circuit measuring 7,698 yards and is two shots tougher than the North. This year players will be getting an early look at the US Open, with the South course lined up as the destination for the season's third major championship in June.
There's plenty of course form to go on this week and I'm looking at players who have played well here before and have a strong tee to green game.
Sungjae Im was my main pick last and despite leading at halfway he faded away in the third round to finish outside of the places, the winner coming in the form of compatriot Si Woo Kim.
Market Leaders
Jon Rahm heads the betting here, back after pulling out of last week's tournament and to a track where he won in 2017 and has finished in the top-5 the last two years.
At 7/1 he's a little too short in the betting for me, especially given Rory McIlroy lines up against the Spaniard this week, fresh from a second place in last week's Abu Dhabi Championship where he looked in really good form.
At 17/2 I'm in no hurry to back McIlroy either but he's also finished in the top-5 here in his last two starts and it wouldn't be a surprise to see either fighting it out here come Sunday.
At 12/1 Xander Schauffele is the third favourite but with three uncharacteristic missed cuts here for the American, I'm happy sitting on my US Open ticket for Xander when the course will be set up much tougher, advised at the beginning of the year and available to back via the golf betting tips page.
First up this week I like the look of Marc Leishman to continue his return to form with a good showing here.
The Australian is available to back at 40/1 with Unibet paying six places.
Having endured a rough time of it in the second half of 2020 with a loss of form, he returns to a course where he has fond memories.
The 37-year-old has five top-10 finishes here in his last ten visits, culminating in winning the tournament twelve months ago.
24th in the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the start of 2020, he followed that up with a 4th place finish at the Sony Open before taking last week off.
Leishman ranks just outside the top 30 for greens in regulation on the PGA Tour in this week's field and I like him to continue his good form here.
Next up is a player who I rarely get right so I give you prior warning.
Bubba Watson makes his first appearance of 2021 and like Leishman has some strong course form to call upon.
The American is another former winner, back in 2011 and he has three top-10 finishes in his last five appearances at the course.
We don't have any recent form to go on so we're banking him coming out of the traps fast.
The 42-year-old has three top ten finishes in his last four starts on the PGA Tour and his stats stack up well this week, ranking 2nd for shots gained tee to green.
At 45/1 with Unibet (best price) I'm backing him each-way here.
My last selection this week is a big price at 150/1.
John Huh isn't a household name but has been trending in the right direction and has some key stats to back up his claims.
The 30-year-old ranks in the top 20 for shots gained approaching the green and 21st this season for shots gained tee to green.
He has three top 20 finishes in his last five tournaments, making the cut each time and tied 21st at the American Express last week.
A PGA Tour winner in 2012 (Mayakoba Classic), Huh has played in this tournament nine times with two top-10 finishes so has plenty of experience at the track.
Paddy Power are paying eight places this week so a small each-way bet at 150/1 is the play and a good bit of value based on him being as short as 66/1 elsewhere.
Best of the rest
I think Viktor Hovland can go well this week, but the solitary missed cut at Torrey Pines put me off. His ball-striking ability keeps him firmly on the radar for a strong show at the US Open, and I'm going to add him to my ante-post portfolio at 50/1 (28/1 with Paddy Power).
Much like Leishman and Watson, Jason Day has very strong course form here and is a similar price at 40/1 this week. Given the Aussie's injury problems over the last few years, I'm happy to leave him this week in what is his first tournament of the year.
Finally, I really like Matt Wallace to go well in the Dubai Desert Classic this week so I'm going to have a small win bet on the Wallace/Leishman double which pays 1000/1.
As ever, good luck with your bets if you're following and please gamble responsibly. I'm going to keep showing my record post lockdown for a few weeks until we have some 2021 results to show.
Follow me at Twitter @rustyboy75.
Post-lockdown form:
Winners
- Tyrrell Hatton - BMW PGA Championship - advised at 16/1
- John Catlin - Irish Open - advised at 40/1
- Jon Rahm - BMW Championship - advised at 14/1
- Dustin Johnson - Northern Trust - advised at 20/1
- Justin Thomas - WGC FedEx St Jude - advised at 12/1
- Webb Simpson - RBC Heritage - advised at 30/1
Placed
- Colin Morikawa - T7 Sony Open In Hawaii - advised at 14/1
- Xander Schauffele - T5 Sentry Tournament of Champions - advised at 10/1
- Laurie Canter - 2nd Italian Open - advised at 45/1
- Kristoffer Ventura - T6 Sanderson Farms Championship - advised at 80/1
- Xander Schauffele - 5th US Open - advised at 16/1
- Kristoffer Ventura - T7 Safeway Open - advised at 80/1
- Laurie Canter - 2nd Portugal Masters - advised at 66/1
- Si Woo Kim - T3 Wyndham Championship - advised at 40/1
- Jason Day - T4 USPGA Championship - advised at 40/1
- Phil Mickelson - 2nd WGC FedEx St Jude - advised at 110/1
- Viktor Hovland - 3rd Workday Charity Open - advised at 25/1
- Kevin Streelman - T7 Workday Charity Open - advised at 60/1
- Tyrrell Hatton - T4 Rocket Mortgage Classic - advised at 16/1
