Farmers insurance golf betting tips

Wes Reynolds previews this week's PGA Tour stop, the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Xander Schauffele is the betting favorite. Farmers Insurance Open betting preview from Betfair's golf tipster Tips · How To Bet on Golf · Steve Rawlings Golf Previews · Golf Each-Way. Farmers Insurance Open Picks ; Patrick Cantlay, + ; Max Homa, + ; Collin Morikawa, + ; Ludvig Aberg, + PGA Tour - Farmers insurance golf betting tips Insurance Open preview and betting tips in a concise format. Chairman's note: Going forward we'll focus mainly on our picks and leave the.

PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open Picks 2024

Finishes of 25th and fourth across his last two starts in the event, following a missed cut on debut, confirm that as well as being comfortingly familiar, Torrey Pines is a really good venue for Theegala, who grew up two hours away from here. Part of the reason is that he's long enough off the tee, and his waywardness isn't as big of an issue as you might think.

Time and again we hear about the importance of fairways at courses like this, but the truth is they're so difficult to hit that everyone has to score from the rough. Bubba Watson once talked about why that made him more comfortable here, because he was used to doing that already and it felt like it hurt other players much more, and Theegala is a similar, swashbuckling player who already has a highlight-reel of recovery shots to his name.

We saw some of them when he captured his first PGA Tour title in California in the Fortinet Championship, adding to tops here and at Riviera, and over the last couple of years he's started to produce his very best stuff in front of his large following on home soil. As for how he's playing, Theegala began the season with second place in The Sentry before missing the cut narrowly in the Sony Open, which I'd have down as one of the least suitable venues for him on the entire calendar, and I expect to see him back in contention under ideal conditions this week.

Theegala has ranked seventh and fourth in strokes-gained approach on his last two Farmers starts and he's capable of some top-class putting numbers, as we saw at Silverado. Long enough to compete with the very biggest hitters, he has the right game to double his PGA Tour tally. Having missed the core of last season through injury and then returned with a tailed-off performance at the Hero just before Christmas, Zalatoris has produced five sub rounds in succession now and the very fact he's teeing it up less than 72 hours after the AmEx finished suggests he's feeling good.

That was the impression he gave at the Sony, where a poor first round left him in an impossible position, and while he'll need to step up on his efforts at La Quinta it was encouraging to see him shoot over the weekend, his only dropped shot at the tougher Stadium Course on Sunday coming at his final hole, just as it had on Thursday.

It's very difficult to get a firm handle on where he is with his remodelled swing, but this could be the only opportunity we get to back Zalatoris at a big price in a modest field and it's one I want to take. Remember, for now he's not in the 'signature' events at Pebble Beach and Riviera and would need to win here to change that. Torrey Pines also happens to be one of the very best courses on the circuit for him.

Zalatoris really ought to have won here two years ago, when he lost a play-off to Luke List, and he was seventh in his first start of despite not having played in close to two months. Like the top four in the betting and indeed Theegala, he's from California and locals have always done well in the handful of events held out in the Golden State.

Homa is the most stark example but there are plenty more, including several of the less well-known winners of the Farmers plus the likes of James Hahn and John Merrick at Riviera. There's a shot-in-the-dark element to this and he won't be for everyone, but this world-class golfer could challenge for favouritism at his best.

Just how far away that is, we'll find out over the coming four days. Like Aberg, Min Woo Lee is a debutant who has history against him, but he does have experience of the course from the Junior World event which has been held here for a long time now, a division of which Theegala has won. That will help and there are a handful of past Farmers champions who were able to call upon it, but Lee's approach work needs to improve and for now he's short enough.

I was more tempted by Hideki Matsuyama, a real South Course specialist. Not for the first time, a quiet round on the easier North cost him a place last year and while he arrives under a bit of a cloud, that was the case 12 months ago. He's a class act, tough conditions suit, and he's got plenty to play for having just dropped out of the world's top 50 for the first time since entering it more than a decade ago.

That might seem strange given his status as a longstanding maiden who has thrown away a couple of good chances, most notably in the Texas Open a couple of years ago, but Hossler looks to have found a pretty big chunk of improvement lately and reminds me a little of his friend, Wyndham Clark.

By no means am I expecting Hossler to go on and become a major champion this year but with nine tops in his last 10 events of , and signs that he's sorted his wedge game at last, this strong driver and deadly putter has so many of the tools required to win big titles. Last week's T47 at the AmEx smacked of a pipe-opener with this in mind and only once before in that event has he finished higher up the leaderboard, whereas here at Torrey Pines he has a best of ninth to his name.

Granted, he's missed his last three cuts, but Hossler hasn't putted well during any of them and returns a much better player. Farmers insurance golf betting tips He ticks that Californian box even if he now calls Texas home, and it's probably worth saying he is only 28, younger than Rahm for instance. As with Theegala, the fact that he can spray it a little off the tee isn't too much of a worry here and Hossler certainly has the power to handle the South Course.

If he can get rolling on the North Course on Wednesday, I won't be at all surprised to find him in contention come the weekend, perhaps landing that breakthrough victory at last. Many of the same remarks could apply to Patrick Rodgers, who should've broken his own duck here in California last summer. Rodgers is playing some of the best golf of his life, has two tops in the Farmers and produced his best Sony Open finish yet last time, but I felt there was just a little less juice in his price.

And while he did play well at the AmEx last year, I would have Torrey Pines down as just as suitable if not more so. Montgomery is long off the tee, hits it high and putts the lights out, the sort of formula Day has put to use around here down the years. Montgomery also has a personal connection to the event, as it's the only one his dad ever played in, 30 years ago.

It's a special course for the family as it's also where Taylor made his major debut in , before finishing 11th here when still on the Korn Ferry Tour, and then 31st last year. You hit driver on every single hole, and I like that. Throughout all three appearances his approach play has been the issue but there have been significant signs of improvement lately, in particular when ranking second at the Sony Open, and while yes last week was a bit disappointing he did end on the front foot, peppering flags over the final few holes of round four.

Montgomery began working with Butch Harmon late last year so there's an explanation for the improved iron play he's since demonstrated, and if he can continue along this path then a win ought to follow at some stage given the fact he's one of the top three or four putters on the circuit. Montgomery has been catching the eye since October, when he first sought the help of Harmon, and if he gets that putter rolling again, expect to see him feature at some stage.

Justin Suh and Akshay Bhatia are two excellent drivers who both missed the cut by one last week. Suh gave half of his prize money away when playing here on an invite once, at a time when he had no status, and it would be a lovely story were he to return to his home state and contend at a course which ought to bring out his best. Along with Taylor Pendrith they're respected and I'll have an eye on his compatriot Mackenzie Hughes for his Thursday three-ball, as he boasts an excellent South Course record which probably won't be factored into prices.

Once touted as the next big thing, Xiong took longer to make it to the PGA Tour than many expected and still lacks consistency, but he's taken a couple of Korn Ferry Tour chances really impressively to win his two titles by four and five shots respectively. The most recent of those came in under, defying the sort of tough conditions he'll find this week to finally earn his card, and while he is a rookie there are few if any players in this field with as much experience of Torrey Pines.

As well as playing in the Farmers once, he was a permanent fixture in those Junior World events, often winning or going close in various age categories. Xiong's family moved to San Diego when he was a small boy and so much of his golfing education took place here, while in terms of his game he is a long driver with the attributes required to cope with the demands of a South Course that he knows so well.

All of this relates to his wider profile rather than the state of his game, but he did shoot under over rounds two and three of the AmEx, missing the cut by one after a slow start, and having showed up well early on in the Sony he looks in a pretty good place overall. If there is to be another surprise winner, I see no more fascinating candidate than the man they call the Panda.

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to overs and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose. Further support and information can be found at begambleaware. Sporting Life. Horse Racing. Arnold Palmer , and Tom Watson , are also multiple-time winners here.

This event is also notable because Jack Nicklaus never won here, but he was part of a memorable finish in as he shot a final-round 64 to fall one shot short of eventual winner Johnny Miller. Two courses host the event. The North Course and South Course each host the first two rounds with each player playing both courses before the South Course takes over for the final 36 holes.

Open, is now the longest annual course on the PGA Tour at 7, yards. Both courses play at a par 72, but the South Course is the more difficult as the North Course is just 7, yards. The South Course is not only yards longer but plays on average close to two strokes higher. The fairways fifth narrowest on tour at 28 square feet average and rough on the South Course are Kikuyugrass but with a Ryegrass overseed, while the Tom Weiskopf-redesigned North Course has Ryegrass overseed fairways and a Rye and Kikuyugrass rough mixture.

The South Course greens fifth smallest on tour at 5, square feet are faster Torrey Pines South played as the seventh-most difficult course last season with an average round score of It could be even more difficult this year as the rough is a half-inch longer four inches to start the tournament than in past years. Winter rain makes the already thicker rough play tougher and will make the course play even longer as well.

There are 82 bunkers on the course and only one water danger hole on the layout. Torrey Pines North played as the eighth-easiest course on tour last year with an average round score of It could be more difficult this year as the rough is expected to be the same as on the South Course.

The North Course is a more tree-lined layout that has just 42 bunkers third fewest on tour and zero water danger holes. Many of the greens are open-fronted which allows for bump-and-run type shots. Greens are Bentgrass and they run very pure. The course record on the redesigned North Course is 62 set by Jon Rahm first round, , Ryan Palmer second round, , again in by Adam Schenk and Alex Smalley both in second round.

While the recent Weiskopf redesign has by and large made the North Course slightly more difficult, you can see that players must take advantage of the easier layout to put themselves into contention here. However, this trend was brought to a screeching halt in when Justin Rose shot 9 under 63 on the North Course in the Thursday round and then ran away with the event.

In , Marc Leishman began on the North Course with a 4-under 68 round and Patrick Reed started with an 8-under 64 on the North in Luke List began the event on the South Course with a 7-under 65 , so it looks like any draw bias has at least been temporarily eliminated. The length of the course is what it is, but the thick rough, narrower fairways, thick marine layer and cool January air also make an overall game off the tee, not just distance, paramount for success here.

The Farmers Insurance Open winner in four of the last five years has rated fifth or better for Approach during the week. With four-inch rough and 82 bunkers, gaining with the short game is vitally important at Torrey Pines. Players will miss plenty of greens here, so they must scramble for pars regularly.

No putting surfaces are more unpredictable than Poa annua. They can be slick and fast The South Course at Torrey Pines ranks as the toughest course on tour in which to make putts inside 15 feet and also inside of five feet. Even with good ball striking, potential for bogeys lurks everywhere on these greens. The average approach shot distance here at Torrey Pines is yards and this course, unsurprisingly, produces the most approach shots from or more yards out.

With the difficulty of the South Course and the potential for so many bogeys, it is paramount to take advantage of the par-5s. He has shaken off some rust early in the season and did shoot four rounds in the 60s last week at the AMEX. What is a round robin in golf game bet Last year he was the second choice on the odds board behind Rahm and now he is as low as the ninth choice. This looks like a spot to buy the dip.