The Farmers Insurance Open begins Wednesday at Torrey Pines in San Diego, with the PGA Tour scheduling its first Saturday finish since the 1996 Waste Management Phoenix Open.
This is the 13th of 47 FedEx Cup events in the 2021-22 season and features six of the top 10 players in the world rankings. Field Level Media’s golf experts provide key event notes along with odds and best bets.
FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN
San Diego, Calif., Jan. 26-29
Courses: Torrey Pines South (Par 72, 7,765 yards); Torrey Pines North (Par 72, 7,258 yards)
Purse: $8.4M (Winner: $1.512M)
Defending Champion: Patrick Reed
FedEx Cup Leader: Hideki Matsuyama
HOW TO FOLLOW
–TV: Wednesday, 12:30-4:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Thursday, 3-7 p.m. (Golf Channel); Friday, 3-5 p.m. (Golf Channel), 5-8 p.m. (CBS); Saturday, 2:30-4:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 4:30-8 p.m. (CBS).
–PGA Tour Live: Four live feeds per day on ESPN+
–Social Media: @FarmersInsOpen (Twitter)
NOTES
–The South Course ranked as the fourth toughest on tour last season with an average score to par of +1.340, and each of the past three winners opened the event on the North Course.
–Dustin Johnson tees it up for the first time since The CJ Cup @ Summit. His best finish in nine previous event starts was a T3 in 2011.
–Bryson DeChambeau added the event to his schedule after withdrawing before the Sony Open due to a wrist injury.
–Reed is attempting to become the fourth player to successfully defend at the event. The most recent was Tiger Woods, who won four consecutive from 2005-08. Woods also holds the 18-hole scoring record of 62 on the South course set in 1999.
–Jason Day is a two-time event winner.
–Kamalu Johnson received a sponsor exemption after being forced to withdraw last year due to a positive COVID-19 tests. Fellow APGA player Ryan Alford is also in the field. Other sponsor exemptions include Taylor Montgomery and Kevin Yu.
BEST BETS
–Jon Rahm (+650 at BetMGM) won the event in 2017, finished runner-up in 2020 and T7 last year before claiming his first major title at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines last June. He has attracted more than a fifth of the outright winner money at 20.6 percent at the sportsbook.
–Justin Thomas (+1400) leads the tour in birdie average this season (6.83) and makes his first start in the event since 2015.
–Matsuyama (+1800) is the only two-time winner on tour this season and owns the longest active streak on tour with 13 consecutive rounds in the 60s.
–Xander Schauffele (+1800) is a San Diego native and joined Rahm as the only players last year to finish in the top 10 of both the Famers Insurance Open and the U.S. Open.
–Sam Burns (+2200) makes his fifth appearance and is coming off a T18 last year. He has a win and a runner-up among 10 consecutive events finishing no worse than T21.
–Tony Finau (+2500) has opened 2022 with a T19 and a T40. But he finished T2 and T6 the past two years and is second at BetMGM with 5.4 percent of the total bets and 8.6 percent of the money wagered.
–Marc Leishman (+3300) won the event two years ago and has a pair of runner-ups and two other top-10s in 13 previous starts.
–Will Zalatoris (+3300) has been backed by the most bets at 5.9 percent as he seeks his first PGA Tour win. Zalatoris is coming off a T6 last week and tied for seventh in this event last year.
–Reed (+5000) has five consecutive top-25s at Torrey Pines, including last year’s win and a T19 at the U.S. Open.
–Field Level Media