There are some football fans on the PGA which explains their reluctance to compete with the NFL’s conference championship games. For a third successive year in order to avoid a conflict, this week’s Farmers Insurance Open will again start a day earlier with the final 18 holes played on Saturday. The field will not have to contend with amateur Nick Dunlap, an unlikely winner last week in Coachella Valley. Dunlap withdrew from the FIO leaving the pros to figure things out. Seven past winners are slated to peg it up at Torrey Pines with defending champ Max Homa among the top 5 on the odds board. Xander Schauffele has never won this event yet he’s positioned as the betting favorite on the early PGA line. To accommodate a full field we see multiple courses again this week with the first two rounds played over the North and South Course at Torrey Pines. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of betting odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
Farmers Insurance Open Betting Odds
Xander Schauffele +855
Patrick Cantlay +1000
Collin Morikawa +1050
Max Homa +1050
Ludvig Aberg +1800
Sungjae Im +2000
Jason Day +2200
Tony Finau +2200
Min Woo Lee +2200
Keegan Bradley +2500
Sahith Theegala +3000
Eric Cole +3800
Sepp Straka +4000
Harris English +4500
Adrian Meronk +4500
Hideki Matsuyama +4500
Will Zalatoris +5000
Nicolai Hojgaard +5000
Justin Rose +5000
Shane Lowry +5500
Beau Hossler +5500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +6000
Patrick Rodgers +6000
Stephan Jaeger +6000
Luke List +6500
Daniel Berger +7000
Odds Analysis
Akshay Bhatia +8000
The way the season has started I have to look down the odds board. We’ve had three unlikely winners so far with Dunlap the most improbable of the bunch. I’m reluctant to go that far down the odds board and will instead stop with Bhatia at his price giving back a nice chunk of change. He thrilled in Hawai’i with a pair of top 15s only to miss the cut last week. It’s not like he played poorly scoring 12-under over three rounds, but the AMX required players to go really low. That’s not necessarily the case this week with more consistent play sustaining a higher finish. And Bhatia has been consistent.
Jason Day +2200
A two-time winner of this event, Day was consistently good last week with three 68s helping him earn a T34 finish. Not overly spectacular but steady play that will serve him well at Torrey Pines. And this is a setup that shows just how adaptable Day is. Over his last six FIO starts he finished among the top seven four times with a playoff win in 2018. He went T3-T7 in his last two starts giving him seven top 10s.
Tony Finau +2200
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Finau loitering around the top of the leaderboard. It’s going to happen soon and this is the setup for him to shine. A massive hitter Finau can certainly take advantage of three rounds on the beefy South Course, assuming he makes the cut, which he’s done eight times in nine visits. And all of those paydays resulted in Finau placing among the top 25, also making him a target in alternate markets.
Luke List +6500
Much like Finau but with a win at Torrey Pines, List is a player that enjoys the layout. List has played the weekend in each of his last six FIO starts edging Will Zalatoris in a playoff two years ago. He earned a top 25 in his title defense placing in that spot or better four times. He’s also playing solid golf on the lead in going 9 for 9 with a win at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October one of his six top 25s in that span.
Xander Schauffele +855
There’s something to be said about a home game and this event takes place in Schauffele’s backyard. It took him awhile to embrace the situation but he’s warmed up to it with a runner-up in 2021 and a T13 last year. He’s also in good form to start the season with a T10 at The Sentry followed by a podium finish last week. I typically don’t back the outright favorite but Schauffele makes a lot of sense this week.
Courses: Torrey Pines North Course and Torrey Pines South Course
Making the cut in this event will require the field to play the behemoth South Course three times. First used in 1968, the South Course played just over 7,000 yards. The renovation came in 2001, stretching the layout to over 7,700 yards, making it the longest on Tour and one of the toughest tests for the field each season. Big hitters on Tour typically do well with the length. The fairways are forgiving and you should definitely target strong drivers and approach players. Positioned among the second tier of favorites, Homa won his sixth and most recent PGA title last year overcoming a five-shot deficit on the final 18. The North Course was remodeled in 2016 and plays around 500 yards shorter leading to much lower scores.
TV Coverage: CBS, Golf Channel
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