The PGA Tour this week heads to Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, San Diego, California for the Farmers Insurance Open which hosts the second event in the ‘West Coast Swing’.
This event has been played at Torrey Pines since 1968. The first 36 holes are split between the South course and North course, with the last 36 holes played on the South course. The North course is the shortest and easiest of the two courses and players should take advantage of the scoring. The South course measures 6956 metres and is the longest course played in a regular PGA Tour event.
Farmers Insurance have sponsored this event since 2010, prior to this to was more commonly known as the Buick Invitational from 1992-2009. It was originally called the San Diego Open, dating back to 1927.
There are a few keys to winning this event, however the main one is Length!
If you look at the past winners of this event, you will notice names such as Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, Nick Watney, John Daly and Phil Mickelson. These guys rank highly on the distance charts year in and year out.
Another factor is the Poa Annua greens, these can be quite testy at times especially in the morning when fog is around the course. It can make the greens inconsistent and really test a players patience. So we need to take this into account when looking for a possible winner. Guys who have a good putting game should be looked at closely.
Scrambling stats are also a factor at Torrey Pines. Good scramblers have always done well here. Look for a player who is able to get it up and down to win.
Tiger Woods is teeing it up this week following his missed cut in Abu Dhabi on Sunday after receiving a 2 stroke penalty for mistakenly thinking he could take relief from a plugged lie.
Torrey Pines will have Tiger brimming with confidence this week following success here on six separate occasions. (1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008).
Phil Mickelson is another high profile player who will be looking for more success here after winning in 1993, 2000 and 2001. He is a noted scrambler and drives the ball well.
The Top five in betting this week are- $7.50 Tiger Woods, $15 Brandt Snedeker, $17 Dustin Johnson, $17 Phil Mickelson and $17 Bubba Watson.
Brandt Snedeker and Bubba Watson are past winners of this tournament while Dustin Johnson was T3rd here in 2011.
We have Two Players to follow this week.
Hunter Mahan $34.00 (www.sportsbet.com.au)
This will be Hunter’s tenth start in the tournament which has seen him progress up the leader board each year. His first three starts from 2004-2006 resulted in missed cuts.
From 2007-2009 he made the cut with finishes of T56th, T29th and T11th. He then finished T27th in 2010 before continuing his upwards curve with T6th finishes in both 2011 and 2012.
Based on his 2012 stats Torrey Pines seems to suit his game well. He was ranked 13th in Greens in Regulation, 16th in Driving Accuracy and 4th in Ball Striking.
The key to his Top 6 finishes in 2011 and 2012 was the way he played the Par 5’s. In 2011 he played them at nine under par and in 2012 he was ten under par.
Another small incentive is that two of his ‘Golf Boys’ music video mates in Bubba Watson and Ben Crane have already won this tournament so Hunter will be itching to join them.
For a player who won twice on the PGA Tour last year (WGC Accenture Match Play & Shell Houston Open) and has had high finishes on this course over the last two years he represents great each way value.
Nick Watney $26.00 (www.sportsbet.com.au)
Nick is coming off a T13th at the rain delayed Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
Born in California and residing i nLas Vegas he will feel back at home this week.
He won this tournament in 2009 and has three Top 10’s from eight starts. (T6th-2011, T9th-2010, T9th-2007).
Like Hunter Mahan, Nick plays the Par 5’s well at Torrey Pines. In 2009 he was eleven under par, 2010 he was eight under and 2011 was six under.
His Greens in Regulation stats here have also helped greatly. 2011 saw his GIR at 73% and 2010 was 77%. Watney also ranks highly in driving distance stats each year.
Last year Nick missed only three cuts from 26 starts. This includes twelve Top 25’s, five Top 10’s and a victory at The Barclays.
It is worth noting that The Barclays victory was at Bethpage Black which requires length off the tee combined with good scrambling, much like Torrey Pines.
If Nick is hovering around the leader board heading into the weekend watch him carefully as he will go very close to claiming his second victory in this tournament.
Good Luck and Good Punting.