The Farmers Insurance Open features the best PGA Tour field to date of 2021. News, notes, how to watch and best picks for the event starting Thursday at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
Farmers Insurance Open
LAST TOURNAMENT: The American Express (Si Woo Kim)
THIS WEEK: Farmers Insurance Open, San Diego, Jan. 28-31
Courses: Torrey Pines Golf Course (South: Par 72, 7,765 yards; North: Par 72, 7,258 yards)
Purse: $7.5 million (Winner: $1.35M)
Defending champion: Marc Leishman
FedEx Cup leader: Dustin Johnson
How To Watch: TV: Thursday-Friday, 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS), 3-6 p.m. (PGA Tour Live); Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6:30 p.m. (CBS); PGA Tour Live: Thursday-Friday, noon-7 p.m. (featured groups); Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes), Sunday, 11:15 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes)
NOTES
- The first two rounds will be played on the North Course with the weekend rounds moving to the South Course, the site of the U.S. Open in June.
- Jon Rahm returns to action after withdrawing before last week’s event due to a muscle injury.
- Seven-time event champion Tiger Woods is sidelined while recovering from a fifth back surgery.
- Jordan Spieth and 2015 and ’18 champion Jason Day will make their first starts of 2021.
- Leishman seeks to join Woods, Phil Mickelson and J.C. Snead as the only players to successfully defend a title at the event.
- Players’ spouses and family members are not allowed on-site this week due to COVID-19 safety and precaution measures.
- Korn Ferry Tour standout Will Zalatoris accepted a sponsors exemption as a Special Temporary Member for the remainder of the 2020-21 PGA Tour season.
- Other sponsors exemptions include former U.S. Amateur champions and Georgia Tech teammates Tyler Strafaci (2020) and Andy Ogletree (2019).
- Reigning APGA Tour Championship winner Kamaiu Johnson was set to make his Tour debut before withdrawing on Tuesday following a positive COVID-19 test. Willie Mack III took his place in the field.
Best Best For The Farmers Insurance Open
- Rahm (+710 by DraftKings) is coming off a minor muscle injury while playing just his second event with new Callaway clubs. He’s also a previous winner in 2017 and finished runner-up last year.
- Rory McIlroy (+875) finished T3 last year and is coming off a third-place finish in Abu Dhabi last week as he seeks his first win since 2019.
- Xander Schauffele (+1200) also hasn’t won since 2019 and missed the cut here last year. However, the San Diego native and former San Diego State Aztecs star knows Torrey Pines extremely well.
- Harris English (+2200) stumbled to a T32 following his win at the Tournament of Champions. He still has six top-10s in his past nine starts.
- Leishman (+4150) is the defending champion and coming off a T4 at the Sony Open, his eighth top-10 finish between January and March over the past three years.
- Brandt Snedeker (+16000) provides longshot odds coming off three consecutive missed cuts. However, he is also a two-time event champion (2012, ’16) and finished T3 with McIlroy last year.
NEXT WEEK
Waste Management Phoenix Open, Scottsdale, Ariz.
–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)
