Torrey Pines hosts the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open this week. Find out which 22/1 shot Damien Kayat is backing to claim victory this week.
2024 US PGA Tour
Farmers Insurance Open
Torrey Pines, La Jolla, California
24th-27th January
The US PGA Tour needed last week. The entire golfing world has felt somewhat post-apocalyptic against the backdrop of LIV’s growing global influence. But Nicholas Dunlap’s unheralded victory at the American Express- only the ninth win by an amateur on the US PGA Tour- reminded everyone that there’s still space for joy in the game.
Farmers Insurance Open
This week’s Farmers Insurance Open will mark the second stop in this Californian swing. Originally known as the San Diego Open and first staged in 1952, this venerated event is now in its 72nd year. And every edition since 1968 has been hosted at the iconic Torrey Pines.
No player is more synonymous with Torrey Pines than Tiger Woods. He has won this event seven times, memorably capturing the US Open here in 2008 on one fully operational leg.
The event is played over two courses: the North and the South. The players rotate between both courses prior to the weekend. The players will then take on the more challenging South Course for the weekend.
Torrey Pines – North & South Course
Both courses were designed by Billy Bell Jr and were opened in 1957. The North Course is about 400 yards shorter than the South. Tom Weiskopf undertook a renovation to the North Course before the 2017 renewal, hoping to bridge the difficulty gap between the two layouts to some degree.
This has led to a narrowing of margins between the two courses. But the shorter North Course, with its slower bentgrass greens, is still fairly scorable. The South Course is perennially ranked as one of the most gruelling tests on the entire PGA Tour.
It has tight kikuyu fairways and plays very long (very much in the tradition of a US Open layout). This has historically aided the bigger hitters in the field. But recent instalments suggest that driving distance may not be as important as what is done on approach.
Players also need to negotiate notoriously slippery poa annua greens. This is really a fully-rounded test that will challenge every facet of your game.
The Contenders
This week’s field has been slightly dented by the fact that next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am has been elevated to designated event status. In any event, the perennially frustrating Xander Schauffele leads the markets after yet another close call at the American Express.
Defending champion Max Homa as well as Patrick Cantlay follow Schauffele closely on the betting boards. Collin Morikawa has been hard to predict of late but you know that his approach play should stand him in good stead this week.
You get the feeling that Swedish sensation Ludvig Aberg is still trying to justify his lofty billing. And then you have Nicholas Dunlap, who returns to action just a week after giving the entire sport the shot in the arm that it so desperately needed.
Past Winners
2023: Max Homa (-13)
2022: Luke List (-15)
2021: Patrick Reed (-14)
2020: Marc Leishman (-15)
2019: Justin Rose (-21)
To Win Outright:
Xander Schauffele 9/1 | Patrick Cantlay 10/1 | Max Homa 10/1 | Collin Morikawa 11/1 | Ludvig Aberg 18/1
Value Bets
Sepp Straka- To Win 40/1 | To Place 17/2
These odds just seem a bit on the high side for me. Ryder Cup winner Sepp Straka has been in amazing form over the past year and he has to be the most undervalued player in this field. The Austrian finished seventh at the PGA Championship and second at the Open Championship last season. He won the John Deere Classic, finished fifth at the Honda Classic and was T6 in 72-hole scoring at East Lake. He capped a stellar 2023 campaign with a runner-up finish at the Hero World Challenge. He finished 12th at the Sentry, crucially finishing fifth for Strokes Gained: Approach. He has twice finished inside the top 16 here and he could be a real threat this week.
Kevin Yu- To Win 110/1 | To Place 24/1
Kevin Yu was statistically excellent last season but an errant putter prevented him from picking up better results along the way. However, there’s no denying his considerable tee-to-green game. And he finally got his putter to cooperate at last week’s American Express, ultimately finishing in a tie for third. That’s all the more impressive when you realize he had missed seven of his last nine cuts going into the event. Maybe I’m chasing last week’s result somewhat. Still, 24/1 to place looks quite inviting.
The Man to Beat- Sungjae Im- To Win 22/1 | To Place 48/10
Stylish South Korean Sungjae Im just ticks all the boxes this week. He has excellent course form, finishing T6 in 2022 before an improved T4 finish last season. He came out of the blocks fast this year with a tie for fifth at the Sentry. He was T25 last week but his magnificent iron play could be the difference-maker this weekend. He is currently 10th on tour in GIR and I think he looks like brilliant value in this field.
