Get ready for plenty of peaceful Pacific panoramas this weekend as the PGA TOUR heads back to Torrey Pines for the 2026 edition of the Farmers Insurance Open. Torrey Pines has hosted this event for many years while also hosting the U.S. Open twice and stepping in as a fill-in host for last year’s Genesis Invitational as well. This event uses both courses at Torrey Pines for the first two rounds, with the picturesque South Course providing a stunning backdrop for the final two rounds and what will hopefully be a spectacular Sunday finish. As you’re getting your DFS fantasy golf lineup set for what should be a great tournament, one format to consider is cash games or double-up contests on DraftKings. If that’s the format you choose to play this week, my top fantasy golf cash game picks are Hideki Matsuyama ($9,300), Sam Stevens ($7,800) and Ricky Castillo ($6,900).
Make sure to also check out my top-three pivot plays for tournament lineups at the Farmers Insurance Open if you’re looking for some less popular, under-the-radar picks. Pivot plays for tournament lineups are usually more aggressive, while fantasy golf cash game picks are safer with higher floors and lower risk. The picks in this post generally have higher ownership than my pivot plays, but they are good selections for contests where the uniqueness of your lineup is less important. Think of cash game picks as laying back and playing a par 5 as it was designed, taking three shots before reaching the green in search of a solid birdie. Tournament picks are like going driver off the deck to try to reach the green in two — more reward if it works, but much more risk as well.
These fantasy golf cash game picks are best used in “cash games,” which are contests that pay out to about the top half of entries. Typically, they are in the 50/50s & Double Ups or Head-to-Head sections of the DraftKings lobby.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR Single Entry $5 Double Up!
Hideki Matsuyama ($9,300)
The whole top of this field brings lots of strong options, but for cash games it is usually more strategic to go with a balanced approach, if possible. Rather than paying up for Xander Schauffele ($10,500), Ludvig Aberg ($10,400) or even Jason Day ($9,600), you can take a more mid-tier approach by focusing on Matsuyama at just over $9,000.
Matsuyama won the star-studded Hero World Challenge in December to put a capstone on an impressive 2025 that began with his record-setting win in Maui at The Sentry. In between, he racked up 11 other top-25 finishes on the PGA TOUR. Last fall, he added a pair of top-15 finishes on the DP World Tour and a top-five at the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan.
He opened 2026 by continuing his strong form with a T-13 at the Sony Open in Hawaii before taking last week off.
Matsuyama has the perfect style of play for Torrey Pines, especially for cash game lineups, where steadiness and consistency are paramount. In his 14 career events on this track, he has made the cut 12 times, including the U.S. Open, last year’s Genesis Invitational, and his last 11 overall trips to Torrey. He’s consistently been around the top of the leaderboard, too, with a total of six top-16 finishes.
His consistent ball-striking is the template for cash game picks in any event almost any week. Where he’s had so much success and comes at such a low salary, he’s too good to pass up as an excellent place to start your cash game builds this week at the Farmers.
Sam Stevens ($7,800)
While it’s no guarantee, one strategy that can be helpful in selecting cash game picks each week is to look for multiple converging trends. Stevens is a good example of that this week, since his recent form and course history both seem to indicate he’ll have a strong showing again this week.
The 29-year-old out of Oklahoma State is coming off a strong 2025 season overall, which was highlighted by four top-10s. Three of those top-10 finishes were actually top-three finishes, and the first of those came at this event last year, when he finished one stroke behind Harris English in solo second. On Sunday, Stevens closed with a -4 but came up just short of catching English, who ended up +1 for the day.
Stevens added a third-place finish at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson in May and another runner-up finish at the 3M Open in July later in the season, but he’s still in search of his first PGA TOUR victory.
While he did fade a little bit in the FedExCup Fall events, he finished out the year with a T-7 at The RSM Classic before starting 2026 with a T-31 in Oahu and a T-6 at La Quinta last week. In each of his 12 rounds in those three events, he has been under 70, and he comes into this event in good form.
The stats back up his success too, since he is seventh in the entire field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green over the last 16 rounds, and 11th in Strokes Gained: Approach. He should also do well on the greens on the South Course since over the last two years, Poa has been his best putting surface in Strokes Gained per Round. He has a good history at the Farmers with a T-13 in 2023 and a T-43 in 2024 to go with his runner-up finish last year.
His strong finishes at this course and fast start to the year make him a great cash game target to use in a balanced approach. Lots of strong options are all around him in the salary structure, but be sure to include Stevens in your lineups this week.
Ricky Castillo ($6,900)
If you do go with some more expensive plays or even just a higher-skewed mid-tier roster, you may need a strong cash game play from under $7,000. While he is probably too popular to be a GPP pivot, Castillo makes a lot of sense where ownership isn’t as much of a concern.
The 24-year-old Castillo is another example of converging trends as he returns to Torrey Pines. He finished T-15 at this event last year after starting the Final Round inside the top-10. That was one of his seven top-25 finishes last season, and he narrowly missed the cut off for a full-time PGA TOUR card by finishing No. 102 in the FedExCup Fall standings (the top 100 earned full-time status). He’s playing on provisional status this season, but he’s making the most of every opportunity early in the season.
When he played on the Korn Ferry Tour earlier in his career, Castillo was near the top of the rankings in many driving stats, and that’s been the strongest part of his game on the PGA TOUR as well. Over all the rounds played in the last 12 months, he ranks 30th in the field in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee and 23rd in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. His putter is the biggest question mark, but he has been solid on Poa greens, which he’ll face this week on the South Course.
To start 2026, Castillo has made the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii (T-31) and The American Express (T-44). If he can build on his success at a course that fits his driver-forward game well this week, he should be able to make the cut and return excellent value.
