Following another triumph for Scottie Scheffler at The American Express, the PGA TOUR continues its West Coast swing at the beautiful and historic Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California, for the Farmers Insurance Open from Jan. 29 through Feb. 1.
While Scheffler takes the week off to prepare for his upcoming events, the Farmers Insurance Open still draws a strong field to a well-known and picturesque venue this week.
DraftKings Network will have a variety of coverage leading up to Thursday’s tee times. Let’s start the week with a look at the tournament’s history and the courses it will be played on.
The History of The Farmers Insurance Open
The Farmers Insurance Open dates back to 1952 and has had a variety of names as sponsorships have changed over the years. It was the Buick Invitational for many years in the 90s and early 2000s, when Tiger Woods won the event a total of six times. Woods also claimed a U.S. Open victory on the South Course in 2008.
The event kicks off a strong month of events for the PGA TOUR, which includes the WM Phoenix Open, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and the Genesis Invitational, which will return to the iconic Riviera Country Club.
The Farmers Insurance Open starts the National TV coverage of the PGA TOUR this season, with CBS picking up the final two rounds. ESPN will air the first two rounds, spotlighting the return of Brooks Koepka. It will mark the first time in nearly 20 years that ESPN offers live coverage of a non-major PGA TOUR event.
Koepka’s return from LIV golf is one of the storylines to monitor from the 145-man field this week. Check out the full field and opening odds on DraftKings Sportsbook.
To get the full field through the course during the daylight hours, the first two rounds utilize two courses before the cut. Each Player will play one round on the easier North Course and one on the South Course. The final two rounds will be held on the South Course.
Some of the biggest names in play are Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg, Cameron Young, Si Woo Kim, Patrick Cantlay, Jason Day, and the defending champion, Harris English.
English won last year with a four-round score of -8, one stroke ahead of Samuel Stevens. Andrew Novak finished in sole possession of third place, with Sungjae Im and Kristoffer Ventura tied for fourth. Im will be the only member of those five not in the field this week.
The total purse for this week’s event is $9.6 million, with the winner claiming a $1.728 million payday.
A Closer Look at the Courses
Both courses at Torrey Pines are well-known to players, since the event has been held at this location every year since 1968. The South Course, specifically, even hosted a pair of U.S. Opens in the last two decades, most recently in 2021.
The layout is famous for its scenic perch atop the coastal bluffs north of San Diego, offering plenty of warm, sweeping Pacific panoramas to comfort the snow-covered areas of the country.
The North Course is a little more inland and protected from the weather. It usually plays the easiest of the two, and rotating players on that track in from your bench is a strategy that can pay off in round-by-round scoring formats.
Even though the North Course plays easier, don’t expect a birdie-fest like last week. The South Course stands as the fifth-most difficult layout of the regular PGA TOUR stops. Part of the reason is due to fog and weather off the ocean, but it mostly has to do with the course’s immense length. The South Course is the longest on the annual rotation, stretching over 7,800 yards.
Here’s a great overview of the course with a hole-by-hole look from a few years ago:
Length will be a very important factor to consider based on the layout this week, with bombers off the tee usually crowding the top of the leaderboard. Even the big hitters will have many long irons, so keep an eye on Strokes Gained: Approach as a critical stat to consider.
It’s also crucial to remember that the greens this week are Poa Annua greens, which some players thrive on while others struggle. Checking golfers’ stats on this putting surface is another important metric to keep in mind.
Course history is another key factor to consider, since players who perform well on these courses tend to produce similar results.
Stay tuned to DK Network all week as we run down our top picks and best bets for this week’s event!
