This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Farmers Insurance Open
San Diego, California
Torrey Pines (South Course) - Par 72 - 7,765 yards
Torrey Pines (North Course) - Par 72 - 7,258 yards
Field - 156 entrants
Purse - $9.3M
The Preview
A few relatively elementary setups allowed Sepp Straka to reach the 25-under-par mark as he coasted to his third career PGA Tour victory this past week at The American Express, but the West Coast Swing moves along as the Farmers Insurance Open now plays host to another full 156-man field on what projects to be a contrastingly difficult layout at Torrey Pines, where we expect to see four-inch rough lining narrow fairways into small poa greens on the extremely long South Course.
It's always important to take advantage of its easier counterpart to the north before a 36-hole cut takes place ahead of the final two rounds on Friday and Saturday, so this also serves as a reminder of the event's Wednesday start. Not only is distance off the tee rewarded in San Diego, but nearly half of the expected approach-shot distribution lies within the 175-225 yard range. The weather forecast calls for favorable scoring conditions until a cold front moves in Saturday, with the potential for accompanying scattered showers and a strengthening breeze as the leaders make the turn.
Recent Champions
2024 - Matthieu Pavon
2023 - Max Homa
2022 - Luke List
2021 - Patrick Reed
2020 - Marc Leishman
2019 - Justin Rose
2018 - Jason Day
2017 - Jon Rahm
2016 - Brandt Snedeker
2015 - Jason Day
Key Stats to Victory
Driving Distance
SG: Approach
Rough Proximity and Proximity: 150-plus yards
Scrambling
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Ludvig Aberg - $44
A handful of early withdrawals have Aberg rightfully perched atop the board, both in terms of Yahoo salary and outright betting odds. The 25-year-old is second to none in SG: Off-the-Tee over his past 50 measured rounds, and that driver helped guide him to a T9 in his Torrey Pines debut here last year when he tallied 16 total birdies and an eagle on a tough setup.
Hideki Matsuyama - $44
Aided by a couple eagles, Matsuyama paced the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open field in par-5 scoring en route to a T13 result, marking a fourth top-15 finish across his last seven trips to San Diego. The recent Sentry champion has been hot on the greens to begin his 2025 campaign, notably gaining a collective 8.8 strokes putting throughout his first eight rounds of the season. Matsuyama's best surface is poa, so he could be even more dangerous with the flat stick this week at Torrey, not to mention he's also one of the sharpest iron players in the world from 175-plus.
Tony Finau - $40
Finau has lost at least three strokes putting in three of his last four starts, and he's gained strokes off the tee in just one of his last five outings, but he arrives at Torrey Pines as a certified horse for the course with six top-10s in his last eight FIO appearances. He hit the most greens in regulation on the way to a T6 effort here last year, while ranking second among the field in SG: Approach. The $40 salary isn't an overpay for Finau, and last week's MC in La Quinta hopefully puts somewhat of a cap on his otherwise lofty projected ownership.
Glue Guys
Max Greyserman - $36
Greyserman gained a career-high 6.9 strokes on his approach shots throughout two rounds at the Pete Dye Stadium course last week, ultimately tying for seventh at The AmEx where he also ranked fifth in driving distance and T15 in GIR percentage. Over his last 36 measured rounds, he's a sneaky No. 1 in SG: Total and second in SG: Putting.
Jason Day - $35
A two-time past champion of this event, Day owns seven career top-10s at the Farmers Insurance Open, and he's gained strokes off the tee in eight consecutive visits to Torrey Pines. Day is now coming off a T3 at The American Express last week where he ranked top-10 among the field in both SG: APP and GIR percentage.
Will Zalatoris - $35
Zalatoris' offseason bulk should be even more beneficial for his outlook at a demanding venue like Torrey Pines, and he already owns finishes of T13-2-T7 throughout the past four years here, most notably pacing the 2022 FIO in SG: Tee-to-Green by a significant margin en route to runner-up honors. He most recently tied for 12th at The AmEx, where he hit the fourth most fairways in regulation and averaged an impressive 1.58 putts per GIR on the way to 24 total par-breakers.
Bargain Bin
Patrick Fishburn - $28
Purely a GPP play, but I think we're due for a massive ownership discount on a $28 Fishburn after a missed cut at The American Express, and he especially doesn't grade well in 2025 ball-striking models after being carried by a career-best short-game performance in his previous start at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He missed the cut in his Farmers Insurance Open debut last year, but he still gained 1.1 strokes off the tee throughout his 18 holes on the South Course, and Fishburn's driving prowess is a major advantage here.
Alex Smalley - $24
Smalley commonly finds himself amongst the deep-sleeper options due to his ball-striking upside, but he's now gained strokes putting in three consecutive events for just the second time since the beginning of the 2023 season, combining for 5.5 strokes gained on the greens from The RSM Classic to The AmEx. He opened his 2025 campaign with back-to-back top-20 finishes, and Smalley has gained strokes off the tee in five of seven career rounds on Torrey Pines' South Course dating to his 2022 FIO debut.
Michael Thorbjornsen - $20
We recently learned that Thorbjornsen's WD prior to the Sony Open in Hawaii was due to a bad case of tonsillitis and not the knee injury that affected him during the FedExCup Fall, so although he missed the cut last week in La Quinta, Thorb's 2025 outlook remains positive. The 23-year-old Stanford product absolutely mashes it off the tee, but he also ranks 13th in SG: Putting over the last six months. And albeit a small sample, Thorbjornsen has especially excelled from 4-15 feet on poa.
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