2026 Farmers Insurance Open – Betting Preview

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The PGA Tour’s west coast swing continues with the Farmers Insurance Open featuring the scenic Torrey Pines South Golf Course in La Jolla, California. Torrey Pines has hosted this event every year since 1968. Lying on land occupied by an anti-aircraft battery during World War II, it is one of America’s most scenic course layouts atop coastal bluffs north of San Diego with dazzling views of the Pacific Ocean.

Thanks to the frequent morning fog delays and early sunsets, there will be two courses utilized this week. Both are owned and maintained by the City of San Diego. Golfers will play both the North and South courses once before the cut on Friday. Only the South course will be used on the weekend. While the North course plays much easier and is more tree-lined, the South course sits much closer to the Pacific bringing possible weather effects into play. It is a massively lengthy track. In fact, it is the longest annual Tour course in the rotation, stretching to almost 7,800 yards.

Scoring this week should be a complete reversal from last week’s birdie-fest at The American Express. Torrey Pines’ South Course ranks as the fifth-most difficult layout on Tour, offering no let-up and forcing players to use every club in the bag. It serves as a true barometer of a golfer’s all-around game early in the 2026 season.

Even at sea level, Torrey Pines plays longer than the scorecard yardage due to softer fairways and the cooler January air. Long irons will be unavoidable, and players will need to shake off any early-season rust quickly. That challenge is reflected on the leaderboard, as winning scores here have been 15-under par or lower in 12 of the past 13 years.

Torrey Pines is a “sticky” course when it comes to the profile of players who find success. Par is a good score on the majority of holes, and with the course’s length, bombers and long-iron standouts hold a clear advantage. That said, the winners’ list is also dotted with elite scramblers and players who thrive on Poa annua greens.

The Field

It’s the first tough test of the new calendar year, and all eyes will be on Brooks Koepka, the five-time major champion who returns to the PGA Tour after spending the last four years at LIV Golf. Koepka announced in December that he would be leaving LIV Golf, and three weeks later returned to the PGA Tour through the “Returning Member Program,” which allows the five-time major champion to rejoin with certain restrictions. Chief among them is ineligibility for signature events unless he qualifies, making non-signature stops like the Farmers Insurance Open a natural fit on his schedule. His inclusion also won’t displace another Tour member. This week’s field will feature 147 players—the standard 144, plus Koepka, with two additional players added from the alternate list to complete threesomes.

10 of the top 20 players in the world are in the field including Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley, Chris Gotterup, Ludvig Aberg, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay, Alex Noren, and returning champion, Harris English.

We are back to a standard 36-hole cut this week with the top 65 and ties playing the weekend. Only the South Course is equipped with ShotLink data. This is the last chance for players to earn a spot in the first signature event of the year in two weeks at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The top five FedExCup points earners from the Sony Open, The American Express, and this week’s Farmers Insurance Open will gain a spot in the field at Pebble Beach.

Past Winners & Odds

Most Important Stats For Success at Torrey Pines

*In order of importance

Scrambling/SG: ARG (Rough)
Total Driving
SG: Approach
SG: Putting (Poa)
Bogey Avoidance
Par 5 Scoring
Proximity 175+ yds
SG: Torrey Pines Course History
Rough Proximity 200+
SG: Long and Difficult Courses

Unique Rabbit Hole Filters

Course Region: West
Course Type: Coastal
Scoring Conditions: Very Difficult/Difficult
Course Length: Very Long
Field Size: Full Field
Event Season: West Coast
Greens Surface: Poa
Rough Length: Long
Greens Speed: Fast
OTT Club Type: Driver Heavy
SG: OTT: Difficult
Fairway Accuracy: Difficult
GIR Accuracy: Difficult
Scrambling (Rough): Difficult
Gain Putting: Very Difficult

Farmers Insurance Open – Final Model

In each preview article and on Discord, I present my final model, which gives a detailed player ranking of the most important stats and splits for the week. My modeling is based on the PGA’s Strokes Gained data, which is categorized into SG: Off the Tee (OTT), SG: Approach (APP), SG: Around the Green (ARG), and SG: Putting (P). Learn more about Strokes Gained and why it can be so useful in analyzing the past and predicting future performance. Many of these specific metrics and conditions can be found in “The Rabbit Hole“, with my final model exclusively published here and in the Discord for subscribers.