12 Jun 2019
With the 2018 season up and running, the PGA Tour’s elite head to the Pacific Coast of California this week as Torrey Pines Golf Course plays host to the Farmers Insurance Open.
It’ss a star-studded field in San Diego, including four of the world’ss top 10 ranked players, with the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jason Day also in action.
Favourite to get the win this week is Spaniard Jon Rahm. The 23-year-old has risen to no.2 in the rankings, surpassing Jordan Spieth, with victory at the CareerBuilder Challenge last week. It was the perfect start to the season for Rahm, who comes into the Farmers Insurance Open having won the tournament last year for his maiden title on the PGA Tour. It’ss a remarkable rise for someone who only turned pro in summer 2016. At 7/1 in the golf betting odds, Rahm will look to continue his hot start to the year.
Tiger Woods is set to make his first start in 2018 this week, having last played at the Hero World Challenge in December. Woods, who has been plagued with injuries in recent years, is available at 22/1. For a man who has won a total of nine times at Torrey Pines, punters can reasonably expect another strong performance from the former world no1. Proceed with caution, however, as Woods has not bettered 71 in his past seven rounds there and doubts remain on his fitness.
Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, gets to play at his hometown course. The San Diegan has won this tournament three times over his career. Punters backing another win for “Lefty” can do so at an inviting 50/1. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that Mickelson last won at Torrey Pines over 15 years ago. 2012 was the last time the 47-year-old was in contention to win. A tied-14th result last year does offer some hope for Mickelson’ss chances this week though.
Another player worth considering is Ollie Schniederjans. The Georgia Tech standout is coming off a tied-9th placing at the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open. More recently, the 24-year-old finished tied for 7th at the Sony Open in Hawaii a fortnight ago. In the Amateur game, Schniederjans was one of the very best. A top-15 finish at The Open proves just that. His low-ball flight is well suited to the windy conditions at Torrey Pines. The Dallas native will also be hoping to emulate the rise of his close friend Justin Thomas. With strong performances in the majors already in the bag, he clearly isn’st faced by the big stage. At 40/1, he could be worth a punt this week.
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