Weekly Fantasy Golf Preview: Farmers Insurance Open

Farmers Insurance Open

Torrey Pines South Course, Torrey Pines North Course
San Diego, CA

The PGA Tour heads to San Diego for the latest edition of the Farmers Insurance Open.

I wondered aloud this past week, what if Scottie Scheffler wins this week? I asked the question because he was not healthy to start the 2025 season and yet, he went on to dominate. This season it's a different story already. Not only does he have a win already, but there's nothing slowing him down moving forward either. It took Scheffler a few months to get going this past season and by the end of the year, his numbers looked similar to 2025. Imagine what his numbers are going to look like at the end of this season with a fast start.

Looking ahead to this week, we've got the Farmers Insurance Open and the big story this week is the return of Brooks Koepka. It is, without question, a story, not only for his return but for future returnees. I wonder though how much impact Koepka will have on the PGA Tour this season. With any LIV player it's difficult to tell if their game has fallen off or if they are simply rusty from traveling with a circus, then stepping into a major four times a year. For Koepka, he had no problems with the transition early on in his LIV career, but his play definitely trailed off at the end. Is he on the decline, or did he just get bored with LIV and it affected all parts of his game?

Regarding his production this season, from a fantasy aspect, I have to say I'm a little bearish. Koepka will have to earn his way into the signature events, which he could easily do, but he'll have to do the one thing he never liked doing, even when at his peak…play in these non-major events.

Back when Koepka was on the PGA Tour, they didn't have signature events, just ones that were more highly thought of than others, but even in those, he rarely had much success. I remember wondering if it was a case of him not caring or not focusing, but whatever it was, there was certainly a difference between the Koepka you saw at a major vs. a non-major. 

In order to get anything of significance done this season, he'll either need to play well at the non-signature events, or play well enough at the majors to force his way into the mix. Sponsor's exemptions are not in play this year, so he won't get the paved path back to relevance that a few members of the PGA Tour have enjoyed over the past few seasons.

As for this event, it's another multi-course event, but this week it's just two courses, Torrey Pines South and Torrey Pines North. Each golfer will play the North and the South on Thursday/Friday, with the cut coming on Friday. After that, the rest of the action is on the South course, which is the tougher of the two courses. If you're looking at course history, focus on the weekend numbers because that's always the south course.

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LAST YEAR

Harris English shot a final round 73 on his way to a one-stroke victory over Sam Stevens.

FAVORITES

All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook as of 7:00 PM ET Tuesday.

Xander Schauffele (13-1) 

No Scheffler, which means we get some good odds on the favorite. Schauffele is coming off a tough season in which he initially dealt with an injury, then the rust from being out so long. He eventually turned it around though and all signs point to a bounce-back season this year. Schauffele's track record here is scattered, with four missed cuts in nine starts, but he does have two top-10s, including a runner-up in 2021. We don't know much about his form yet, but I have a feeling he's been raring to go for a while, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the mix on Sunday.  

Ludvig Aberg (19-1)

Didn't we go through this with Aberg last season? Aberg entered this past season with huge expectations, but he got off to slow start, thanks to an illness or two that he battled early on. Well, he pulled out of the American Express this past week because of an illness, so what are we to think? Is this just bad luck, or is this something that happens a lot to him? I only bring it up because I don't recall many other PGA Tour players pulling out events because of illness on more than one occasion. Perhaps it's because he's got a spotlight on him and every fantasy owner expects so much from Aberg, but for this week, I wouldn't waste my time with a win ticket on him.        

Cameron Young (22-1)

Young is another player with lofty expectations this season. Young has always looked the part, but it's taken him a while to hit his stride on the PGA Tour. Not that he's got that elusive first win on the PGA Tour, things just might open up for him. Like many of the players in the field this week, we haven't seen Young in a while, so we can't be sure of his form, but he should be ready to hit the ground running. It is interesting though that after playing this event in consecutive years 2021-2022, he chose to skip this event the past three years. His track record here is limited, but he did post a top-20 in his most recent start.

Visit our golf betting section for the latest PGA odds and finishing props from multiple sportsbooks.

THE NEXT TIER

Jason Day (27-1)            

Day got his game this past week at the Amex and if that form carries over, he could be a problem at Torrey Pines. Day loves to play this event, as evidence by his 16 starts here. That's always a good place to start when looking for a winner because that shows a belief by that player that he can have success at a given venue. In Day's case, he's had plenty of success here over the years, including seven top-10s, which include five top-5s, which include two wins! Yeah, he knows how to get around Torrey Pines and he's got the form. There's nothing to dislike about Day this week.    

Chris Gotterup (27-1)

I'm done doubting Gotterup. He's quickly evolved into a consistent threat on a weekly basis and he's a potential win waiting to happen any given week. Honestly, I'm not sure where his ceiling is because he's a bit of a recent revelation, but any thoughts of him fading after his win two weeks ago should be tossed out immediately. As for this event, his track record is limited, he's only played this event twice, but he made the cut both times, which will be valuable because he got four extra rounds in on the South Course.   

Ryan Gerard (30-1)

Gerard got hot for a stretch this past season, but he faded down the stretch. It was that fade that made me wonder about his prospects for this season, but if his start to the 2026 season is any indication of what's to come, then he's in for a big year. Gerard has played in both of the PGA Tour events this season and he's finished runner-up in both. That's quit the feat, but the real trick would be to pull it off again this week. The good thing about his runner-up finishes is that he was never expected to win either, so it's not like he's coming in off a couple blown opportunities. He was in the mix, which is good, and now he can see what needs to be done the next time he's in that situation, which could be this week.  

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LONG SHOTS

Max Homa (50-1)          

The longshots this week are all about guys that had bad 2025 seasons, but overall, are great players, or at least, have shown to be great over the past few years. Homa had a huge drop off this past season, but he's simply to good to go out like that. He'll get it back at some point and even if it's not during the West Coast Swing, he'll find it somewhere. Homa generally plays well in California and his results here show that. Homa has finished inside the top-20 in four of his past five starts where he's finished (he WD'd in 2025) and he won this event in 2023.  

Sahith Theegala (50-1)

Theegala was going through something this past season, it's the only way to explain a drop off from over $8 million in earnings in 2024 to less than $1 million in 2025. Whatever it was, it looks like he's put it past him because he's starting to resemble the guy from 2024 again. Theegala might not be ready to win quite yet, but if he puts himself in contention, anything can happen. He wasn't a threat to win this past week at the Amex, but he did play well all week and that's a great sign for him moving forward.

ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES

Highly-Chosen Pick: Jason Day – Similar situation to this past week where we've got some firepower at the top of the odds chart, but those names are too big to use at an event like this where the purse is much smaller than a signature event. That rules out Schauffele, Aberg and Cameron Young. Cantlay and Matsuyama are much better picks down the road, so next up is Day, who is actually a great pick. Even with those other guys in the mix, I might still take Day. The issue this week will be that a lot of OAD players will be on him.   

Moderately-Chosen Pick: Chris Gotterup – By the end of the season, Gotterup might be a guy you are using at a signature event, but for now, he's in play at events like this. Gotterup looks to be a good option, but he hasn't built up the brand yet, so he's probably not ever going to be the most popular guy in a OAD pool. With that said, he won't shrink up against the big names, so if he does play well this week, you can certainly gain on the field.  

Lightly-Chosen Pick: Ryan Gerard – I'm not sure many are buying into Gerard quite yet, at least, they aren't buying into another top-3 finish this week. That train of thought could pay off for you however as Gerard has the talent to hang with the big boys. The problem this week is that it's hard to keep a run like this going, especially when you have a new crop of high-end talent coming into play this week.         

Buyer Beware: Ludvig Aberg – I started to get into it above, but Aberg is a tough pick right now because he's hard to trust, at least he week after he pulls out he's hard to trust. If he's 100% healthy and ready to go, then he probably will be in the mix come Sunday, but if there's anything left over from last week's illness, then I wouldn't touch him. Not to mention that you'll probably want to save him for later in the season anyway.      

My Pick: Jason Day – I'll start by stating that I'm a little surprised by Day's odds this week. I know the field is pretty strong, but Day has more going for him than anyone else in the field. His track record here is a bit erratic, but when he starts well, he usually finishes well. He's won this event twice and has seven top-10s in 16 starts. That's just the track record, now let's talk about his form. He was runner-up this past week! In a field where we have a lot of guys making their first start of the season and form is in question, we've got Day, who is clearly playing well. What's not to like?       

Previous Results

View the PGA earnings report to find total winnings and winnings per entry via our fantasy golf stats pages.

FANDUEL PICKS

Upper Range: Jason Day ($11,400)
Middle Range: Chris Gotterup ($10,500)
Lower Range: Sahith Theegala ($8,700)

SURVIVOR LEAGUES

My Pick: Jason Day – This isn't necessarily the safest play on the board as Day has missed the cut here in five of 11 starts, but his overall track record here is very strong and his form looks good coming into this week, so he seems like the best play. Keegan Bradley would be a good option as well as he's only missed two cuts in 14 starts at this event.  

Previous Results