This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Farmers Insurance Open
La Jolla, California
Torrey Pines South Course - Par 72 - 7,765 yards
Torrey Pines North Course - Par 72 - 7,258 yards
Field - 156 Entrants
Purse - $7.5M
The Preview
The PGA Tour's West Coast Swing advances to the Farmers Insurance Open where another rotation exists as 156 entrants take their turns playing 18 holes each on the North and South Courses at Torrey Pines before a 36-hole cut eliminates over half the field. The South Course embodies the longest layout on Tour and is primed to host the 2021 U.S. Open, so the field is quite robust in the household-name department as stars such as Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods will be in attendance. Power hitters will naturally have an advantage on such a lengthy design, highlighting driving distance and SG: Off-the-Tee among our key statistics this week. Tame weather conditions are expected throughout the tournament, so a winning score that approaches 20-under-par is not out of the question as we look ahead to a handful of value plays in Yahoo contests.
Recent Champions
2019 - Justin Rose
2018 - Jason Day
2017 - Jon Rahm
2016 - Brandt Snedeker
2015 - Jason Day
2014 - Scott Stallings
2013 - Tiger Woods
2012 - Brandt Snedeker
2011 - Bubba Watson
2010 - Ben Crane
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Off-the-Tee
Driving distance
SG: Approach
Scrambling
Yahoo Value Picks - based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Jon Rahm - $50
The Spaniard surged to a three-shot victory in his Farmers Insurance Open debut back in 2017 and also tallied another top-5 at Torrey Pines just last year. He's now positioned at No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking, securing a trio of international wins and seven top-5s since a victory at the European Tour's Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in July. Rahm ranked fifth in SG: Off-the-Tee and sixth in birdie average during the 2018-19 campaign on the PGA Tour.
Xander Schauffele - $44
Schauffele has failed to notch a win in just over a calendar year now, but he's collected three runner-up finishes since the TOUR Championship alone. He tied for second during his most recent start at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, which he would've won if it weren't for a three-putt par on the 72nd hole. Schauffele seems to elevate his game on bigger stages against strong competition, so this could be a promising spot for him to post his best career Farmers Insurance Open finish after missing the cut here in his first three tries from 2016-2018.
Gary Woodland - $42
Woodland heads to Torrey Pines with top-7 finishes in four of his last five starts dating to the CJ Cup. The 2019 U.S. Open champ is well-known as a bomber off the tee, but he ranks fourth in driving accuracy and 12th in GIR percentage throughout the early portion of the 2019-20 season as well. His record at the Farmers Insurance Open has become admirable with four straight top-20s at the venue.
Glue Guys
Ryan Palmer - $36
The 43-year-old is sneaky-long off the tee and he even led the field in SG: OTT at the Sony Open two weeks ago, ultimately collecting a T4 just two strokes shy of joining Cameron Smith and Brendan Steele in a playoff. Palmer didn't make a single appearance at the Farmers Insurance Open from 2011 through 2017, but he returned to Torrey Pines with a T2 in 2018 before tallying another top-15 here last year. The vet ranks 13th in birdie average, 11th in rough proximity and 18th in scrambling from 10-20 yards.
Matthew Wolff - $35
The 20-year-old slid into a tie for 61st as he failed to break 71 at PGA West's Stadium Course throughout the weekend at the American Express, but Wolff led the entire field in SG: Off-the-Tee while averaging nearly 318 yards with the driver. He's gone without a top-10 result since his win at the 3M Open, but Wolff has gained an average of 3.675 strokes off the tee per event over his last four measured starts as he generates enough power to perform well on a lengthy track like the South Course at Torrey Pines.
Bargain Bin
Cameron Davis - $20
Dropping all the way down to the minimum price in order to fit a couple studs at the top of lineups, Davis is an intriguing choice after a recent stretch of T3-T9-T29 from the Australian PGA Championship to the American Express. The Aussie pounds the ball off the tee as he ranks 22nd on Tour in driving distance, so he's been on the positive side of SG: OTT in five of his last six starts. Davis isn't completely unfamiliar with Torrey Pines, either, having made the cut in each of his first two attempts at the Farmers.
Sam Ryder - $20
Ryder's back-to-back top-30s at the American Express and the Sony Open maybe don't pop off the charts, but he gained strokes across the entire board in both of those performances. He ranks 53rd or better in driving distance, scrambling and P3 scoring average, the latter of which should come in handy on the North Course's demanding par-3 setups. Ryder tied for 43rd at the Farmers Insurance Open in 2019.
