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The PGA Tour stays out west this week but we move from the California desert to the California coastline for one of the most scenic stops in the game. Torrey Pines is the venue once more for the Farmers Insurance Open and it’s the usual deal with three rounds taking place at the harder South Course along with one pre-cut lap of the North Course which is normally a couple of shots easier. The latter was renovated last year in a bid to make scoring harder but that didn’t play out at all with winner Justin Rose, a 14/1 shot pre-tournament and then the World No.1, shooting 21-under – the lowest winning score since Tiger Woods in 1999. Ah, yes, Tiger. Woods has an incredible record at this venue with seven victories in total, making it (as the Americans like to say) his most winningest venue. Of course, the true figure is actually eight as Torrey Pines was the scene of Tiger’s incredible victory in the 2008 US Open when he was virtually playing on one leg. The great man is back to see if he can grab another victory Angles to consider 1/ Driving The South is something of a monster at nearly 7,700 yards so Driving Distance is certainly a big factor. Last year proved the point again with Rose, McIlroy, Rahm, Day, Scott, Matsuyama all in the top five finishers. But they also did relatively well in terms of accuracy too. In short, long and straight is a particularly powerful combination so check the Total Driving or Strokes Gained: Off The Tee stats on the PGA Tour. 2/ All-Around As well as strong driving, there’s no faking it, especially on The South, when it comes to the rest of the game either. The top three last year were ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd on the All-Around stats so this is a genuine test of all facets of a golfer’s game. 3/ Course form Tiger has won this seven times, Jason Day (2018) and Brandt Snedeker (2016) were winning the tournament for the second time and Jon Rahm was fifth last year having won in 2017. Justin Rose won last year on the back of T8 and T4 in his previous two visits and even surprise 2014 champion Scott Stallings finished runner-up the following year so course form is definitely a key element to finding the winner. Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players are selected: Tony Finau Finau ranks 15th in SG: Off The Tee this season and was 23rd last season which provides a fuller measure. With a strong record on tracks by the coast, he looks a good fit for this event and the course form stats back the theory up. The big hitter has never been outside the top 25 in five starts in this event and that record includes a fourth (2017) and a sixth (2018). He’s ranked in the top five for All-Around in three of his last seven outings and he’s started the season on a positive note with T5 in the Hong Kong Open and T14 in last week’s American Express. Gary Woodland Woodland’s last competitive start on the California coast resulted in him winning the US Open at Pebble Beach. Earlier that season, he’d finished tied ninth here and that’s part of a fine body of work at Torrey Pines which shows four top 20s in the last four years and a top ten in 2014. The swagger of being a major winner is obvious and he ended 2019 with a third and a fifth in the two PGA Tour events played in the Far East. He’s started the current decade with a tied seventh in the Sentry TOC where he was 2nd on the All-Around, so Woodland looks ready for a big week. Harris English English has already racked up four top sixes this season (September – November) so hopefully he can find that groove again now the year has turned. He’s a former runner-up at Torrey Pines (2015) and also took tied eighth in 2018 along with tied 14th in 2017. Browsing through his current stats, English is 6th for Strokes Gained: Off The Tee and 15th for All-Around so he’s displaying the skills required for success this week. Tips 1-2; +0.60pts 1pt e.w. Tony Finau at 28/1 (Skybet 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) 6th 1pt e.w. Gary Woodland at 25/1 (Betfred 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7) mc 1pt e.w. Harris English at 80/1 (Skybet, Betfair, Paddy Power 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) 71st
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