On February 5, the world’s best golfers will assemble at the famed Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California for the 2015 staging of the Farmers Insurance Open. A total of $6.3 million is up for grabs for the 156-man field with the winner collecting a cool $1.13 million.
Read on for a detailed breakdown of the favorites, high-value sleepers and long shots for this prestigious event. If you’re looking for other sports action, don’t miss our previews of a couple premier NBA games, like Wizards vs. Hawks and Clippers vs. Cavs.
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2015 Farmers Insurance Open Betting Preview and Prediction
Where: Torrey Pines, La Jolla, California
When: February 5-8, 2015
Favorites – Jordan Spieth and Jason Day
[sc:Golf240banner ]Jordan Spieth has started the season on fire, recording top-10 finishes in his first two tournaments thus far. After capturing the World Challenge last December, Spieth followed it up with a seventh-place finish at the Phoenix Open this past weekend. Spieth carded a six-under 65 in the final round to finish the tournament at -11.
Spieth has had some form of success in the Farmers Insurance Open before. He finished tied for 19th in this event last year. In fact, he held a one-shot lead at the halfway point of the tournament before imploding in the weekend, recording back-to-back rounds of 75. His familiarity of the golf course as well as his current form are the main reasons why he is the favorite at +1000 to win the tournament this weekend.
Jason Day, on the other hand, has started his season on the right note as well, finishing in a tie for third in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions last month. He finished second in the Farmers tournament last year and he will be looking to perform a notch better and grab that coveted tournament win this time around. He is pegged at +1,200 to do just that.
High-Value Sleepers – Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka
Brandt Snedeker’s quest to return to golfing relevancy is off to a solid start after finishing tied for 10th in last week’s Phoenix Open. Snedeker, who finished outside the top 50 in the world golf rankings last season, carded a 10-under total of 274 to finish five shots behind champion Brooks Koepka.
Snedeker will take heart in the fact that he led the field in scrambling at the Phoenix Open last week. That will serve him in good stead for the challenging fairways of Torrey Pines this coming week. Also working in Snedeker’s favor is his familiarity with the golf course. He won this tournament in 2012 and has three other top-three finishes aside from that. He’s a good bet at +2,200 to win his second Farmers Insurance Open title.
Standing alongside Brandt Snedeker in our high-value sleepers selection is the Phoenix Open champion Brooks Koepka. The 24-year-old displayed nerves of steel on the back nine last Sunday as he held off the challenges of Hideki Matsuyama, Bubba Watson and Ryan Palmer to win by a solitary stroke.
Koepka has recorded top-10 finishes in his last three events in the PGA Tour and he will be a definite threat to win the title this coming weekend. He is listed at +2,200 as well to capture the title this week.
Long Shots – Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson
Can you believe it? We now live in a day where golfing legends Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are both long shots to win a golf tournament. Yes, you heard it right. Major champions Woods and Mickelson are not the favorites to win this year’s Farmers Insurance Open.
It’s hard to argue otherwise considering their poor performances so far this season. Woods made a disastrous season debut at the Phoenix Open, shooting a career-worst 82 in the second round to miss the cut by a whopping 12 shots. It was also the first time in his professional career that he has missed back-to-back cuts.
Before we count out Tiger Woods’ chances this coming week, though, we need to factor in Tiger’s record at Torrey Pines. He has won eight times in this golf course, including that historic 2008 US Open which coincidentally was also his last major victory. Can he prove naysayers wrong with a shock win this weekend? He is pegged at +2,000 to do just that.
Phil Mickelson, on the other hand, has struggled mightily as well in his first two tournaments this year. He finished in a tie for 24th in the Humana Challenge last month before ending up in a tie for 94th in the Waste Management Phoenix Open last week.
He has won the event three times before though, and he is a great bet at +2,500 to pull off the surprise win this coming weekend.
