Farmers Insurance Open
The PGA tour makes its fourth stop of 2012 at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego this week. The tournament formerly known as the Buick Invitational will be contested at both Torrey Pines’ North and South courses – the North being a par 72 of 6900 yards and the South course a par72 covering over 7500 yards.
Jan 23-29, 2012
Torrey Pines Golf Course
La Jolla, Calif.
Purse: $5.3 million
Winning Share: $954,000
FedExCup Points: 500
Established: 1952 (1927)
Def Champion: Bubba Watson
Unlike last week, accuracy will be the key in this tournament – there will likely be nobody that challenges -20 here the winning scores include a -11 in 2009, a -13 in 2010 and a -16 last year for defending champ Bubba Watson. The top 5 finishers last year all finished in the top 10 GIR stats. Big hitters also fare well on this course – length is a good ally on the South’s 7568 yards.
The favorites at this event are all very familiar – Phil Mickelson has won at Torrey Pines three times and finished second last year, Nick Watney has played well here and Charles Howell III has also fared well at this event.
Last week, I had Bill Haas winning the Humana but he disappointed (T64) as did my sleeper pick Harrison Frazar – he missed the cut! This week promises to be better.
THE FAVORITES
Nick Watney +1200
Watney won this event in 2009, finished T9 in 2010 and T6 in 2011. Obviously he loves this course. Watney has played in one event this season – a T12 at the Hyundai. He will be near the top on Sunday – it is just a matter of exactly where.
Phil Mickelson +1200
Mickelson is a three-time winner here and finished second to Bubba last year. He didn’t look all that great last week but scrambled back to make the cut after an opening round 74 at the Humana. Phil has the track record but does he have the game this early in the season?
Hunter Mahan +1500
This will be Mahan’s first tournament this year but had a strong finish to his 2011 campaign – with five top 10s in his last seven starts. He finished T6 here last year and has the length (292 yards per drive in ’11) and the putting to make himself heard this week.
THE CONTENDERS
Brandt Snedeker +2000
Snedeker has three top 10s in five starts at the Farmers – 3rd place finish in 07, T2 in 2010 and T9 in 2011. Snedeker also finished T8 on Torrey Pines South Course at the US Open in 08. He looked sensational at times last week at the Humana finishing T8 and fourth in putting. He may not be the longest hitter but his accuracy makes him a serious threat this week. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Bubba Watson +2500
Watson certainly has the power to repeat – he led last year’s field in distance off the tee, greens hit and proximity to the hole on his way to victory. But Watson has had as many bad tournaments as good at this event and inconsistency here could be his downfall. He hit 82% of greens in regulation at the Humana last week on his way to a T19 finish, which is a good sign.
Ben Crane +2500
Crane has started 2012 strong with top 10’s in his first two tournaments this year. He is another in a long list of past winners at this event and has four top-25 finishes in four of seven appearances at Torrey Pines.
Ernie Els+3000
Els makes his first appearance in North America this week after losing in a playoff at the Volvo Golf Champions in South Africa on Sunday. He finished T6 in 2005 and T5 in 2010 and ranked seventh in GIR on the PGA TOUR in 2011.
Charles Howell III +3000
Howell II loves this event – he has made the cut all nine times he has played at Torrey Pines. He has six top-15 finishes including a T14 a year ago and has finished second twice. Howell III was OK last week finishing T49 but was inconsistent along the way.
THE SLEEPER
Robert Garrigus +6000
Garrigus is all power – his game is perfectly suited to Torrey Pines. He shot a 64 on Friday and a 61 on Saturday last week on his way to a T2 finish at the Humana. His putter is a big question mark but his length certainly isn’t!
THE PICK
I absolutely love Brandt Snedeker +2000 this week. He has been T9 or better here in each of the last two years. The way he played last week and his scorching putter gives me confidence that he will make a run this week.
My sleeper Robert Garrigus +6000 also intrigues me. He is a big hitter and he is heating up just in time to play a course that suits him very well!
One reply on “2012 PGA Farmers Insurance Open Preview | Picks”
Garrigus is my sleeper pick as well, but you said it… Inconsistent putter! I’m hoping he can leave everyone behind on the south course with a grip it and rip it style while a little more attention to accuracy in the north.