DraftKings preview: Farmers Insurance Open

The PGA TOUR heads from La Quinta, California, to San Diego, California, this week for the Farmers Insurance Open beginning on Wednesday. Iconic Torrey Pines Golf Course will be the host with both the South Course and North Course in play. The South Course, which will be played in three of the four rounds, measures as a massive 7,765-yard par 72 and features Poa grass greens. The North Course is a little less daunting, sitting as a 7,258-yard par 72, featuring Bentgrass greens.

The field is quite strong, as it usually is at Torrey Pines, with plenty of California ties in Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa and defending champion Max Homa set to tee it up.

Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here:PGA TOUR $600K Pitch + Putt [$200K to 1st]

Collin Morikawa ($10,200)

This will be Morikawa’s fourth career start at Torrey Pines, with the first three resulting in finishes of T21, T4 (2021 U.S. Open) and then solo third last year. He’s lapping the field in terms of Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green per round at the South Course, (+2.41), which is a full .7 strokes per round better than the next closest golfer who’s played this course more than once.

After struggling for much of 2023, Morikawa is in the midst of a terrific stretch of golf, having posted five top-10 finishes across his past eight starts, including his win at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP back in October. During this run, the two-time major winner ranks No. 2 in the field in SG: Ball-Striking, third in SG: Tee-to-Green and seventh in SG: Total.

Being from California, it’s no surprise that Morikawa does his best putting on Poa greens, where he averages .33 strokes more per round compared to other surfaces. With the field being pretty top heavy this week, you’re likely going to have to take a stand at the top of the board, and Morikawa gets the nod for me when you factor in recent form, course history and rolling stats.

Sepp Straka ($8,600)

Straka continues to be under-appreciated by the fantasy community as a whole, and I don’t really understand why. He’s very quietly gotten himself up to the 17th ranked golfer in the world, and now has two PGA TOUR victories under his belt after winning the John Deere Classic last summer.

The big Austrian is also playing some great golf right now, posting a runner-up at the Hero World Challenge and then a T12 at The Sentry. During this mini-stretch, Straka sits sixth in the field in both SG: Ball-Striking and SG: Total.

His history at Torrey Pines is also quite strong, making three-of-four cuts with a pair of top-16 finishes. Straka could absolutely be $9,000 or higher in this field, so this $8,600 tag gives us a pretty nice discount.

Luke List ($7,800)

List has also taken quite a liking to Torrey Pines in his career, winning this event back in 2021, while posting three other top-25 finishes (including a T10) since 2018. List is coming off a massive FedExCup Fall after struggling for the majority of 2023. Overall, he’s finished T25 or better in six of his past eight starts, including his triumphant win at the Sanderson Farms Championship back in October.

The biggest reason for List’s turnaround has been his putting, where he’s suddenly become average, rather than well below average. List ranked 189th in SG: Putting out of 193 qualifiers in 2023 but has improved that by nearly 100 spots so far in 2024, where he sits 99th on the PGA TOUR. His ball-striking will always be there as we know, as List ranks 12th in this field over the past 24 rounds in that department, including fourth from tee-to-green.

Torrey Pines is one of the longest courses on the PGA TOUR, so it’s not entirely surprising to see List have success here, as he’s always been one of the longer hitters on the circuit. I like him to continue his run of recent form this week, and he sits at a very palatable $7,800 on DraftKings.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $600K Pitch + Putt [$200K to 1st]

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is Lan1228) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.