Power Rankings: Farmers Insurance Open

As it was announced in late September, the Farmers Insurance Open is scheduled to start on Wednesday and finish on Saturday.

The adjustment yields many benefits, including an impactful precedent, for it allows the third annual Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour’s Farmers Insurance Invitational to expand to two rounds and conclude on Sunday. Furthermore, like all four rounds of the PGA TOUR’s event at Torrey Pines, the APGA’s final round on the South Course also will be televised.

For details of the annual TOUR stop in La Jolla, California, scroll past the projected contenders.

The American Express champion Hudson Swafford, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Daniel Berger, Scottie Scheffler and Dustin Johnson will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Draws & Fades (formerly the Fantasy Insider).

The last time that Torrey Pines was in the spotlight, Jon Rahm was posing with the U.S. Open trophy in his possession. That was seven months ago. Only the South Course hosted, and it played to a par of 71 measuring 7,685 yards, but it returns to its customary stock par of 72 for the Farmers Insurance Open. And at 7,765 yards, it’s the longest course under the jurisdiction of the PGA TOUR.

Every golfer in the field of 156 will have one pass at Torrey Pines North. It’s also a stock par 72, but it’s tipped at just 7,258 yards since Tom Weiskopf’s renovation in advance of the 2017 edition. Once the 36-hole cut of low 65 and ties falls, all who survive will play only the South Course in the third and final rounds.

In last year’s first two rounds, the North averaged 70.131 to the South’s 73.955. The South would retreat to 73.340 by the conclusion of the tournament to establish a five-year high – it can’t be ruled out that the setup was more challenging because of early preparation for the U.S. Open – but that disparity proves why it’s imperative to go low on the North. Since it was renovated, the winners of the tournament have averaged 65.6 on the course. All five have scored lower than 70.

Strictly for the record (because the trends likely have more to do with wind and weather than the rotation of tee times), after eight consecutive winners who played the North in the second round, each of the last three opened on the easier of the tandem.

Saving the possibility (likelihood?) for a marine layer in the mornings, conditions will be favorable throughout the tournament, so only darkness could prevent the cut from occurring as scheduled on Thursday. Daytime highs in the 60s will govern the distance balls can fly, but wind isn’t forecast to be a primary threat. Primary rough could be as tall as 3½ inches. The combination bent/Poa greens are ready to roll to 12½ feet on the Stimpmeter.

En route to reaching 14-under 274 for a five-stroke victory in 2021, Patrick Reed averaged just 11 greens in regulation per round to rank T63. However, in vintage fashion, he led the field in putts per GIR (1.591) and converting those chances into par breakers (20 of 44). (ShotLink is used only on the South, so cumulative Stroked Gained statistics and other lasered data applies to at most three rounds.) In addition to pacing the field in par-4 scoring, he finished T3 in par-5 scoring, the latter a fixture of success on par 72s.

While next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am isn’t an open, professionals who finish inside the top 10 at the Farmers will gain entry via the top-10 provision.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

PGATOUR.COM’s Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled.

MONDAY: Power Rankings

TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Draws & Fades

SATURDAY/SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Ranking

* - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.