The PGA Tour remains in California this week for the Farmers Insurance Open, which starts on Wednesday and will conclude on Saturday in order to avoid clashing with the NFL’s Conference Championship games.
The Farmers has been held at Torrey Pines Golf Course since 1968 and a host of star names have won the tournament including Tiger Woods, who captured the title seven times between 1999 and 2013.
Woods also won the 2008 US Open on Torrey’s South Course, which will host three of the four rounds this week with competitors alternating around the South and the adjacent North Course over the first two days.
The North is a relatively easy, scoreable track but the South is a fearsome 7,765-yard layout which also hosted the 2021 US Open, won by Jon Rahm.
Both power and tee-to-green precision will be required in an event which puts a premium on long-game prowess.
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Swedish ace Aberg to double PGA Tour tally
Ludvig Aberg has pulled clear of Hideki Matsuyama in the battle for Farmers Insurance favouritism and the betting market could prove spot on with the Swede taken to land a second PGA Tour title at an ideal venue.
A long, straight driver, Aberg surprisingly failed to land a PGA Tour victory last year but he went close on several occasions, compiling nine top-ten finishes, mostly in elite company, including when ninth in this tournament 12 months ago.
The 25-year-old battled through a knee injury for much of the year, eventually undergoing surgery after the Tour Championship, then made his return in slightly rusty fashion when he finished 17th at the RSM Classic as the defending champion.
Aberg then placed sixth in the Hero World Challenge in his final tournament of last year and fifth in the Sentry on return and he looks primed to mount a title challenge.
Home should relish home-state return
The most recent of Max Homa’s six PGA Tour titles came in the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open and the Californian looks overpriced in his home state this week as he bids to emerge from a form slump.
Homa has always relished competing in the Golden State – four of those six wins came in California – and he has quietly been playing himself back into form over the last few months, striking the ball well at the Nedbank Challenge in December and the Sentry on his first start of this year.
Jaeger could bomb his way to Torrey title
Power is a significant advantage at Torrey Pines and that could play into the hands of Stephan Jaeger, who has added almost 20 yards to his driving over the last couple of years, prompting an upturn in his results.
Jaeger had a poor Torrey Pines record up until last year’s edition, when he finished third, a position he also filled at the Sony Open in his most recent PGA Tour appearance.
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