Farmers Insurance Open - Power Rankings
It’s back to beautiful Torrey Pines for this week’s Farmers Insurance Open.
Torrey’s South Course is a flat-out beast, playing as a par 72 and stretching over 7,600 yards. Known for it’s beautiful scenery and wonderful layout, it is best remembered as the site of the 2008 U.S. Open where Tiger Woods defeated Rocco Mediate in memorable fashion for his last major championship win.
This week’s event will be played on both the North and South courses, with the opening rounds being split between the two tracks. Also unique to this event is that it is one of the few Tour stops held on a public facility. Torrey Pines is run by the city of San Diego. Below are a look at the players to keep an eye on this week, along with my DraftKings lineups.
Jason Day - The defending champ has finished T2 & T9 in the years prior to his victory. Showed signs at his last event of removing much of the rust which resulted from the off-season. Has been one of the hottest players on the planet over the last 6 months.
Justin Rose - Another top player in the game. Since last year’s Masters, where he finished runner-up to Jordan Spieth, he has shown that he is a threat to win each and every week.
Jamie Lovemark - High finishes in each of the last two weeks. Highly touted junior golfer, much has been expected of him, and seems to be gaining more confidence in his ability to compete with the “big boys”.
Rickie Fowler - Fresh off a big win last week in Abu Dhabi where he defeated a star-studded field. Despite all the critics, Rickie continues to establish himself as one of the premier players in the game.
Fabian Gomez - High finish (T6) at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, and then a win the following week at Sony Open. The man is simply playing some superb golf.
Charles Howell III - Finished T11 last week to follow up a T13 a week earlier in Hawaii. While he only has one PGA Tour win, he’s great at flying below the radar and notching top-10 and top-20 finishes. A great fantasy pick for the middle of your lineup. Finished T5 at this event last season.
Dustin Johnson - It’s been approximately one year since Dustin returned to golf after taking a hiatus for personal reasons. With Torrey being a long layout, it should play to his advantage given his length off the tee.
Phil Mickelson - He plays well in his home state of CA, and last week proved it - finishing T3. I believe this week could be another big week for Lefty, as he’s playing a course that he’s very familiar with, and has experienced success on in the past.
Scott Stallings - Won this event in 2014, and lost in a playoff to Jason Day last year. Definitely a player worth keeping an eye on.
Patrick Reed - Finished 2nd at Hyundai Tournament of Champions, but followed it up with a T56 finish last week at CareerBuilder. I expect to see him bounce back nicely this week.
Sleepers
Adam Hadwin - Opening rounds of 66, 66 & 64 put him right in the mix in last week’s CareerBuilder Challenge. Finished T6. This is not the first time Hadwin has made a run at a title.
Graham Delaet - Another Canadian who has been performing over the last couple weeks. Finished T42 last week, but had three opening rounds in the 60’s. A disappointing season last year, but early on his game is showing signs that it is getting back into form. Coming to a course where he has performed well in the past (T2 in 2014, T9 in 2013)
And now my DraftKings lineups for the week.
Starting Lineup
Graham DeLaet - $9,100
Jamie Lovemark - $8,300
Fabian Gomez - $7,700
Zac Blair - $7,400
Matt Jones - $7,400
Jason Kokrak - $6,900
Alternate Lineup
Dustin Johnson - $11,100
Justin Rose - $10,900
Scott Stallings - $7,200
Jim Herman - $6,800
Johnson Wagner - $6,700
Ollie Schniederjans - $6,500
This week I'm continuing my quest to try and find those "hidden gems". I like to balance taking players who are likely to play well, with those you wouldn’t expect, that do in fact have a big week. Admittedly, there is a lot of guessing involved, but there is guessing in any lineup you draft - which is part of the fun. Every week there are players who end up on the leaderboard who you could have drafted for low cost, and I'm trying hard to pick those players in order to make my own run up the DraftKings leaderboard.
About the Author
This article was written by Jonathan Carr (@jonathanwcarr) as part of our weekly #FantasyGolf series.Each week we preview the upcoming PGA Tour event and highlight some of the players we'll be keeping an eye on. As a scratch golfer himself, Jonathan has a keen eye for what it takes to be successful on and off the golf course. His passion for golf is surpassed only by his passion for his faith and his family. Read some of Jonathan's other articles here.
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