Farmers Insurance Open Picks

Tourament: The Farmers Insurance Open
Dates: January 26th-29th, 2012
Course: Torrey Pines (North and South Course) – La Jolla, CA
TV: The Golf Channel/CBS
by Evergreen, Golf Handicapper, Predictem.com

Bet the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open using your credit card to deposit at an online sportsbook where it WILL work for deposits: Bovada.

Week four of the 2012 PGA Tour schedule is on tap and the players remain in California as the West Coast Swing continues with the Farmers Insurance Open.  The Tour is really getting up to speed as most players have logged at least one start already with another slate of top talent making their debuts at Torrey Pines this week.  Tiger Woods is making his first appearance in a couple of weeks but Phil Mickelson, Nick Watney and defending champion Bubba Watson headline a very strong field for this event.  Catch all the early action on the Golf Channel with CBS jumping in to cover the weekend.

Torrey Pines has a strong history with the PGA Tour and both the South and North Courses at the Torrey Pines complex will again host for the week.  Players will complete one round at each course prior to the cut with the South holding play over the final two days as the “official” host course.  The courses are very different, especially in length as the North measures just about 6,900 yards with the South stretching to over 7,500.  Both play at par-72 and have similar features but the additional length at the South helped rank it as the 11th hardest course in 2011 play with the North coming in at 38th among the 51 courses used last year.  The South really shows it’s size with two par-5’s that measure over 600 yards and the most difficult test on the course comes in the form of the 504 yard par-4 12th hole.  Still, the par-5’s remain the best opportunities to score and Tiger Woods managed a course record 62 on the way to one of his six victories at this event.  You will likely see most of the day one leaderboard made up of players from the North Course but keep an eye on those that card good first round scores at the South to make a move come Friday.  Putting is always a key when multiple courses are used and that has shown in the winners over the recent years.

Each week, we take a look at the golf sportsbooks and highlight a few players that we think can win it all.  We give you a short, middle and long odds pick to win and breakdown a few head to head matches that you can find at any online betting site.  Here are our picks to win the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open.

Short Favorite:  Brandt Snedeker (20 to 1 odds to win)
Snedeker is off to a good start in 2012 with a T4 last week and his recent Farmers record includes three top-10’s since 2007 with a T2 and T3 among them and a North Course single round record of 61.  Brandt is a steady player overall but makes his money with the putter and finished 2011 ranked 10th in both strokes gained and total putting.  Even when he misses the greens, Snedeker is great and getting up and down, ranking 2nd in scrambling.

Middle of the Road:  Rickie Fowler (28 to 1 odds to win)
Fowler is another player with an impressive Farmers record and certainly has the length to tame the South Course.  Rickie was T20 here in 2011, T5 in 2010 and is just too talented to not start running off a bunch of wins.  Along with a top-25 rank in driving distance, Fowler was 25th in putting last year and produced the 6th best birdie average on Tour.  His approach proximity on shots over 200 yards was the best among all players in 2011 he will have a few long approaches this week.

Longshot:  D.A. Points (40 to 1 odds to win)
Points is off to a hot start with T12 and T6 finishes in the two Hawaii events this year and has been in the top-10 the last two years at Torrey Pines with a solo 5th in 2011.  You won’t find any top-10 ranks on D.A.’s stat sheet but there are no real weaknesses either and he checks in at 40th in the all around.  He hits fairways and is an above average putter and a breakout week is all that is keeping him from being a more widely known player.

Head to Head Matches *picks to win are based on finish after all four rounds.  Check with your favorite online bookmaker for single round matches and a variety of prop bets.

Phil Mickelson (-115) v. Nick Watney (-115) (our pick to win: Watney)
Same old song and dance as last week when we correctly took Matt Kuchar over Mickelson, and that is until Lefty proves he is truly back in a mode that has him contending week in and week out, his name alone is going to put him in matchups that he will struggle to win.  Mickelson is a three time winner at this event but Watney has won here as well and just really wears out Phil on the stat sheet.  Phil is looking a bit like Vijay Singh did over the last few years when the consistent elite level performances were getting too few and far between to justify putting money on him.

Keegan Bradley (-115) v. Ernie Els (-115) (our pick to win: Bradley)
It would probably suffice to just read the above paragraph and replace the names as this match features another vet up against a hungry and talented youngster.  Bradley proved he could win while his peers are still looking to break through and Els, while still talented, just doesn’t look to have it together enough to beat a hard-charging young gun.  Els hits more greens on average but Bradley is longer, hits more greens and out-putted Ernie in 2011 play.

Good Luck!

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