Farmers Insurance Open

Never heard of it before?  Me either, I thought.  Then I noticed the venue was Torrey Pines, and realized that the FIO is the former Buick Invitational.  You know, the tournament Tiger and Phil have owned through the years (they have eight of the last 11 wins here).  Obviously, there is no Tiger this week, and Phil is actually the only top 10 player in the world rankings, making him the clear favorite in my book.

The trick is to find others besides Phil to have on your side this week.  There aren't a lot of guys with great histories here.  I was initially excited about Ryan Moore based on the way he has started the year, then I saw that he's been cut in three of his four starts here.  Ernie Els, Robert Allenby, Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan are all in the field this week to add to Phil's star power.  Bubba Watston has two top tens here in four tries and finishes T2 last week, but he just looked really shaky once he actually found the top of the leaderboard at the Hope, I don't love him here.  Nick Watney is the defending champ and has another top 10 to boot.  I just can't pick him in my league because I used him in Hawaii.  Brandt Snedeker is intriguing.  He has a third place finish here in three starts and posted a T9 in the 2008 US Open held on the South Course (the FIO splits between the North and South). 

However, my three top choices begin with John Rollins.  Rollins has a second and a T4 in the last four years here and has two top-15s in two starts this season.  I also really like the way Charles Howell III is playing.  He has a fifth and 26th in two starts this year, and has had a nice seven year run at this venue, never missing a cut with three top 10s.  However, my top choice this week is Luke Donald.  Donald crapped the bed in Hawaii, missing the cut at the Sony, but he did go 74-68 there, meaning he pulled it together before the trunk slam.  The main reason I like Donald here though is history.  He's teed it up here six times, posted four top-10s and never finished lower than 24th.  That seems like a pretty good bet this week...if you aren't taking Phil, that is.

Cheers,
TFAM