Golf best bets: 3 props for the Farmers Insurance Open
A week after 20-year-old Nick Dunlap became the first amateur to win on Tour in 33 years, the PGA Tour rolls on to Torrey Pines this week for the Farmers Insurance Open. As fun as the Dunlap storyline was, we're targeting more well-known names with our three favorite props for the tournament.
Max Homa top-10 finish (+150 DraftKings)
Max Homa loves nothing more than playing in his home state of California. In his last seven starts in the Golden State, Homa has three wins and six top-10 finishes. One of those wins just happened to come at last year's Farmers Insurance Open, and if you're worried about Home performing well in his title defense, you shouldn't be.
Homa has defended a PGA Tour title the following year four times in his career. His finishes in those starts? T10, T8, T7 and win.
This is familiar territory for Homa on a golf course he absolutely loves. Oh, and he also has six top-10 finishes and a win in his last eight starts worldwide, and he gained strokes off the tee and on approach in all eight. We have high hopes for him this week.
Sepp Straka top-20 finish (+225 ESPN BET)
Sepp Straka is quietly flushing the ball as well as anyone on the PGA Tour right now. Straka has gained strokes off the tee and on approach in eight of his last 10 starts, and he's notched five straight top-22 finishes worldwide.
Precise ball striking will be paramount this week on one of the longest golf courses the PGA Tour has to offer, and that's been Straka's strength for the last six months. He also has two top-20 finishes in four career starts at Torrey Pines, including a T16 in his last trip to the Farmers Insurance Open.
Sahith Theegala > Min Woo Lee (+115 DK)
This matchup is a course fit special. We love Min Woo Lee and expect a breakout year from the young Australian, but he has such little experience on California golf courses with poa annua greens. Poa is the most difficult surface to master because of its bumpy, unpredictable nature. Lee has played three PGA Tour events with California poa greens, and he lost strokes putting in all three. He normally relies on his strong putting to make up for his poor approach play, but that likely won't be the case this week.
As for Sahith Theegala, he grew up putting on poa annua in his home state of California. In his last four starts on California poa greens, Theegala has finished first, T6, T4 and T6. He also gained strokes putting in all four starts.
Additionally, Theegla has the advantage of starting on the North Course, which is 500 yards shorter than the South Course. He should be able to build a healthy lead in Round 1 and ride that to a matchup victory.
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