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Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods will all be there this week for the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. It is the first big boy tournament of the year and will be an interesting look into the respective trajectories of all those golfers this season. With Jim Nantz and Co. on the coverage for CBS, this really does feel like a huge event.

Let's take a look at this week's contest.

Event information

What: Farmers Insurance Open | Where: La Jolla, California | When: Jan. 26-29

How to watch: Live stream, TV channel, etc.

Participants and odds

  • Dustin Johnson: 8-1
  • Jason Day: 10-1
  • Hideki Matsuyama: 12-1
  • Brandt Snedeker: 25-1
  • Brooks Koepka: 25-1
  • Justin Rose: 28-1
  • Jimmy Walker: 30-1
  • Rickie Fowler: 30-1
  • Tiger Woods: 30-1
  • Phil Mickelson: 35-1

Field strength: A-

This thing drops off a cliff from a betting standpoint after the top three of D.J., Day and Matsuyama. If you're wondering why Snedeker is 25-1 when Koepka is also 25-1 and Fowler and Walker are 30-1, here is the reason.


Also, Woods should be more like 100-1 even though he's won here eight times.

Three stories to watch

1. Tiger, Tiger, Tiger: It's going to be all Tiger Woods all week at Torrey Pines. Deservedly so. Some of you might not enjoy the Big Cat show, but the reality is he's one of the 8-10 most important athletes in the history of sports. Any time he tees it up, he's going to be a story. He hasn't fared well at this tournament of late, but he does have eight wins and four other top fives in his 16-tournament career at Torrey Pines, though.

2. How will the weather affect the festivities? Remember last year when Snedeker shot a 69 in 9,000-MPH winds (approximately) when nobody else could muster better than par? It was one of the rounds of the year from a strokes-gained perspective. The weather is soggy and cold again this year, which means this could play more like an Open Championship than the U.S. Open it once hosted.

3. Will Rickie Fowler start hot? Fowler was a "disappointment" in 2016 with eight top 10s but no wins. It was a good (but not great) year for a top 10-15 golfer in the world which is what he is. His first appearance of 2017 came last week at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in the Middle East. He finished a ho-hum T36 with just one round in the 60s. I expect to see more this week.

Past winners

  • 2016: Brandt Snedeker
  • 2015: Jason Day
  • 2014: Scott Stallings
  • 2013: Tiger Woods
  • 2012: Brandt Snedeker

Snedeker! This is a terrific list, and if you go back even farther, it includes Bubba Watson, Woods several more times, John Daly and Phil Mickelson three times. Big boy events produce big boy winners.

Let's look at the picks this week.

Expert picks

Player Pick Analysis
Winner Dustin Johnson finished T2 in Abu Dhabi last week. He has three top 20s at this event, and his 2017 is shaping up to be just as special as his 2016. Pretty easy to see him winning here. Odds: 8-1
Top 10 Jason Day won in 2015 and finished in the top two the two years before that. He will want to show off for texting buddy Tiger Woods in Woods' first event back on the regular PGA Tour. This is a great opportunity to do it, and Day is tough enough to withstand the nasty weather. Odds: 10-1
Sleeper Hudson Swafford had an all-time week for himself at the CareerBuilder Challenge last week. He got his first PGA Tour victory and heads to Torrey Pines with a top 15 under his belt at this course last year. Odds: 66-1