Expectations!
A wise teacher of golf once told me about what to expect of my game on the first tee. “Be glad if you can get the ball to leave here and go “out there” someplace.” When you set your sights on something humble, anything above that is is a win. The expectations for Tiger Woods this week at the Farmers Insurance Open range from missing the cut, to actually contending for a win on Sunday afternoon. (ed)
SportsLine simulated the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open 10,000 times with some surprising results
by CBS Sports Staff
The PGA Tour is heading to Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California, this week for the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open. Jon Rahm is the Vegas favorite at 7/1, followed closely by Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose at 12/1.
Before you make any bets or enter a daily fantasy golf tournament on DraftKings or FanDuel, you’ll want to hear what the team at SportsLine has to say.
SportsLine’s prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, was all over Rahm’s victory at the CareerBuilder Challenge and had two players in its projected top four finish sixth or better.
Now that the field for the Farmers Insurance Open is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times and the results were surprising.
Tiger Woods (25/1), a 14-time major champion, will make his 2018 PGA Tour debut this week. Woods last played tournament golf at the 2017 Hero World Challenge, where he finished T9 in the star-studded 18-player field. However, SportsLine says that Woods will struggle mightily at Torrey Pines, a place where he has earned eight PGA Tour victories, including the 2008 U.S. Open. SportsLine is projecting him to finish 47th.
Woods will be paired with Patrick Reed (50/1) and Charlie Hoffman (50/1) on Thursday and Friday. He’ll tee off at 1:40 p.m. ET for the first round.
One huge surprise the model is calling for: Alex Noren, a 60/1 longshot, is set to make a serious run at the title. He’s a target for anybody looking for a huge payday.
Noren finished 12th at the Hero World Challenge and took 31st in the World Golf Championships – HSBC in October. He’s No. 19 in the Official World Golf Rankings and finished sixth in last year’s Open Championship. The Swede has five wins on the European Tour in the last three years.
Another curveball: Brandt Snedeker, a two-time winner of the Farmers Insurance Open, doesn’t even sniff the top 20. He’s somebody to steer clear of this week.
Snedeker was cut at last week’s CareerBuilder Challenge and struggled to a 29th-place finish at the RSM Classic late last year. His 66.67 greens in regulation percentage ranks just 147th on the PGA Tour.
Also, two additional players with odds longer than 50/1 are positioning themselves to make a serious run at the title. Anyone who backs these underdogs could hit it big.
So who wins the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open this year? And what long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the updated odds below and visit SportsLine now to see the full projected leaderboard from the model that predicted Jon Rahm’s victory at the CareerBuilder Challenge, and find out.
