While eyes of the golf world are focused on Tiger Woods and whether or not he can make a successful return to the competitive links, golf bettors might see some more attractive wagering options in other players at this week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California.
Woods is a 20/1 pick to win this event for the eighth time. Torrey Pines was also the site of the last major he won, the 2008 US Open. It seems as good a place as any for the former No. 1 golfer in the world to make his re-entry on the tour after back surgery number four.
But even the ever-confident superstar was hesitant to make any predictions about his performance in his first full-field tournament in nearly a year.
“I think yeah, my expectations have tempered a little bit because I haven’t played,” Woods said at a pre-tournament press conference. “I just want to start playing on the Tour and getting into a rhythm of playing a schedule again. I haven’t done that in such a long time.”
Favorite Rahm Welcomes Distraction
While Woods has been garnering all the attention, the tournament favorite has been flying under the radar and loving every minute of it. Jon Rahm is a 7/1 pick. He is the defending champion of this event and last week captured the Career Builder Challenge.
The Spaniard moved to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Rankings and if he won this event he would replace Dustin Johnson as the new No. 1. The 23 year old has been quietly preparing and enjoys not being in the spotlight.
“I welcome it. The more attention you guys put on Tiger, the better for me, quite frankly,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “Hopefully I keep playing good golf and give you guys something to talk about. But it’s not bad that the attention’s on Tiger. It’s good for golf, it’s good for all of us.”
Others to Watch
At 16/1 Hideki Matsuyama might be a player worth taking a look at. The Japanese star has three top 5 finishes in PGA Tour events this season. The only downside is he finished tied for 33rd at last year’s event.
Brian Harman is an enticing selection at 28/1. He finished tied for 20th last week and has been on a tear lately. Other than the Career Builder Challenge he hasn’t finished out of the top 10 in his last seven tourneys and his worst finish in four of his last five events is a tie for fourth. He ranks 12th in putting and fifth for greens in regulation.
A long shot to consider would be Charles Howell III. The Augusta, Georgia native also finished tied for 20th at Career Builder and was the runner up at Farmers last year, ending up three strokes behind Rahm. He is teeing off at 40/1.