2015 Farmers Insurance Open Fantasy Sleeper Picks
By Danny Norris
What a crazy sports week that was. Obviously, the Super Bowl is what everyone is talking about for the next couple of days…until something else comes along in the next few days and everybody can proclaim on whatever platform “This (fill in the blank) is the worst/best thing ever!”
Having said all that, the Super Bowl wasn’t the only event that took place. The final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open took place and it was pretty good. Not only the final round, but the tournament as a whole.
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We saw Tiger Woods play like your “Average Joe”, Phil Mickelson didn’t fare any better as he missed the cut, as well. The 16th hole was going crazy, as usual, but went absolutely bonkers after Francesco Molinari sank a Hole-In-One, and the youth movement in the PGA Tour continues.
The 4th round went down to the wire with Bubba Watson, Ryan Palmer, Martin Laird, and Hideki Matsuyama all battling for the win, but it was Brooks Koepka coming out on top with his first career PGA Tour win. Watch out for him in the majors for the next decade or so.
Once he gets a couple of years of experience under his belt at Augusta, don’t be surprised to see him wearing the Green Jacket at some point in his career. Same with Matsuyama. He came up a bit short at this year’s Phoenix Open, but he’s one of my top favorites to win the Masters this year.
We’ll get more into that at a later date though. First things first though, this week the PGA Tour is stopping by Southern California for the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. This is always an interesting tournament because the first couple of rounds are played on the North and South Course.
When playing the fantasy golf games that let you swap golfers after each round, you want to take the golfers that are playing on the North Course as that is much shorter, and much, much easier than the South Course. Knowing that strategy is usually the difference between winning and losing, or at the very least beating your friends who might not know much about golf as you.
What you want to watch for is golfers that grind hole after hole after hole. Once you get into the weekend you want golfers that aren’t going to have those blow up holes and make the big mistakes. Slow and steady wins the tournament at Torrey Pines.
Experience, hitting fairways, putting (of course), and length off the tee are the big keys. With that said, let’s get into some fantasy sleeper picks to keep your eye on at Torrey Pines this week.
K.J. Choi– I’m surprised K.J. Choi is so low on the list this week. Choi is a pretty big name that even the casual golf fan knows, he’s been rock solid all year long making the cut in four straight tournaments; including a T-22 last week. And he is coming to a tournament where he has had a ton of success.
Last year, Choi finished in a tie for 2nd followed by a T-9 in 2013, T-29 in 2011, and T-15 in 2010. Choi isn’t particularly long off the tee, but he drives fairways, hits greens, and doesn’t make mistakes with his putter.
When you grind it out for four rounds at Torrey Pines, you usually end up pretty high on the leaderboard and that is exactly what Choi has done for the past few years now.
Jan 26, 2014; La Jolla, CA, USA; Pat Perez hits his tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course – South Co. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Pat Perez– Pat Perez is playing some really solid golf of late making the cut in five straight tournaments now. Perez may not be having the great finishes, but he’s right up quietly. Perez’ last three finishes have been a T-17, T-30, and T-26. That’s really solid production that has been very cheap of late.
Once again, he is a cheap pick this week and still flying under-the-radar a bit and he’s coming to a course where he has had a lot of success…I just got a strange sense of deja vu when I wrote that.
Perez has made the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open four straight years, including a T-2 last year. In 2013 he finished T-35, 2012: T-22, and 2011: T-20.
Charles Howell III– Charles Howell III isn’t spectacular or flashy, but Howell III is a rock solid golfer. CHIII hits the fairway, plays it safe, makes his par putts, and grinds it out. That’s what works at Torrey Pines and the proof is in the pudding.
Last year, Howell III finished T-37, in 2013: T-15, 2012: T-43, 2011: T-14, and in 2010: T-9. Howell III hasn’t been in the best of form, however. He usually has better finishes this early in the golf season, but his best finish has been a T-14 at a secondary event, the Sanderson Farms. His best finish aside from that was a T-18 at the Shriners Open.
So, there is a little bit of caution there if you are going to take Howell, just because Howell hasn’t been looking that good, but his course history speaks for itself.
Kevin Chappell– I’m breaking the mold a little bit with this pick. Kevin Chappell doesn’t have a ton of course history at Torrey Pines, but he did finish T-47 last year. But, you have to start somewhere.
For example, Choi missed the cut in 2009 and then proceed to finish T-15 the very next year and has reeled off success. Same with Perez, Perez missed the cut in 2010 and finished T-20 the next year.
I’m banking that Chappell is going to have the same kind of success here at Torrey Pines. Chappell is another one of these talented young golfers. He went to school at UCLA and he most notably led the PGA Championship after round one.
That isn’t all, though, in the last three tournaments he has participated in he has made the cut, finished T-8 at the McGladrey Classic, T-13 at the CIMB Classic, and T-30 last week at the Phoenix Open.
J.B. Holmes– If you are looking to grab one (or two…good luck with that) of the top four golfers this week in price you are going to have to go really cheap. One of the really cheap picks is J.B. Holmes who has been up-and-down of late.
Last week, Holmes got off to a good start birding four of his first nine holes, but scuffled from there. Holmes finished off the back nine at 1-over par and for the round he shot a 3-under 68.
Holmes’ carried that bad momentum into the second round getting off to an atrocious start at five over par. Holmes though did battle back birding the final three holes to sneak into the weekend. Holmes shot a 70-73 on the weekend to finish even for the tournament and in a tie for 66th.
Holmes has the game and a solid enough history at Torrey Pines finishing T-23 last year and he has a T-27 in 2010, but with two missed cuts sandwiched in between in 2013 and 2012. Of the cheap picks down there, Holmes is the best pick available.