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Dark Horses for the Farmers Insurance Open

By Richard McCusker

ST SIMONS ISLAND, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 22: John Huh of the United States lines up his putt on the first green during the final round of The RSM Classic at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club on November 22, 2020 in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
ST SIMONS ISLAND, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 22: John Huh of the United States lines up his putt on the first green during the final round of The RSM Classic at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club on November 22, 2020 in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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The PGA Tour is heading to La Jolla, California this week for the Farmers Insurance Open. Last year’s leaderboard was stacked with top players, but we did see a few dark horses sneak their way up. Tom Hoge came in 5th and both Harry Higgs and Beau Hossler came in 9th. I don’t know what their prices were on DraftKings, but I already know that in a stacked field, they were longshots. This is what you want to look for in daily fantasy because these guys are usually low owned and can pay off big!

Listed below are three guys that I believe could be dark horses, meaning players that are longshots, but could play really well for their salary. Also I only use DraftKings, so these prices will be for their website, but the players can be used on FanDuel as well.

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Dark Horse Number 1

Joel Dahmen ($7,300): Joel was a dark horse for me last week and missed the cut after calling him a “cut maker.” Everyone can have an off weak in golf, it happens. His best finish in the past three showings at the Farmers Insurance Open was in 2019, when he came in a tie for 9th. His recent stats are alright for Torrey Pines, but it is a course played every year and the players know how to get around it. I think Joel missing the cut last week will make some people hesitant to play him. He seems to be a favorite in the DFS community with how much people talk about him, but people love to fade a hot player that had one bad tournament.

The stats I like for the course:

Strokes Gained Approach: 100th
Bogey Avoidance: 32nd
Strokes Gained Off The Tee: 61st
Strokes Gained Tee to Green: 77th

Dark Horse Number 2

John Huh ($7,000): Huh is a dark horse because he is 5/5 on cuts made since the Shriners (October 8th). His last five starts are 21st, 20th, 12th, 48th 19th. I love how his stats lineup for the course being top 25 in three of the four key stats for the Farmers Insurance. His best finish in the past three outings at the Farmers was a tie for 25th in 2019. He went to California State University-Northridge, but it is a two hour drive from the course so I don’t know how much that could factor this week. Eight of his last 12 rounds are in the 60’s with a low round of 65 (Mayakoba & RSM). I think with his recent playing and stats that matter for Torrey Pines, he could be in for a pretty good week.

The stats I like for the course:

Strokes Gained Approach: 17th
Bogey Avoidance: 14th
Strokes Gained Off The Tee: 98th
Strokes Gained Tee to Green: 21st

Next. Brooks Koepka: 2021 FedEx Cup Contender or Pretender?. dark

Dark Horse Number 3 

Kyle Mendoza ($6,000): Mendoza is a HUGE punt play and dark horse. He is not a normal tour player, so finding his PGA stats for him is not possible. He is an Oceanside resident which is 28 minutes from Torrey Pines. He just won the Southern California PGA Section Championship in September. Clearly this guy plays well in Southern California. I think there will be people who take a shot at him in DFS, but I don’t think he is owned more than 5%. He is the minimum price at $6,000, which means this guy could easily miss the cut, but I think he is worth a shot if you are playing multiple lineups. He will also help you fit in some of the top guys like Rory, Rahm, or Finau.

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