As January rolls on, so does the action on the PGA Tour and some of the best players in the world are set to be in attendance at the Farmers Insurance Open. Offering another opportunity for players to get off their 2025 off to a brilliant start, here is everything you need to know.
The Course
The Farmers has been an institution on the PGA Tour with the first iteration of the tournament being played all the way back in 1952. It has had several homes since it was first played but since 1968 the tournament has been hosted by one of America’s most iconic courses, Torrey Pines.
Torrey Pines has two courses, the North and South and both courses will be played on twice with the South Course being the venue for Saturday’s final round.
Both courses will play as a par 72 and both measure over 7,000 yards with the South Course being 500 yards longer than its Northern counterpart. Regardless of what course the players are tackling, Torrey Pines tends to favour the longer hitters and any player dreaming of adding their name to the list of former winners will need to find plenty of greens in regulation.
Offering stunning coastal views and a host of natural beauty spots, Torrey Pines continues to be one of the most iconic stops on the PGA Tour.
The Field
With the continued absences of Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy, much of the pre-tournament spotlight has fallen on young Swedish sensation Ludvig Aberg.
Ranked sixth in the world, he is the second highest ranked player in the field with only Hideki Matsuyama placed higher in the standings.
Although Aberg feels like he has been a presence on Tour for years, this year is just his full second season and he will be looking to land a second PGA Tour title this week.
Ferocious off the tee, Aberg has a swing that is as smooth as silk but is devastatingly long. When dialled in he is one of the most accurate players in the world with an iron in his hand so there is plenty to suggest that he could find Torrey Pines exactly to his liking.
The Swede spent some time at the end of 2024 rehabbing a knee injury that required surgery so whether his knee is up to full strength remains to be seen. He heads into this week with two consecutive top ten finishes which came at the Hero World Challenge and Sentry Tournament of Champions. The bookies favourite, he will hope to capitalise on the absence of his rivals.
As we mentioned above, Hideki Matsuyama is the highest ranked player in the field and recently he seems to have rediscovered the form that saw him win the Masters title back in 2021.
The winner of the St Jude Championship back in August, he started off 2025 with a bang by winning in Hawaii at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Seemingly having found the consistency that took him right to the top of the game, every time that the Japanese star tees it up his chances have to be respected.
Like Aberg, the set up across both the North and South Courses shouldn’t hold any fears for Matsuyama and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him have another big week.
Completing the betting and rounding out the top three is Sungjae Im. Long regarded as one of the iron men on the PGA Tour, Im often flies under the radar, but he can be one of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour as was evident at the Sentry Tournament of Champions when he finished third.
Usually a safe bet to make the cut at any event that he plays, it was surprising that the South Korean struggled at the Sony Open and he saw his tournament end after just 36 holes.
He arrives at San Diego with plenty to prove. After having missed the cut last week he also missed the cut at this tournament 12 months ago. If he finds himself in the mix, he could be one to watch with real interest this week.
Value Picks
With some of the very best players in the world absent this week, there is an opportunity for some of the Tour’s lesser lights to step into the spotlight.
One man who could be worth considering is Aaron Rai. The Englishman had his best season on the PGA Tour last year, winning his first title at the Wyndham Championship and qualifying for the season ending Tour Championship for the very first time.
Now ranked 23 in the world, Rai has a game that belongs with the very best players in the world and he will be looking to build on all of the positive momentum that he was able to gain in 2024. With serious hopes of making his first ever Ryder Cup team later this year, Rai’s accuracy should greatly come into play across both Torrey Pine courses and could be a real contender this week.
Taylor Pendrith was another first time winner on the PGA Tour last season and the burly Canadian will head to San Diego flying firmly under the radar.
One of the biggest hitters on the PGA Tour, as long as his radar is accurate, Pendrith should find himself with plenty of scoring opportunities. As he showed when winning the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, Pendrith’s putting and short game is much improved and he should have the game to compete well this week.
Shane Lowry had his most consistent year to date on the PGA Tour last season and after spending the first part of 2025 in the Middle East, Lowry will be making his first appearance of the season over in America.
Although not the longest of hitters, he isn’t a slouch off the tee but where he could come into his own is with his short game. Ideally the Irishman will be looking for the wind to blow. Having honed his craft on the wind swept links back home, Lowry has shown countless times what a force he can be on the Links and if the wind whips off the Pacific this week, look for the popular Irishman to capitalise.