The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 24 January 2012 /

Our man runs the rule over this week's PGA Tour action, where Phil Mickelson will be trying to make up for last year's near miss. Read Steve's thoughts here...

Tournament
The Farmers Insurance Open is the second event on the West Coast Swing. This will be the 60th staging and as always, it's staged over two courses for the first two days, with the final two rounds being played out on the tougher South Course.

Venue
Torrey Pines, La Jolla, California

Course Details
North Course, par 72, 6874 yards, stroke average in 2011 - 70.99
South Course, par 72, 7569 yards, stroke average in 2011 - 72.79

Both courses were designed by Billy Bell Jr. and were opened in 1957. The South Course was extensively revamped in 2001 by Rees Jones after it had been awarded the 2008 US Open (won by Tiger Woods). When betting in-running, bear in mind the differential in scoring, the shorter South Course usually plays a couple of shots easier.

TV Coverage
Live on Sky Sports all four days, 8.00pm on Thursday and Friday and 6.00pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Last Five Winners
2011 - Bubba Watson -16
2010 - Ben Crane -13
2009 - Nick Watney -11
2008 - Tiger Woods -19
2007 - Tiger Woods -15

Typical Winner
Winners at Torrey Pines tend to have a touch of class about them and every year between 1996 and 2008 the event was won by someone that had already won a major. The last three have bucked that trend but they're all still top drawer multiple winners.

Given the South Course is the longest course on the PGA Tour, bombing it off the tee is not going to inconvenience but the stat that counted last year was Greens In Regulation. The first four home (Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Jhonattan Vegas and Dustin Johnson - all big hitters) were ranked 1st, tied 2nd, tied 2nd and tied 4th respectfully for GIR.

Market leaders
With Tiger Woods cashing in to the tune of a reputed £1.3m to play at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, previous winners, Nick Watney (2009) and Phil Mickelson (1993, 2000 & 2001) vie for favouritism in what is a very open betting heat. Course specialists Brandt Snedeker and Charles Howell III, as well as the last two winners Watson and Crane all have obvious claims and they all trade at around the [30.0] mark.

Selection

Phil Mickelson grew up playing Torrey Pines in junior events and it took him a while to get used to the course after the revamp in 2001 but he still has seven top-eight finishes in addition to his three wins here.

He was a shade unlucky to run into an inspired Bubba Watson last year but that runner-up finish was his best since the changes and he might just have banished old memories and got used to the new layout now.

He simply wasn't competitive last week and was never a factor after a first round 74 left him far too much to do, but he went into the event unprepared, first making an appearance at the venue on the Thursday morning.

With last week's pipe-opener under his belt I can see a completely different Lefty turning up here and I'm pleased to see he's gone back to the short putter. When interviewed in the weather break last Saturday, he talked about giving up on the mechanics of putting and returning to putting with more feel. That sounds like a good plan and I'm glad to hear it. When on-song, few players wave the wand better than Phil and there was something a bit sad about watching him mess about with the long putter. I would have taken [14.0] so I was more than happy with [16.5].

Farmers Insurance Open Selection:
Phil Mickelson @ [16.5]

I'll be back on Thursday or Friday with the In-Play Blog.

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