Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines betting preview

The PGA heads to California this week and Pamela Maldonado has her two favorites heading into the massive tournament from Torrey Pines.

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Video Transcript

PAM MALDONADO: Welcome to the Yahoo Sportsbook Daily. It is Wednesday, January 26. I am Pam Maldonado, your gambling guide, ready to tackle some PGA. The PGA does move away from the Hawaii swing into the California swing with the Farmers Insurance Open. Similar to last week, the players will tackle two separate courses, Torrey Pines South and Torrey Pines North. Golfers will play three rounds on the south course and one round on the north course. Both courses are par 72 and over 7,200 yards.

There are two types of players which you could target for this event, the tee-box bomber, with the ability to avoid the fairway hazards because he hits the ball so long, or the short-game hero, who can get up and down. In either case, I am also looking for a solid putter, preferably one that excels on poa annua greens. It is an absolute benefit. If you are unfamiliar with poa annua surfaces, they are bumpy, it is difficult to putt on. So if you have a good putter, that definitely helps. If you have a player who excels on poa annua greens, that's even better.

The top five current odds to win this event is Jon Rahm, who leads as a seven-to-one favorite, followed by Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama, Xander Schauffele, and Bryson DeChambeau rounding out the top five. The two players that I believe can absolutely win this tournament, Jon Rahm and Tony Finau.

OK, what? Picking the favorite, how boring is that? Look, I know, but Jon Rahm is the best player on TOUR right now, and he has been for quite some time. Mix that in with the fact that he thrives on this course, and yeah, I definitely want to back some Rahm. He leads in strokes gained total here at Torrey Pines, is the third-best putter over the last couple of seasons of recorded rounds of 20 or more, which means he has experience. And the poa annua greens is his best surface.

So the game plan is, if you don't like the seven-to-one odds pre-flop, you can definitely look to the live line and potentially grab a better number after day one. Jon Rahm's odds to win are seven-to-one. Top 20, minus 200. Top 10, minus 145. I know he doesn't offer up much value, but look to the lifeline, or just fire the seven-to-one.

For Tony Finau, he has always been the bridesmaid and never been the bride, with multiple runner-up finishes. But he did get that monkey off his back in August after winning the Northern Trust. Finau is third in strokes gained total here at this course, behind Jon Rahm. In his last five finishes here at Torrey Pines, he has a T4, a T6, a T13, a T6, and a T2 just last year. In back-to-back events so far this year, Finau has gained strokes ball striking, he has been neutral around the green, and he has gained strokes putting in just last week's tournament at the American Express. And poa annua, also his best surface.

The odds for Tony Finau, for him to win, is 25-to-1. You can find top 20 at plus 140, top 10 at plus 250, and top five at plus 500. Give me some Rahm, give me some Finau. If I think a player can finish in the top 20 and top 10, then most certainly I like them for a chance to win it all.

You can follow me on Twitter over @PamelaM35. And do make sure to follow all of our content over at the Yahoo Sportsbook. Create a BetMGM account and place your first bet risk-free up to $1,000. If your bet loses, you get your bet amount up to $1,000 added back to your account in free bets. Must be 21 or older in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming only. Terms do apply. Go to BetMGM.com/Yahoo to get started, or use promo code Yahoo when making your first deposit.

Minty Bets will be back tomorrow on the Yahoo Sportsbook Daily to break down the NFC title game. But until then, goodbye and good luck with your bets.