Part of the PGA Tour’s “West Coast Swing,” the Farmers Insurance Open has become one of the most widely recognized professional golf events hosted in California.
Some of the biggest names in golf hit up San Diego and the famed Torrey Pines Golf Course for a shot at the $8.4 million prize purse. California sports bettors can get in on the action, too, by betting with online sportsbooks and betting apps.
Below check out more about betting on the Farmers Insurance Open, including all the bets you can make, plus current player odds direct from legal California online sportsbooks (when live).
Odds to win Farmers Insurance Open 2023
See below for live odds for the Farmers Insurance Open. Click on any odds to go directly to the sportsbook, sign up for a new account, and claim your sports betting welcome bonuses.
Farmers Insurance Open favorites
Predicting the winner of any professional golf event is a very difficult task. Many of the best golfers in the world show up for events like the Farmers Insurance Open, and some of them are going to have amazing days. So will the lesser-known golfers (like we mentioned above about underdogs).
That doesn’t mean you can’t take a long look at some favorites who could be in the running for the top spot at the end of the tournament. Below, we have four golfers we think will be in contention for winning the Farmers Insurance Open.
- Jon Rahm: The experts are always pretty high on Rahm when it comes to the Farmers Insurance Open. In 2020, he held +750 odds to win. In 2021, he was the overall favorite at +700. In 2022, he was again the favorite at +650. Rahm did win the event in 2017, earning the top spot by three strokes. If the pundits are right, he’ll eventually be hoisting the first-place trophy once again.
- Xander Schauffele: A quality golfer with a lot of potential, Schauffele has never won the Farmers Insurance Open, but he did finish tied as a runner-up in 2021. As of June 2022, he has collected five PGA tour wins and one international win. He’s almost always going to be in the running for a top 20 finish and has all the tools to eventually win the event.
- Hideki Matsuyama: The fact that this Japanese golfing superstar hasn’t won this event yet (as of 2022) is pretty surprising. He is always considered in the top spots by the oddsmakers, and his record of eight PGA Tour victories, eight international victories, and one other additional victory place him among the current elite in the sport. Even the most skeptical bettor has to start considering that Matsuyama’s time is eventually going to come.
- Maverick McNealy: This is a little more of a long shot, but the Stanford University grad has been on the cusp of winning several PGA events. In fact, as of June 2022, he has two second-place finishes and seven top 10 during his relatively young career. He carried +4500 odds by DraftKings for the 2022 edition of tournament, which was better Farmers Insurance Open odds than the eventual winners of the 2022 and 2020 tournaments.
How to bet on the Farmers Insurance Open
If you bet on the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL, you’ll know that many of the bet types for those major sports are pretty similar. Betting on golf is a bit different, however.
As it’s primarily an individual sport, golf features multiple unique bet types.
Below, you’ll find some of the most popular bet types you can expect to see posted at legal California sportsbooks for the Farmers Insurance Open.
- Top five/10/20: Trying to choose which golfer is going to be the outright winner of the Farmers Insurance Open is no small task. In fact, it can be downright impossible-feeling sometimes. That’s why the 5/10/20 bet is such a relief. It allows you to choose a golfer and pick if you believe he will place in the top five, top 10, or even the top 20. The payouts for the top five are the best of this bunch, but you will find decent value with any of these opportunities.
- Head to head: Sportsbooks like FanDuel and BetMGM know that it can be frustrating to try to bet on golf when the entire field is made up of incredible professionals. That’s why the head-to-head bet is so popular. You get two golfers and you choose which one you believe will have the better showing and the higher finish. If you’re right, you win.
- Prop bets: These are side bets you can make with a sportsbook, and they are hardly exclusive to golf. However, that doesn’t make them any less appealing. Some of these bets are focused on the event itself, like if there will be a hole-in-one during a certain round. Others are on the golfers, like over/under bets on strokes.
- First-round leader: This bet asks you to choose which golfer will be in the lead after the first round concludes. That doesn’t mean he has to go on and be the overall winner of the Farmers Insurance Open. Instead, he just needs to have the top spot when the final numbers are tallied at the end of the first day of play.
- Three ball betting: We talked about how the head-to-head bet allows you to pick one golfer to do better than another. This bet gives you three golfers to choose from with the winning bets being on the golfer who has the highest finish out of the trio.
- Each way: Here, you pick a golfer who you think stands a chance at winning outright. But you also get a little insurance, so you will still get a win if they place. Most sportsbooks put that placement in the top five, but others are a bit more generous. Make sure you know what the bet requirements are before risking your money.
Farmers Insurance Open betting trends
There’s a good reason that the Farmers Insurance Open is so popular on the PGA Tour and with bettors across the country. If you’re thinking about placing a couple of bets on golf, then we have three Farmers Insurance Open betting tips we would like to share.
1. Past winners don’t often repeat (though it definitely happens): Since the Farmers Insurance Open first started in 1952 (as the San Diego Open), there have been only nine players to win more than once. Out of those who have won it twice, Jason Day (2015 and 2018) and Brandt Snedeker (2012 and 2016), who also beat Pebble Beach Pro-Am odds with two wins in three years, were the only ones in the 2000s.
Phil Mickelson won the event three times—1993, 2000, and 2001. The outright owner of the record for most wins is Tiger Woods, who took the top spot seven times during his career with wins in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2013.
That said, golfers like Woods don’t show up every year (or even every lifetime), so it’s unlikely anyone is going to challenge that record anytime soon. Those five players combined to win 12 Farmer Insurance Open titles since 2000, which is impressive but also a trend not likely to continue, especially with the quality of golfers consistently on the rise in the PGA.
Since Tiger Woods stopped winning all the titles in 2013, only Day and Snedeker have repeated as champions.
2. You don’t need to pick the winner: Unlike with many sporting events, you’re not required to pick the winner of the Farmers Insurance Open if you’re looking to win some bets. Instead, you can go with a bet focused on where a golfer might place or how he’ll do in head-to-head competition with another golfer. Choosing the winner is difficult for any professional golf event, so give yourself better chances with a little leeway.
3. Long shots can win, too: Underdogs surprise us in some of the biggest PGA Tour events every year. Take 2022, for example. Luke List’s opening odds at DraftKings online sportsbook were a whopping +7000. He went on to win over Will Zalatoris (+3500 opening odds) in a playoff to decide the championship. In 2021, Patrick Reed took the championship after opening with +2500 betting odds. In 2020, it was Marc Leishman (+5500).
Where to bet on the Farmers Insurance Open online in California
When you decide which sportsbook best fits your needs, click its link right here on our site and be taken to the homepage. From there, you can sign up for a new account.
The process involves you providing some personal information, such as your name, address, phone number, and Social Security number, as well as accepting the sportsbook’s terms and conditions.
Once you’ve completed those steps, you’ll be able to claim your bonuses—following our link provides you with the best current bonuses available—and make your first deposit. Download the betting app for your California sportsbook, and you’ll be ready to start betting anywhere within state lines.
To find events like the Farmers Insurance Open, find the sportsbook’s list of available sports, click on the “Golf” tab and then choose the PGA. All of the available events and betting opportunities will be found there. This should include the opportunity to place live bets on golf tournaments via CA mobile sports betting apps, once legalized.
PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open history
The Farmers Insurance Open began in 1952 as the San Diego Open, a name that it kept until 1985 when sponsors began employing naming rights.
Sponsors have included Wickes, Isuzu, Shearson Lehman Brothers, Buick, and eventually Farmers Insurance in 2010.
The event is organized by The Century Club of San Diego, a charitable organization founded in 1961. The event is played on the Torrey Pines Golf Course with the North and South Courses being used over the years. Mark Brooks and Brandt Snedeker hold the North Course record for the tournament at 61, while Tiger Woods holds the South Course record with a 62.
There has been only a single amateur winner of the event, which happened in 1954 when Gene Littler took the top spot. The San Diego native turned pro and went on to take the runner-up spot three times in 1969, 1974, and 1978.
The PGA Tour “West Coast Swing” event is played annually in January.
Last 10 Farmers Insurance Open winners
The past 10 winners of the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open have included some fairly big names, but also a few long shots. Below, we take a look at each of the golfers who have hoisted the championship trophy over the past 10 editions.
Year | Player | Final Score |
---|---|---|
2022 | Luke List | -15 |
2021 | Patrick Reed | -14 |
2020 | Marc Leishman | -15 |
2019 | Justin Rose | -21 |
2018 | Jason Day | -10 |
2017 | Jon Rahm | -13 |
2016 | Brandt Snedeker | -6 |
2015 | Jason Day | -9 |
2014 | Scott Stallings | -9 |
2013 | Tiger Woods | -14 |
Long-shot winners of the Farmers Insurance Open
Like all PGA Tour events, the Farmers Insurance Open has had its fair share of unexpected victories by long shots.
In 2022, Luke List was a +7000 in the opening lines for the tournament. He went on to win in a playoff over Will Zalatoris. In 2020, Marc Leishman, who beat Jon Rahm by a single stroke, stood at +5500 in the opening lines. And Rahm, who won it in 2017 and has been one of the favorites nearly every year since, was a +4500 the year he took the top spot.
Truth be told, the field is almost always stacked with some of the best golfers in the world. The winners typically haven’t been the longest shots out there. That doesn’t mean there isn’t value in the long shots, however, as recent history has shown.