Farmers Insurance Open Preview 2021
Dates: January 25-31, 2021
Where: San Diego, California
Courses: Torrey Pines (South): 72/7,765 (host) Torrey Pines (North): 72/7,258
Field: 156 players
Defending champion: Marc Leishman
Purse: $7,500,000 ($1,350,000/winner)
FedExCup: 500 points to the winner Format: 72-hole stroke play
Things to Know
- Field headlined by 2017 Farmers Insurance Open winner and World No. 2 Jon Rahm
- Rory McIlroy makes first PGA TOUR start since the Masters Tournament in November; has earned a top-five in each of the last two seasons at the Farmers Insurance Open
- Three-time Farmers Insurance Open winner Phil Mickelson returns to the event for 31st start
- Each of the last four winners of the event have been from countries outside of the United States; one of three active PGA TOUR events with four or more consecutive international champions (Arnold Palmer Invitational/5, Farmers Insurance Open/4, Valspar Championship/4)
- Australian Marc Leishman won on Australia Day in 2020 to claim his fifth career PGA TOUR title
- Torrey Pines (South) is scheduled to host the U.S. Open in June
Field Notes
- 15 of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings, led by No. 3 Harris English and No. 8 Viktor Hovland
- 24 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, led by No. 2 Jon Rahm, No. 6 Xander Schauffele and No. 7 Rory McIlroy
- Eight past Farmers Insurance Open champions: Phil Mickelson (1993, 2000, 2001), Nick Watney (2009), Bubba Watson (2011), Scott Stallings (2014), Brandt Snedeker (2012, 2016), Jon Rahm (2017), Jason Day (2015, 2018), Marc Leishman (2020)
- Seven winners during the 2020-21 season: Harris English, Viktor Hovland, Si Woo Kim, Jason Kokrak, Martin Laird, Carlos Ortiz, Robert Streb
- Four FedExCup champions: Brandt Snedeker (2012), Billy Horschel (2014), Jordan Spieth (2015), Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019)
- Seven players with 10 or more PGA TOUR wins: Phil Mickelson (44), Rory McIlroy (18), Adam Scott (14), Jason Day (12), Steve Stricker (12), Bubba Watson (12), Jordan Spieth (11)
- 15 major champions, led by Phil Mickelson (5), Brooks Koepka (4) and Rory McIlroy (4)
Current FedExCup standings
| Position | Player | Points | Wins | Top-10s | Points Behind | Starts |
| 1 | Dustin Johnson | 1,018 | 1 | 3 | — | 4 |
| 2 | Patrick Cantlay | 1,017 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | Harris English | 960 | 1 | 5 | 58 | 8 |
| 4 | Joaquin Niemann | 826 | — | 3 | 192 | 8 |
| 5 | Justin Thomas | 784 | — | 4 | 234 | 6 |
| 6 | Bryson DeChambeau | 783 | 1 | 3 | 235 | 4 |
| 7 | Stewart Cink | 737 | 1 | 2 | 281 | 8 |
| 8 | Viktor Hovland | 706 | 1 | 1 | 312 | 6 |
| 9 | Si Woo Kim | 705 | 1 | 2 | 313 | 9 |
| 10 | Carlos Ortiz | 686 | 1 | 2 | 332 | 9 |
Farmers Insurance Open and the FedExCup
- 16th of 50 official PGA TOUR events in the 2020-21 season
- Two players – Tiger Woods (2007) and Brandt Snedeker (2012) – have won the Farmers Insurance Open and the FedExCup in the same season
- 12 of the 14 Farmers Insurance Open champions in the FedExCup era have qualified for the TOUR Championship (all but Tiger Woods/2008 and Scott Stallings/2014); after winning the event in 2008, Tiger Woods was unable to compete in the FedExCup Playoffs due to injury
A look back at 2020 Farmers Insurance Open
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
| 1 | Marc Leishman | 68 | 72 | 68 | 65 | 273 (-15) |
| 2 | Jon Rahm | 68 | 71 | 65 | 70 | 274 (-14) |
| T3 | Brandt Snedeker | 69 | 67 | 72 | 68 | 276 (-12) |
| T3 | Rory McIlroy | 67 | 73 | 67 | 69 | 276 (-12) |
- Marc Leishman began the final round four strokes off the lead and recorded a 7-under 65 to winy by one stroke at 15-under 273
- The 7-under 65 marked his lowest score in 44 rounds in the event
- Fifth career PGA TOUR win came in his 276th PGA TOUR start at the age of 36 years, 3 months, 2 days
- Became the fourth consecutive international winner of the Farmers Insurance Open and second in that span to hail from Australia (Jon Rahm/2017, Jason Day/2018, Justin Rose/2019, Leishman/2020)
More on Marc Leishman
- Posted a win (Farmers Insurance Open), runner-up (Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard) and solo-third (Safeway Open) last season en route to a 29th-place finish in the FedExCup, his fourth consecutive season qualifying for the TOUR Championship
- Best finish in 2020-21 season is T4 at the Sony Open in Hawaii
- Has at least one top-10 in each of his 13 seasons on the PGA TOUR and his next top-10 will be 50th of his career
- One win (2020) and two T2s (2010, 2014) in 12 starts at Farmers Insurance Open
Player Notes
Jon Rahm
- Earned first of five PGA TOUR titles at the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open after making a 60-foot, 8-inch eagle putt on the 72nd hole
- Makes 96th PGA TOUR start and fifth appearance at Farmers Insurance Open (Won/2017, T29/2018, T5/2019, 2nd/2020)
- Three scores of 65 or better in 16 rounds at Farmers Insurance Open (65/R4/2017, 62/R1/2019, 65/R3/2020)
- Comes into this week off three consecutive top-10 results (T2/ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD, T7/Masters Tournament, T7/Sentry Tournament of Champions)
Xander Schauffele
- San Diego native’s first-round 69 in 2019 marks his only sub-70 score in 12 rounds at Farmers Insurance Open; followed with three rounds of 70 to finish T25, marking his only made cut in five appearances at Torrey Pines
- Four-time TOUR winner owns three top-five results in five starts this season (5th/U.S. Open, 2nd/THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK, T5/Sentry Tournament of Champions)
- Has not finished outside the top 25 since the 2020 RBC Heritage (T64), a span of 13 starts
- Has not missed a cut on the PGA TOUR since the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open, a span of 19 starts (second-longest active streak on TOUR; 23/Rory McIlroy)
Rory McIlroy
- Seeks his 19th career PGA TOUR win
- Made two starts at the Farmers Insurance Open – T5 (2019) and T3 (2020)
- Finished T5 at 2020 Masters Tournament in his most recent start on TOUR
- Finished third at last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the European Tour
Phil Mickelson
- Makes 31st appearance at Farmers Insurance Open, winning the event three times (1993, 2000, 2001)
- 44-time TOUR winner joins Tiger Woods (seven) as one of two players with three or more wins at Farmers Insurance Open
- Missed the cut at last week’s The American Express, his first PGA TOUR start since 2020 Masters Tournament (T55)
- Tied with Tiger Woods for most PGA TOUR wins in California since 1983 (14)
Tony Finau
- Enters the Farmers Insurance Open with three top-10s in seven starts this season, including a fourth-place finish at last week’s The American Express after holding a share of the 54-hole lead
- Owns 35 top-10s since his lone win on the PGA TOUR (2016 Puerto Rico Open)
- Has not finished outside the top 25 in six appearances at Farmers Insurance Open (T6/2020, T13/2019, T6/2018, T4/2017, T18/2016, T24/2015)
Brandt Snedeker
- 2012 and 2016 Farmers Insurance Open winner
- Makes 15th consecutive start at this event and has eight total top-10s
- Attempting to join Tiger Woods (seven) and Phil Mickelson (three) as the only players with three or more victories at the Farmers Insurance Open
- Searching for his first top-10 in his 10th start this season; since becoming a PGA TOUR member in 2007, has never gone a season without posting at least three top-10 results
Willie Mack III
- Makes PGA TOUR debut as a sponsor exemption after the withdrawal of Kamaiu Johnson
- Has made starts on the Korn Ferry Tour (1) and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica (3)
- Currently competes on the Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour and Florida Professional Golf Tour, earning Player of the Year honors for both tours in 2019
- Flint, Michigan native played college golf at Bethune-Cookman, winning 11 titles as a Wildcat
- Recently announced by tournament host Tiger Woods as the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption in The 2021 Genesis Invitational
Miscellaneous Notes
- Five of the last six Farmers Insurance Open champions have been international players, including each of the last four (2020/Marc Leishman/Australia, 2019/Justin Rose/England, 2018/Jason Day/Australia, 2017/Jon Rahm/Spain); prior to 2015, the last international winner of the Farmers Insurance Open was Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal in 2002
- Si Woo Kim won last week’s The American Express for his third TOUR title and moved to No. 9 in the FedExCup standings; the best result for the 2017 THE PLAYERS Championship winner in four appearances at the Farmers Insurance Open is T18 in his tournament debut in 2016
- Patrick Reed has three consecutive top-25 finishes at the event (T23/2018, T13/2019, T6/2020)
- Adam Scott finished second in his only start at the event (2019)
- Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka makes third appearance at Farmers Insurance Open and first since 2017 (MC)
- 2020 U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci makes his third start on PGA TOUR (2018 Valspar Championship/MC, 2018 U.S. Open/MC); became fourth Georgia Tech player to claim the U.S. Amateur title (Bobby Jones/five times, Matt Kuchar, Andy Ogletree) and plans to remain an amateur to compete in Walker Cup at Seminole later this year
- Will Zalatoris, who finished T6 at the 2020 U.S. Open and earned PGA TOUR Special Temporary Membership after the 2020 Bermuda Championship, made his first TOUR start as a professional at the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open (MC)
Tournament Records and History
- 18-hole score: 61 (Mark Brooks/R2/1990, Brandt Snedeker/R1/2007)
- 36-hole score: 129 (Lennie Clements/1996, Tom Lehman/2005, Justin Rose/2019)
- 54-hole score: 198 (Woody Blackburn/1985, Tiger Woods/2008, Kyle Stanley/2012, Justin Rose/2019)
- 72-hole score: 266 (George Burns/1987, Tiger Woods/1999)
- Largest margin of victory: 8 (Tiger Woods/2008)
- Wire-to-wire winners: 3 (Ted Kroll/1952, Tommy Bolt/1953, Bolt/1955)
- Holes-in-one: 23 since 1984 (most recent, Richy Werenski/R4/No. 8/2020)
The Farmers Insurance Open Preview 2021 is via PGA TOUR
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