The Torrey Pines Golf Course gets ready for the 4th PGA Tour event of the season. The 2025 Farmers Insurance Open is held across two courses, the North and South golf courses. There is a small thing different about the Farmers Insurance Open, though.

The first round starts on a Wednesday instead of the usual Thursday. Therefore, the $9.3M ends on a Saturday. This is in place to not have any scheduling conflicts with the NFL conference championship games that are happening. But is this the only thing different for the Torrey Pines showdown? What about the format?

Will all players make it to the ‘Friday-Saturday’ weekend rounds?

Just like most of the other tournaments, the Farmers Insurance Open features a cut after two rounds. The entire field of 156 players will go through 36 holes across the two days before the top 65, with the inclusion of ties, get selected to play the remaining two rounds, and the winner will be adjudged from them.

On Wednesday, the field will split into two, with one half playing on the North Course while the other half tees off on the South Course. On day 2, the players change their course. This accounts for more fairness in the result as the South Course is known to have more difficult holes compared to the North Course.

The South Course proves to be an occasional mountain to climb that requires extreme focus. The closest example was the 3rd round in 2024, where players who made the cut shot an average of 73.55. “I’ve played Torrey Pines enough now that I know you don’t go out and shoot 4, 5-under every day you play the South Course,” Stephan Jaeger stated candidly post-round 3 after scoring an above-par 73 in 2024.

At the end of the second round, the players who made the cut will compete over the next two days on the South Course with their scores from the first two rounds carried over. The cut for the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open was 3 under par across the two rounds, showing how difficult the course is. Collin Morikawa, Nico Echavarria, Gary Woodland, and Sungjae Im all missed the cut at the last edition. The course can be very unpredictable on occasion.

With a host of big names missing from the event this year, there are a few standout players who are expected to emerge victorious.

Top picks for victory at the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open

Despite  Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Collin Morikawa missing from the field, the list comprises 9 major winners and 6 previous Farmers Insurance Open winners. Mathieu Pavon will be looking to defend his hard-earned title from last year and will have many big names to compete with.

Hideki Matsuyama is coming off a brilliant start to the 2025 PGA Tour, clinching the inaugural win at The Sentry and also finishing a respectable T16 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. The World No. 4 is the best-ranked golfer in the field but he will be tightly challenged by the World No.6 Ludvig Aberg.

The Swede has only featured in one event so far, the Sentry where he finished a resounding T5 with a score of 24 under par. He will be looking to oust Matsuyama and the rest of the field this time to claim his second PGA Tour victory.

The likes of 2025 USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, Sahith Theegala, Shane Lowry, and Tony Finau are all firm competitors in what promises to be an exciting tournament. Who do you think will win the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open?