The second round of the Farmers Insurance Open saw much of the same course splits on Thursday as we saw during Wednesday's opening round. Most of the day's best scores came on the North Course, while much of the field on the South Course had to grind throughout their rounds.
Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas were able to enjoy low rounds on the North as they vaulted into the lead and will play in the final group on Friday. They will be joined by Adam Schenk who is the surprise of the week thus far after a 10-under 62 got him to 13-under through two rounds.
All three players share the lead going into the third round and are joined by just a couple others at double digits under par. Everyone will be set to play the final two rounds on the South Course, leveling the playing field to some degree as we head into the final 36 holes.
We only have one round of strokes gained data to work with at this stage, but it does give us a feel of who is really playing well, especially on the most important course. We'll do one last round of best bets going into Friday, then get back to the traditional buys and fades before Saturday's final round.
Best Bets
Jason Day +5000 (BetRivers)
As the saying goes, beware of the injured golfer, and I think that always applies with Jason Day. It's unfortunate the amount of health struggles he's had in his career, but if there is one place where those issues don't seem to matter very often, it's Torrey Pines.
Day has won this event twice and finished in the top 10 three more times in his career. He looks to have some of that similarly strong form going into the third round as he sits T6, and just four shots back of the lead.
The Australian has put together back to back solid rounds, certainly boosted by a strong round on the North Course on Friday. Still, his two-under 70 was better on Wednesday than the score indicates as he was strong on approach and just needed a few more putts to really be in good position. We know players can come from behind to win this event, and it's hard to argue with the experience of Day at this venue and price.
Ryan Palmer — Top 10 +200 (BetMGM)
Ryan Palmer is another player who loves to play Torrey Pines. He always seems to find himself in the mix and is certainly in the conversation at the halfway mark of this year's Farmers Insurance Open. He currently sits T12, just one shot from the top 10, on a site that pays all ties in full. I love his opportunity to move up the leaderboard over the next two days and wouldn't blame you at all if you want to get more aggressive than this.
Palmer was the best player in the field on the South Course tee to green on Thursday and will look to duplicate that on Friday. His issue, as is often the case, was with a putter that lost nearly a full stroke to the field. If he can find just a little better stroke on the greens while holding strong with his ball striking, Palmer can be in the mix all the way up to his +6600 odds to win.
