Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com expert prognosticator Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network dedicated to sports and sports betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on Twitter at @LasVegasGolferand you can read his picks below for the 2026 Farmers Insurance Open, which begins Thursday in La Jolla, California. Along with Kannon’s recommended shows, you’ll also see promotions from Chirp Golf, a mobile app featuring free and daily fantasy golf contests where you can win money and prizes with every round and tournament.
The pre-season is over and it’s nothing but golf for the big boys on the PGA Tour for the next two months as the drive towards the first major championship of the season begins. Tourist golf and bird parties give way Torrey Pinesa 7,765-yard par-72 beast and two-time US Open venue perched high above the shores of the Pacific Ocean in beautiful La Jolla, California.
It is the 2026 edition of Open Farmers Insurance and the leader this year is one Brooks Koepka, making his first PGA Tour appearance since announcing his departure from the LIV circuit just over a month ago. The five-time major champion has missed the cut here at Torrey Pines in his last three appearances, although he finished fourth here in 2021 when the South Course hosted the US Open.
The South Course will account for three of the four rounds played this week. Each player will play the North Course once before the 36-hole cut on Friday afternoon. I have always felt that Total Driving was one of the most important skill sets on this golf course. Obviously, it’s a very long course and the fairways are also tight and the rough is thick, so driving it long and straight is a big factor this week. The greens are Poa Annua, which is a typical beach sponge-type surface that many players struggle with when putting. Seven of the par 4s on the South Course measure over 450 yards and many of the approach shots on this course will come from 200 yards or more. A lack of greens in regulation will be common with that type of approach difficulty and so Scrambling becomes another key factor when assembling some of the most important skill sets this week.
The connection between Torrey Pines and some of the related courses this week is strong. Some of my favorites are Hollow Clubhome of the Truist Championship, which used to be Wells Fargo – and was also the site of last year’s PGA Championship (won by a guy named Scheffler). AND Country Club of Jacksonwhich hosts the Sanderson Farms Championship. We see many of the same names appearing on the leaderboards between these three tournament venues. I also used two previous US Open venues, Los Angeles Country Club AND Foot with wings. Finally I added Corales Golf Clubwhere they play the Puntacana Championship. Both Torrey Pines and Corales are particularly long coastal golf courses with atypical putting surfaces.
It was last season that we hit Harris English here at Farmers at 110-1. I’m going to try another triple-digit bomb this year with a couple on this week’s card.
Taylor Pendrith (40-1)
The big Canadian has been a regular at the top of the leaderboard at Torrey Pines in recent years. He has never missed a cut here in four tries and has finished as high as seventh, ninth and 16th. He has been 10th and fifth at Quail Hollow, 11th at Corales and finished 23rd at Winged Foot at the 2020 US Open. Over the past 24 rounds, Pendrith ranks 18th in the field for driving distance, 48th in Scrambling and 36th in strokes gained: putting (Poa Annua). He is off to a good start again this season, as he was two weeks ago in Hawaii where Pendrith finished sixth.
Keegan Bradley (46-1)
Total Driving has been a signature of the 2025 USA Ryder Cup team captain’s game since he arrived on Tour. He ranked 31st in the county in that category last season. Bradley has finished in the top 10 here at Torrey Pines three times in his career and also three times in the top 20. Last season, he finished eighth in the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow and he has been in the top 5 twice at Sanderson Farms. Over the last 24 rounds, Bradley ranks 30th in the field for Scrambling and 24th for Bogey Avoidance.
Nicolai Hojgaard (50-1)
Two years ago I picked Hojgaard to win here and he finished runner-up. He also finished runner-up at Corales and was 41st at Quail Hollow in last year’s PGA Championship. Just last week, Hojgaard took fourth at the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour, so I like the form he’s coming in. Over the past 24 rounds, he ranks 37th in the field for SG: Putting (Poa Annua), 11th for SG: Approach, eighth for Driving Distance, and 28th for Driving Distance and 28th by Holi00.
Patrick Rodgers (65-1)
I can’t remember if I’ve ever picked Rodgers to win before and now I’m going with him for the second time in as many weeks. He is an excellent driver of the golf ball, ranking 33rd on Tour last season in Total Driving. He comes into this week ranked 10th in the field for SG: Off the Tee and 12th for SG: Approach. He has finished in the top 9 here four times when you include his third place finish last year at the Genesis Invitational, which was moved to this golf course. Rodgers has finished runner-up at Quail Hollow, top 20 twice at Sanderson Farms and was 11th at Corales Puntacana.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (105-1)
And here comes the triple digits. Will we see two long shots in a row at Torrey Pines? Bezuidenhout is not a big hitter, but he is very accurate off the tee and ranks 18th in the field over the last 24 rounds for SG: Approach – where he is also fifth in 450-500 yard Par 4s and seventh in Bogey Avoidance. Bezuidenhout has been 16th at Quail Hollow and twice finished sixth at Sanderson Farms. Ranked 50th in the field for SG:Putting (Poa Annua), he has had very solid past results both here at Torrey Pines and at Pebble Beach, which also features a pure Poa Annua putting surface.
Andrew Novak (108-1)
The PGA Tour newcomer finished third and 13th here last season at the Farmers Insurance Open and then at the Genesis Invitational three weeks later. Shortly thereafter, he earned his first Tour victory in the team event at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Novak then finished last season strong with two top-10s at the FedEx St. Jude and in his hometown at the RSM Classic in Sea Island. He is 20th in the field for Hole Proximity from 200+ yards in the last 24 rounds and is a great putter, showing that on the Poa Annua surface at Torrey Pines as well as at Pebble Beach, where he finished 13th last season. I have a feeling that a solo victory is coming for the young man in 2026.
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