Farmers Insurance Open: Justin Thomas tipped to steal the headlines from Tiger Woods

There are storylines aplenty ahead of the Farmers Insurance Open, played at the wonderful Torrey Pines.

This was once Tiger Woods’ playground. Famously, he won the US Open virtually on one leg here in 2008 while in terms of this event he’s won the title no fewer than seven times, the most recent of which came in comfortable fashion two years ago.

But after a shocking performance in Phoenix last week, can we back Tiger even at a whopping 50? The answer has to be no, not until he’s shown at least some signs of encouragement with his short game which was behind many of his triumphs here.

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In his absence from the front of the betting, Jordan Spieth takes the honour of favouritism and he played well to a point here last season before fading at the weekend.

The young American has since added a further two titles to his impressive CV and is the man to beat even if there are one or two concerns around the suitability of what are usually quite bumpy greens.

All of this means that Dustin Johnson’s long awaited return to the PGA Tour may receive slightly less attention and that suits just fine.

DJ has been off since last July but returns at a course which favours his power game and saw him finish third to fellow bomber Bubba Watson back in 2011.

Of course, there’s a chance he’ll be too rusty to win but at 33/1 that’s a chance worth taking, particularly given that in practice he’s been shooting course records around Sherwood Country Club, another old favourite of Tiger’s.

Justin Thomas, a 33/1 shot with Sky Bet, has made a name for himself in no time and this may be his best opportunity yet on the PGA Tour.

One of the best amateurs in the world before turning professional, Thomas secured promotion to the top table via the Web.com Tour at the first time of asking thanks to number of strong performances including a victory on a tough course.

Rewind 12 months and Thomas finished 10th here on a sponsors’ invite, no doubt making the most of the course knowledge he built up when playing Torrey Pines in the Junior World Golf Championships.

Yet again, Thomas contended for his first PGA Tour win last week and while it wasn’t to be, the fact that fellow youngster Brooks Koepka took the title confirms that these are stars of the present as well as stars of the future.

Morgan Hoffmann was once considered a potential star, too, and he’s got time on his side to confirm that suspicion.

A former team-mate of Rickie Fowler, who remains a close friend, Hoffmann has so far proven to be at his most dangerous on tough layouts including here at Torrey Pines, where he was inside the top 20 last season.

Given that Hoffmann has since produced the best performances of his career in the FedEx Cup, he’s worth an each-way bet at 150/1.

So too are both Tony Finau and Aaron Baddeley.

Like Thomas, Finau is a rising star who might find Torrey Pines the most suitable test he’s so far faced, while Baddeley knows the layout well and is progressing with 17th place in Phoenix last week a nice preparation for this.

See all Sky Bet's odds for the Farmers Insurance Open here