The PGA TOUR’s West Coast swing continues this week with a trip to Torrey Pines Golf Club in the suburbs of San Diego for this year’s Farmers Insurance Open. After Scottie Scheffler got the win last week at The American Express, he’ll take this week off before a stretch of big tournaments starting with the WM Phoenix Open next week. This week, though, there is still a strong field set up to take on Torrey, including a group making their first start of the season led by Xander Schauffele. With a solid field and an iconic course, it should be a great week of fantasy golf, so let’s dive into a few of the top options for tournament lineups, according to the FantasyLabs models.
The sweeping vistas of the Pacific Ocean and the beautiful course layout will present a real challenge for the players this week, so don’t expect a birdie fest like last week. To get a full field through the first two rounds, the event uses both the North and South courses at Torrey Pines, with each player getting a round on each track before the cut after Round 2. For more on the field, format, courses, and what to look for from a statistical perspective this week, check out this First Look from RotoGrinders.
Especially in large-field GPP tournaments, you’ll want to make sure to target players who have lower ownership projections than their potential performance suggests. Finding high-leverage plays is critical for GPP success, so the picks here go against the grain, looking for under-owned options.
Usually, I rely heavily on the Strokes Gained Model in FantasyLabs, which is very predictive of results. I also tend to lean toward players who excel in Strokes Gained: Approach, which is more sustainable week to week than a hot putter.
Since these are GPP picks, we can accept more risk in exchange for getting a higher ceiling. High-risk, high-reward options with low ownership create the “boom-or-bust” style lineups that often lead to large-field success. To find guidance for all contest types, check out our full Daily Fantasy Golf coverage each week.
No matter what type of format you prefer, be sure to use the FantasyLabs PGA Models to help you make the best choices. These models use stats and simulations to highlight different players’ strengths and weaknesses. A few critical new stats for GPP play are Perfect% and SimLeverage, which are further explained here.
As you dig into the numbers, you can enjoy the many tools FantasyLabs offers, including the Lineup Optimizer, which effortlessly creates up to 300 lineups. Alternatively, you can use the Lineup Builder if you prefer a more hands-on approach.
Check out my top picks in each price range listed below.
Editor’s note: SimLeverage and Perfect% numbers may change after this piece is published. Be sure to check the PGA Models for any updates to the sims.n
High-Priced PGA DFS Picks
Jason Day $9,600
Four players have salaries of at least $10,000, and the top three have heavy ownership projections. Cameron Young is an interesting contrarian play with upside, but at just under $10,000, going with Day as the center of your build saves a little salary, and his ownership projection is even lower than Young’s. Maybe it’s the always-present injury risk, the questionable fashion choices, or the fact that he has just one win since 2018, but for whatever reason, the public isn’t riding with J. Day this week, leaving him as a great pivot play with upside.
Day ranks in the top 10 in Perfect% and the top 12 in SimLeverage this week, and he’s coming off a very strong week at PGA WEST, where he finished second behind Scheffler. Day’s best two rounds of the week came at the most difficult course in the rotation, as he scorched the Pete Dye Tournament Course with a 63 on Thursday and a 64 on Sunday.
This week, Day will face another difficult track, but one where he has thrived in the past. The 38-year-old has made the cut in 11 of his 16 career appearances at Torrey Pines and won this event in 2015 and 2018, triumphing in a playoff both times. He has a total of five top-five finishes as part of seven top-10 finishes at this event. Recently, he had two of those top-10 finishes in 2022 and 2023 before missing the cut in 2024 and finishing T32 last year.
Day definitely brings the length needed to contend on this course, and players with good course history seem to always be around the top of the leaderboard at this track. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and Strokes Gained: Putting in the two measured rounds last week, and if he can have that kind of sharp short game to go with his driving distance and veteran savvy, look for another big week from Day at Torrey Pines.
J.J. Spaun $9,400
Of all the players in the $9,000s, Spaun has the top Perfect%, coming in just behind the four players at the very top of the salary structure. Spaun has the highest SimLeverage of all the players in the 8-10k range since his ownership projection is very palatable at just over 17%.
After his breakthrough in 2025, Spaun started 2026 with a trip to Hawaii, where he finished T40 but opened and closed his week with impressive 66s. Spaun finished 2025 strong during the FedExCup Fall with a T6 at the Procore Championship, a T11 at the World Wide Technology Championship and a T4 at the unofficial Hero World Challenge.
Over all rounds played in the last 12 months, Spaun ranks second in the field in Total Strokes Gained and sixth in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and Strokes Gained: Approach. He’ll look to continue that momentum this week, and he should be comfortable at Torrey Pines, where he has three career top-25 finishes, including a T15 last season.
His win at the U.S. Open shows he can battle in the toughest conditions, and his track record indicates he can succeed at this venue. He’s not getting a ton of attention, but he’s a very solid play from this tier, and his salary can help him fit nicely in balanced builds or as an affordable star in a stars and scrubs construction.
Now available: our PGA DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.
Mid-Priced PGA DFS Picks
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