Top Farmers Insurance Open Golf One and Done Picks (2026)

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from PoolGenius, whose subscribers have reported more than $10 million in pool winnings across all sports using their tools.

Farmers Insurance Open One and Done picks are now live, and this is another early-season week that looks straightforward until you step back and consider the full season.

The 2026 Farmers Insurance Open heads to Torrey Pines with a $9.6 million total purse and $1.674 million going to the winner. That places it firmly in the second tier of PGA Tour prize money.

In Golf One and Done pools, that matters. You are not only picking a golfer you think can win this week. You are deciding which golfer you are willing to give up for the rest of the season.

Best Farmers Insurance Open One and Done Picks

With no Scottie Scheffler in the field, the odds board opens up quickly. Xander Schauffele leads the way, followed closely by Ludvig Åberg, with several elite names clustered just behind them. 

On the surface, it feels like a reasonable spot to grab one of the top options and move on.

However, that could be a mistake. 

The Early Season Trap in One and Done Pools

We have already seen this pattern earlier in the season.

At the Sony Open, many players ignored purse context and used premium golfers because the odds and course fit looked appealing. Russell Henley became one of the most popular picks in several large pools, despite being ranked as a top 15-20 season-long asset by PoolGenius.

The outcome was not disastrous, but it was inefficient. A high-value golfer was spent at a low-leverage event, limiting flexibility later in the year.

The Farmers Insurance Open presents the same decision point.

Even without Scheffler in the field, several golfers near the top of the odds board are players you are very likely to want later, when prize money increases, and each pick carries more weight.

How to Know Which Golfers to Use or Save

Most One and Done players look at odds, recent results, and course history, then settle on a favorite.

That ignores the most important factor in One and Done pools, which is context.

Questions that matter include how large your pool is, how payouts are structured, how many total events are included, and how valuable the remaining tournaments are relative to this one.

Early in the season, those questions are difficult to answer intuitively. At the same time, you are already spending one-time assets. On weeks like the Farmers Insurance Open, the wrong decision can quietly shape your season months down the line.

Answer That Question With the One and Done Picks Tool

PoolGenius built the Golf One and Done Picks Optimizer to help answer the recurring use versus save decision.

The tool pulls the most important inputs into one place and turns them into weekly pick grades and a season-level plan tailored to your specific pool settings.

It accounts for pool size and payout structure, purse size and future value, win odds and performance trends, and projected pick popularity to help identify chalk and leverage.

Try it out ahead of the Farmers Insurance Open with a free trial. No credit card required.

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What the Tool Shows for Farmers Insurance Open Picks

For standard One and Done pools that include roughly 30 to 31 events and more than 100 entries, the strategy this week is fairly consistent.

Save Your Top Golfers

Saving the very top of the board is usually the disciplined move. Golfers like Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Åberg, Patrick Cantlay, and Hideki Matsuyama all offer strong win equity, but they are also players you are very likely to want later when the schedule reaches its highest payout events.

The Farmers Insurance Open currently ranks 22nd in total prize money on the PGA Tour calendar. In many pool formats, that makes it a suboptimal spot to spend elite season-long assets, even if the odds look appealing.

Who to Pick Instead

Instead, this is a week to target golfers who still offer upside at Torrey Pines without sacrificing future flexibility.

Keegan Bradley fits into the ideal future value range for a tournament of this size and brings legitimate win equity without long-term opportunity cost. 

Harris English, the defending champion, pairs course comfort with a season profile that makes him easier to deploy here than at higher purse events. He is borderline playable when looking at his overall ranking and purse size. It largely depends on your pool characteristics. 

Jason Day’s history at Torrey Pines keeps him in play, and while he is a recognizable name, his future value makes him more reasonable to use this week than the top tier options. 

Chris Gotterup rounds out the group as a future value saver who offers upside without closing doors later in the season.

Get Your Golf One and Done Cheat Sheet Now

PoolGenius is designed to make Golf One and Done pools simpler, faster, and more structured.

Once you enter your pool details, the optimizer guides your weekly decisions, while the season planner shows the downstream impact of using a golfer now versus saving him for later.

You can follow the top pick grades directly or use the popularity and season views to decide when to lean into chalk and when to pivot.

The biggest edge is clarity. Each pick fits into a broader plan instead of treating every tournament like it exists in isolation.

Grab your free trial today. No credit card required.

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Pictured: Keegan Bradley
Photo Credit: Imagn