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Golf handicappers now have a new array of tools at their fingertips heading into the third major of the year.
Exclusively available to EDGE+ Max subscribers at NBC Sports EDGE, the same tools that have helped bettors and DFS players in the biggest sports have made their way to golf. The U.S. Open at Torrey Pines will present several questions, but some can be answered by diving into the plethora of customizable search functions and data queries users now have available as they look to build lineups and round out the betting card.
With DFS tools ranging from lineup optimizer to salary tracker, player projections and more, you’ll no longer need to worry about submitting an uninformed roster. And the Edge Driver tools take a new look at the betting markets, with hundreds of variables to dive into and cross-reference in an effort to get a leg up on the rest of the betting public.
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Here’s a look at some of the customized searches I pulled using the Edge Driver tools that could offer some extra insight into this week’s major on the South Course:
Torrey Pines history
While most major venues (not named Augusta National) come around about once a decade, this week’s host course will be familiar to many in the 156-man field. Torrey Pines annually plays host to the Farmers Insurance Open in late January, with three of the four competitive rounds played on the more difficult South Course. That’s where the action is this week, and looking at who has played well in the past could be of extra importance.
The conditions won’t be the same this week, with the USGA narrowing fairways and growing the rough while summer conditions mean more of a baked-out venue than the one seen earlier in the year. But the tournament boasts a strong lineup of recent champs, and players like Jon Rahm and Tony Finau have both feasted on the South Course with regularity and could be worth an extra look this week as a result. But they’re both just outside the top 10 when looking at total strokes gained at Torrey since 2014 (removing rounds on the North Course):
Most SG: Total on Torrey Pines South since 2014 (minimum 3 rounds)
Adam Scott (2.78 strokes per round on average)
Ryan Palmer (2.28)
Viktor Hovland (2.18)
Will Zalatoris (2.08)
Charl Schwartzel (2.03)
Rory McIlroy (2.02)
Justin Suh (1.74)
Lanto Griffin (1.61)
Justin Rose (1.61)
Bo Hoag (1.54)
Driving gains on lengthy courses
Players are bracing for a difficult test this week at Torrey, with the scorecard yardage tipping out above 7,600 yards (even though the sixth hole has been converted from a 564-yard par 5 to a 515-yard par 4 to make the course a par-71). While actual yardage will vary by round, the USGA has the option to max out four different par-4s above 480 yards and two of the three par-5s at more than 600 apiece.
With tiny targets and a significant penalty for misses, it will put a premium on strong play off the tee. The Edge Driver tool allows us to look at who leads the way in SG: Off-the-Tee, but you can also winnow down the search to include only the longest tracks in recent memory. Here’s a look at the best drivers when the scorecard yardage creeps above 7,500 yards and par ranges from 70 to 72, with some familiar names bubbling toward the top:
Most SG: Off-the-Tee on courses above 7,500 yards (max par 72, min. 8 rounds)
Dustin Johnson (1.20 strokes)
Cameron Champ (1.18)
Brooks Koepka (1.08)
Taylor Pendrith (1.07)
Jon Rahm (0.98)
Bubba Watson (0.86)
Bryson DeChambeau (0.83)
Rory McIlroy (0.82)
Sergio Garcia (0.82)
Chan Kim (0.78)
Putting on poa
Driving will be a big part of the equation this week, but you’ll also need a cooperative putter on some fickle surfaces. Torrey Pines features poa annua mixed with bent grass on the greens, a combination that means there’s no such thing as a gimme and creates a more unpredictable surface as the day goes on.
Poa annua is a regular feature on the Tour’s annual West Coast Swing, but it also comes into play in other corners of the globe. But the Edge Driver tool allows us to focus specifically on performance on West Coast poa, combining a grass type query with a filter to only display data from courses in the Pacific time zone.
Here’s who have navigated the West Coast poa annua the best in recent years, including some sizeable longshots who might be worth some consideration:
Most SG: Putting on West Coast poa annua greens (min. 4 rounds)
Matt Wallace (1.13 strokes)
Justin Suh (1.02)
Zach Johnson (0.99)
Henrik Stenson (0.97)
Akshay Bhatia (0.97)
Andy Pope (0.90)
Louis Oosthuizen (0.82)
Marc Leishman (0.77)
Patrick Rodgers (0.70)
Adam Scott (0.69)
You’ll notice that Scott features on two of these three lists. The 2013 Masters champ is +10000 this week on a course where he finished second in 2019 and T-10 earlier this year, while his U.S. Open record includes three top-10s since 2014. Another name that appears twice is Justin Suh, a former USC standout who finished T-37 at Torrey in January and is a +100000 (1,000-to-1) longshot in his second U.S. Open appearance.
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