Featured group: Johnson, Rose, Mickelson at Torrey Pines

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At each PGA TOUR event this season, a featured pairing will be highlighted prior to the first round. Here is the featured pairing for Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open.

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- One is the reigning Masters champion who nonetheless enters 2011 with something to prove. The other two are coming off the first two-win seasons of their careers that have heightened the expectations of their fans.

Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose certainly are an intriguing group to watch as the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open gets under way at Torrey Pines on Thursday.

Mickelson was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world in 2010 and had repeated chances to overtake Tiger Woods at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking. But he didn't, and Mickelson now finds himself clocking in at No. 6 in the wake of the European juggernaut.

The San Diego resident will be making his 2011 PGA TOUR debut at Torrey Pines, a place where Mickelson has won three times previously. That said, he's coming off a tie for 37th -- a distant 19 strokes behind -- at last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. Not to mention, that was quite a commute.

Mickelson's frequent practice partner, Dustin Johnson, should be extremely comfortable in this pairing. The two can go head-to-head in terms of length off the tee and they share a go-for-broke approach to the game. And Johnson, meanwhile, has risen to No. 16 in the world.

The lanky South Carolinian won twice in 2010 to bring his TOUR total to four. But the 26-year-old Johnson is probably better known for those two near-misses in majors when he squandered a three-shot lead entering the final round of the U.S. Open and grounded his club in an ill-defined bunker on the 71st hole at the PGA Championship to cost himself a chance at a playoff.

Johnson's 2011 TOUR debut resulted in a tie for ninth at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Rose, the talented Englishman who is ranked No. 29 in the world, tied for 12th that week in his first apperance at Kapalua after a breakthrough 2010 saw him pick up the first two wins of his TOUR career.

The first victory came at the Memorial Tournament where Rose closed with a 66 to make up a four-stroke deficit and win by three. In his next start two weeks later, Rose led through three rounds at the Travelers Championship but faltered with a 75. Not to worry -- Rose came back the following week and built a five-stroke advantage entering the final round of the AT&T National and held on to beat Ryan Moore by a shot

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Statistical comparison

Key stats from Johnson, Rose and Mickelson from the 2010 season (TOUR rank in parentheses)

Category JOHNSON   ROSE   MICKELSON   Driving distance 308.5 yards (3rd) 287.8 (97th)   299.1 (13th)   Driving accuracy 56.35% (172nd)   65.17% (72nd) 52.66% (188th)   Greens in regulation 67.95% (70th) 66.31% (119th)   65.13% (155th)   Putting average 1.767 (56th)   1.760 (40th) 1.762 (45th)   Scoring average 70.46 (58th)   69.92 (6th) 70.34 (39th)

EXPERT PREDICTIONS: We asked some of our PGATOUR.COM experts to predict which player will fare best this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Stan Awtrey: There are few places where Phil Mickelson feels more comfortable than Torrey Pines. He hasn't won there since 2001, but has two top-10s in the last five tournaments.

Craig Dolch: This is a home game for Phil and even though he might be tired from opening his season in Abu Dhabi, that gave him some reps to knock off the usual early-season rust.

Melanie Hauser: Phil. Hard not to pick Phil. It's in his backyard. He's won here three times. He'll have the family-thing going. His psoriatic arthritis under control. It's his 2011 debut after a washout of a second-half of 2010. OK, so he wasn't great in Abu Dhabi. This is home. What's not to like here?

FANTASY INSIDER: Rob Bolton ranked only player in this pairing in his Power Rankings this week, and it wasn't Dustin Johnson or Phil Mickelson. The nod goes to Justin Rose, and here's why: "Posted a pair of top-15s on the Aloha Swing before taking a week off. Finished T22 at last year's Farmers, his best of three showings here. Ranked 13th on TOUR in scrambling and 40th in putting last year."

From the Fantasy Insider:

Dustin Johnson: First start since withdrawing from the Sony Open to address a personal issue at home. Still young enough to ignore his lackluster results in three previous appearances here. Until he slumps, you must keep him on your short list week in and week out.

Phil Mickelson: If the absence of a single email arguing that he should have cracked my Power Rankings is any indication, your confidence level is parallel with mine. His position here is based solely on his history at the event.