One & Done: Farmers Insurance Open

I know what you're thinking, but don't do it. Not yet. Here's why.

Tiger Woods is making his 2018-19 season debut at the Farmers Insurance Open. With a historic record at Torrey Pines, it'd be news only if he didn't commit. That he's in the field is great for all of the reasons.

As he strips away the rust, it'd be terrific if he contends even if you're not on board. It'd mean that he's reconnected with how to hit the ground running on a season and that he'll be a force conceivably throughout. In other words, what's the rush?

Woods has been added to Future Possibilities below. Although only six tournaments are ranked beside his name, he's projected to touch 15 starts – this includes potentially all three World Golf Championships, all four majors and as many as three FedExCup Playoffs events – if for no other reason than that's the membership minimum (until he's 45 when 12 starts becomes his target to achieve the same privileges). The moral of the story is that we'll have our chances time and again.

That leaves us with 155 others at Torrey Pines from which a considerable percentage is worthy of our attention. I'll lean on Future Possibilities to help you break any close calls among the depth and focus on short-listers here.

Justin Rose leads the Power Rankings and there's been zero dissent among you. It doesn't seem all that long ago that slotting him No. 1 would've attracted criticism, but his rise into the conversation for its position regularly has occurred naturally. All the more incentive to stash him for events rewarding more FedExCup points and more prize money. He will come in handy for pacers and chasers.

Jason Day is defending his second Farmers title this week and he often presents favorably. The only reason I'd advise you to pause is that he's proven to go on binges. There's only a small handful of touring professionals for whom you don't rule out consecutive victories. He's one of them. So, if you abstain at Torrey Pines, invest with confidence immediately following his next stop atop a leaderboard.

The Farmers Insurance Open doesn't appear beside Rory McIlroy in Future Possibilities because he's never played it before. Take a pass by default and earmark him for a major – including the Masters where he'll be chasing the career grand slam – as 2019 is poised to be massive.

The next tier of talent on the board includes 2016 champ Jon Rahm, two-time runner-up Marc Leishman and rock-solid Gary Woodland. Torrey Pines has rewarded each handsomely. If you're saving the behemoths mentioned above, build the proper strategy long-term for each of these three. If Woodland was available to me, he'd get my vote among this subset.

The 2012 champion, Brandt Snedeker, works best as a parlay if you burn him at the Farmers and Webb Simpson at the Wyndham Championship. While Sneds plays now no matter your league rank, he's sneakier for those in pursuit. Your leaders likely are going chalk at Torrey Pines and he's far enough off the board that you're not going to get stymied.

Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele, of course, are studs, but both are grouped with Tiger Woods and the mania that will be encompassing their threesome during the first two rounds. That's all I need to know to look elsewhere. Consider following my lead.

Charles Howell III fills one blank for two-man gamers who haven't exhausted the veteran. He's 16-for-16 with eight top 10s at the Farmers. J.B. Holmes also is sitting there for the taking as your tail of the tandem. Yet, Kyle Stanley figures and deserves to receive the lion's share of complementary compensation in this format.

FUTURE POSSIBILITIES

NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment.

Daniel Berger … Waste Management (2); WGC-Mexico (3); Travelers (1)

Keegan Bradley … Farmers (2); Memorial (5); Travelers (4)

Patrick Cantlay … Genesis (4); Valspar (2); Memorial (3)

Jason Day … Farmers (2; defending); Pebble Beach (1); Arnold Palmer (5); PLAYERS (7); WGC-Match Play (11); Masters (4); Wells Fargo (6 defending); PGA Championship (3); U.S. Open (10); Open Championship (9)

Tony Finau … Farmers (1); Valero (5); Memorial (2)

Rickie Fowler … Waste Management (1); Honda (3); Arnold Palmer (8); Masters (2); Wells Fargo (6); PGA Championship (9); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (10)

Branden Grace … Heritage (1); Valero (3); Byron Nelson (5); U.S. Open (4)

Emiliano Grillo … Arnold Palmer (2); Charles Schwab (3)

Bill Haas … Genesis (3); WGC-Match Play (8); Heritage (4); Charles Schwab (2); Wyndham (6)

Brian Harman … Arnold Palmer (7); Charles Schwab (1); Travelers (5); John Deere (4)

Charley Hoffman … Genesis (5); Arnold Palmer (2); Masters (4); Heritage (7); Valero (3); Charles Schwab (6); Travelers (1)

J.B. Holmes … Farmers (1); Waste Management (3); Pebble Beach (2); Genesis (4); Wells Fargo (5)

Billy Horschel … Honda (4); Arnold Palmer (7); Valero (2); New Orleans (3; defending); Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (1)

Charles Howell III … Farmers (1)

Si Woo Kim … PLAYERS (3); Heritage (1)

Chris Kirk … Valero (3); PLAYERS (5); Charles Schwab (2)

Russell Knox … Heritage (2)

Martin Laird … Waste Management (1); Genesis (3); Valero (5); Barracuda (2)

Marc Leishman … Farmers (2); Arnold Palmer (1); Byron Nelson (6); Memorial (4); Travelers (3); Open Championship (8)

Hideki Matsuyama … Waste Management (1); Genesis (10); Arnold Palmer (11); PLAYERS (9); Masters (4); PGA Championship (13); Memorial (8); U.S. Open (14); Wyndham (7); TOUR Championship (5)

Rory McIlroy … Arnold Palmer (2; defending); Masters (4); Wells Fargo (3); Memorial (5); Travelers (8); Open Championship (1); TOUR Championship (6)

Ryan Moore … Waste Management (12); Genesis (5); Valspar (3); Valero (7); Masters (13); Memorial (11); Travelers (6); John Deere (8); Wyndham (2); TOUR Championship (9)

Ryan Palmer … Valero (2); Charles Schwab (4)

Pat Perez … Farmers (2); Pebble Beach (5)

Jon Rahm … Farmers (6); Waste Management (4); Masters (5); Charles Schwab (1); TOUR Championship (7)

Patrick Reed … Pebble Beach (6); Valspar (1); Masters (5; defending); PGA Championship (4); U.S. Open (3); Travelers (7)

Justin Rose … Farmers (6); Genesis (9); Arnold Palmer (3); Masters (1); PLAYERS (10); Charles Schwab (7; defending); Memorial (4); Open Championship (8); TOUR Championship (2)

Xander Schauffele … Genesis (6); PLAYERS (5); U.S. Open (3); Open Championship (4); TOUR Championship (1)

Adam Scott … Honda (1); Arnold Palmer (10); PLAYERS (2); Masters (6); Byron Nelson (11); PGA Championship (8); U.S. Open (9); Open Championship (7); TOUR Championship (3)

Cameron Smith … Wyndham (3)

Brandt Snedeker … Farmers (3); Waste Management (8); Pebble Beach (2); Masters (10); Heritage (6); Charles Schwab (7); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1; defending)

Jordan Spieth … Pebble Beach (3); Genesis (10); WGC-Mexico (11); Valspar (14); Masters (1); PGA Championship (7); Charles Schwab (5); Memorial (13); U.S. Open (4); Travelers (9); Open Championship (6); TOUR Championship (8)

Brendan Steele … Waste Management (2); Honda (7); Valero (8); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (4); Reno-Tahoe (3)

Kevin Streelman … Pebble Beach (1); Valero (9); Heritage (5); Memorial (4); Travelers (7)

Jimmy Walker … Farmers (4); Pebble Beach (1); Valero (2); Byron Nelson (6)

Gary Woodland … Farmers (2); Waste Management (3; defending); Memorial (4)

Tiger Woods … Farmers (3); Arnold Palmer (1); Masters (2); Memorial (4); THE NORTHERN TRUST (6); TOUR Championship (5; defending)