TFI: Travelers Championship
 
Jun. 19, 2007

So at least The Fantasy Insider was correct with the cartoon character hit-over-the-head-with-an-anvil-again-and-again theory about last week's picks for the United States Open.

And he was dead-on with the part about Curly from the Three Stooges, at least as far as body type goes (Angel Cabrera does bear some endomorphic similarities, si?).

And he had what pretty much amounts to the ideal Cabrera-free, Tiger Woods-free lineup in the rotisserie Expert League with Bubba Watson (tied fifth), David Toms (tied fifth), Paul Casey (tied 10th) and Steve Stricker (tied 13th) with Tim Clark (tied 17th) ready on the bench.

Unfortunately for TFI he benched Stricker, Watson and Tim Clark (tied 17th) but had the foresight to start K.J. Choi and Padraig Harrington, who between them made six birdies and hit 47 percent of their greens in regulation.

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TFI says Darren Stiles' comfort level in Hartford should count for something this week.

At least he got the tie-breakers right: 285 total and a one-shot victory.

This is getting old, people, and it's probably much the same for you, too. We all make roster blunders of this type. It just has the sniff of being a much bigger problem this year with the 12-man roster, as opposed to last year's 10-man squads.

Choi won the Memorial. TFI benched him.

Bubba Watson was in contention in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Benched.

David Toms stuck his nose into the fight at The Masters. Benched.

Stricker comes close at The Honda Classic. Riding the pine.

Watson at the Buick Invitational. Idle.

Stricker at the Sony Open in Hawaii, first week of the season. Twiddling his thumbs.

In the words of Homer Simpson: Doh!

Monday morning quarterbacks pop up after each tournament but they become legion following a major championship. Everyone has an opinion and as long as they have electricity or battery power and at least dial-up internet service they can pontificate for paragraph upon paragraph.

[Some people even get paid to do so -- what a game!]

But with nine weeks left in the match-play format's regular season and 11 weeks to go in the rotisserie slugfest, it's a good idea to look at where you've been so far this season.

Take five minutes to review previous results (under the Live Scoring tab) and you might just notice a reliance on one or two players. Conversely, you may spot a player you haven't put in the lineup often enough -- if at all.

The latter are guys ready for dumping, especially as the season comes to a close and the best game plan is to concentrate on guys with the best shot at the FedExCup playoffs. More on that in an upcoming column.

In the meantime, TFI has grown weary from all that televised Open coverage on ESPN, NBC and GOLF CHANNEL. So he's going to make his picks and kick back with some quality television.

The Cartoon Network.

Three players TFI might pick up/trade for to get onto his roster this week:

-- Stewart Cink. Two ties for fifth and a share of third in his last six outings, going back to the Wachovia Championship in early May, indicate he has his game almost where he wants it. He's similarly studly at the TPC River Highlands, where he won in 1997 and has placed outside the top 20 three times in nine starts (one of those a tie for 21st in 2003). After last week's brutal conditions at Oakmont CC this place will look like a day-care facility, one where he's got a record of quick starts (first-round average: 68.56).

-- Darron Stiles. A so-so year where he's made six of 10 cuts on the regular tour and stepped down to the Nationwide for extra work (but missed two out of the three cuts there, too). Hartford is within his comfort zone with a ninth, 11th and 31st in his three starts. If you're keeping score, he's shot 63 twice and had two early 66s last year before fading. If you like this guy, and TFI believes he has promise, this is one place to grab him.

-- Woody Austin. One of the guys knocked out of the weekend by that Friday afternoon approach at the ninth green by Angel Cabrera (or, as Cabrera would say, put out of the weekend by his own 74-77). This week is his second start following his slam-bang 62 to wrap up the Stanford St. Jude Championship so it might be too early to expect much, but his last three starts in Hartford are a tie for fifth, a tie for ninth and a victory.

One player TFI might waive/drop/trade away to get off his roster this week:

-- Dicky Pride. Struggling through another by-his-fingernails season, only his 12th start with seven missed weekends already in the books. Unlike recent years, though, he doesn't have the Nationwide as a fallback position so he's played just twice since the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in late April. This place hasn't treated him well, either, nothing in the top 60 since a tie for third in 1996 (but a passel of missed cuts).

Rotisserie results for Expert League at the U.S. Open:

53.5 points (third, 3.5 behind T.J. Auclair's A-Team). First in putting, second in birdies, third in greens and FedExCup points. Big thanks to Paul Casey for some solid play (even if it meant zero FedExCup points in return).

And in case you were wondering, TFI puts K.J. Choi and Padraig Harrington in the lineup (both missed cut) and had Tim Clark, Steve Stricker and Bubba Watson on the bench. In the words of Argentina's Roberto de Vicenzo, Oh, what a stupid he am!

Rotisserie lineup for Expert League at the Travelers Championship:

Mark Calcavecchia, Padraig Harrington, Heath Slocum, David Toms. Not in field: Paul Casey, K.J. Choi, Tim Clark, Ken Duke, Anders Hansen, Geoff Ogilvy, Steve Stricker, Bubba Watson. Roster change: Dropped Ryan Palmer, added Heath Slocum.

Match-play results for Public League 3359 at the U.S. Open: TFI 13, back9 5. Overall: 12-8-2 (one game lead in West Division).

TFI was ready to write this one off Friday night, trailing 5-3, but back9 had no one in reserve for three players missing the cut (including Phil Mickelson). Never in a million years would have seen that one coming.

Match-play lineup for Public League 3359 at the Travelers Championship: TFI vs. Massachusetts Eagles (14-7-1, second in East Division). Vijay Singh, Zach Johnson, Mark Calcavecchia, Nick Watney.

Reserves: Nick O'Hern, Daniel Chopra, Jonathan Byrd. Not in field: Jose Coceres, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer, Davis Love III, Troy Matteson.

Salary Cap Cup results for the U.S. Open: The main lineup of Jim Furyk (2,420 FedExCup points, tied second), Adam Scott (0 points, missed cut), Arron Oberholser (0 points, missed cut), Sean O'Hair (0 points, missed cut) and Ryuji Imada (0 points, missed cut) earned 2,420 points and placed 19,753rd. This was the first week of Segment Three. For the season it totaled 60,325 points and ranked 3,941st overall. Nice of those other four guys to actually take time to read the memo from TFI about the desperate need for points. And thanks to Furyk for actually trying to win this thing.

The ³Hey, buddy² backup lineup of Tiger Woods (2,420 FedExCup points, tied second), Padraig Harrington (0 points, missed cut), David Toms (1,045 points, tied fifth), Anthony Kim (332 points, tied 20th) and Justin Leonard (0 points, missed cut) earned 3,797 points and placed 4,256th. This was the first week of Segment Three. For the season it totaled 56,145 points and ranked 5,787th overall. TFI's fairly happy with three guys in the top 20, especially when Kim pops for that big Sunday round. Would it have been too much to ask the same from Woods to close out the week? Ah, could have been worse. TFI could have suffered through Aaron Baddeley's 80.

Week 23 winner and Segment 3 leader: sunnby 10,897 points.

Overall: Outrankin' Rankin 97,102 points.

Salary Cap Cup lineup for the Travelers Championship: Main lineup, Justin Rose $290,250, Stewart Cink $283,750, Carl Pettersson $264,250, Darron Stiles $75,000, Kirk Triplett $75,000. Total: $988,250.

³Hey, buddy² backup lineup, David Toms $287,000, Woody Austin $212,250, Nick Watney $186,250, Frank Lickliter II $157,000, Kevin Sutherland $153,750.

Total: X. Tiebreakers: 266, 1.

Have a question or comment for TFI? Send it to him at brettavery@aol.com.

Please be sure to include your name, where you're from, the name of your team and, if it relates to League Championship, the name of your league and whether you're competing in the rotisserie or match-play format.