TFI: Look out for Love at Verizon Heritage  The Fantasy Insider PGATOUR.COM Contributor It's all about easy this week, girls and boys. After a brutal Masters Tournament, thanks in part to Mother Nature and thanks in part to a demanding presentation of Augusta National Golf Club, the Verizon Heritage acts as an ideal opportunity to, in the words of one of The Fantasy Insider's former editors, "decompress the headbone." Anyone who watched every moment of Masters coverage and spent any significant time watching the Amen Corner coverage online -- and TFI falls into both categories -- will spend this week bleary-eyed and in need of a nap.  It's no surprise that TFI has Davis Love III on his short list to win at Harbour Town. (Greenwood/WireImage)
Anyone who played in the Masters needs two naps, minimum. The Heritage has a sweet spot for players in a narrow universe: between a tie for 15th and 55th in the previous week's Masters. Since 1990, all but two of the 17 Verizon Heritage winners have sat home the previous week: defending champion Aaron Baddeley and 1995 winner Bob Tway. Everyone else competed in the previous week at Augusta National. Three champs missed the cut: Peter Lonard in 2005. Jose Coceres in 2001 and Glen Day in 1999. But everyone else, a dozen winners, placed between Davis Love III's tie for 15th in 2003 and David Edwards' tie for 54th in 1993. In fact, seven guys were between 15th and 25th at Augusta National. So this week, en route to the sofa for a longish nap, TFI passes along one tidbit: study the middle-of-the-pack finishers for the key to success this week at Harbour Town GL. P.S.: About those results from last week, HQ has given TFI the skinny on the situation. Seems the statistical feed from The Masters went awry so everything is being done manually. They should be ready to go late Tuesday or Wednesday. Let's hope you did better than TFI, who benched Zach Johnson in his match-play lineup! Three players TFI might pick up/trade for to get onto his roster this week: • Davis Love III. The way Sam Snead owned the Greater Greensboro Open, or Jack Nicklaus owned The Masters, or Ben Hogan and Colonial or Mark O'Meara and Pebble Beach. That's this guy and the Verizon Heritage. Five wins, 11 top 10s and a tie for 47th last year that should be completely disregarded in assessing his chances at Harbour Town GL. • Jim Furyk. Practically zero attention during the Masters for a guy at the height of his game: led the field in greens hit, tied for fourth in fairways, placed in a tie for 13th. And a back-to-back second-place finisher in the Verizon Heritage. • Stephen Ames. Another guy in that 15th-25th sweet spot (tied for 24th last week), he skipped last year's Verizon Heritage but was tied for sixth and seventh the two previous years. He's played four exacting tournaments in a row (World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, World Golf Championships-CA Championship and Masters) so this week's offering will seem like a tidy meal. One player TFI might waive/drop/trade away to get off his roster this week: • Dudley Hart. Hasn't had a round in the 60s since last February's second day of the Mayakoba Golf Classic, the event held concurrently to the Accenture Match Play Championship. He's 11th in putting average (1.747 per green hit in regulation) but dismal when he misses a green (122nd in scrambling). Hasn't missed a Verizon Heritage cut since 1993 but hardly playing gangbusters there, either. Rotisserie results for Expert League at The Masters: Will be updated when available.
Rotisserie lineup for Expert League at Verizon Heritage: Tim Clark, Geoff Ogilvy, Ryan Palmer, Bubba Watson. Not in field: K.J. Choi, Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, Anders Hansen, Colin Montgomerie, Steve Stricker, Kevin Sutherland, David Toms. Match-play results for Public League 3359 at The Masters: Will be updated when available. Match-play lineup for Public League 3359 at Verizon Heritage: Davis Love III, Ernie Els, Mark Calcavecchia, Zach Johnson. Active but not in lineup: Nick O'Hern, Troy Matteson, Daniel Chopra, Frank Lickliter II, Jonathan Byrd. Not in field: Andrew Buckle, Anders Hansen, Vijay Singh. Salary Cap Cup results for The Masters: Will be updated when available. Salary Cap Cup lineup for Verizon Heritage: Main lineup, Geoff Ogilvy $274,000, Stewart Cink $274,000, Camilo Villegas $160,250, Jose Coceres $144,000, Billy Mayfair $124,500. Total: $996,250. "Hey, buddy" backup lineup, Ernie Els $296,750, Davis Love III $280,500, Scott Verplank $218,750, Bernhard Langer $98,500, Justin Leonard $75,000. Total: $969,500. Tiebreakers: 271, 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. |
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