The Fantasy Insider: Canadian Open PGATOUR.COM Contributor Padraig Harrington, K.J. Choi, Steve Stricker, Mark Calcavecchia. ![]() Jim Furyk won the Canadian Open last year. It was his only win of the year. (WireImage) Gotta admit, that's one solid League Championship rotisserie lineup The Fantasy Insider had for last week's Open Championship. Harrington cracks the European victory drought in major championships, Choi and Stricker fade a bit on the weekend but still tie for eighth and Calcavecchia hangs on the periphery in a tie for 23rd. Cumulatively they are so far off the charts in most stats that we're looking at a week in the low 70s out of a possible 80 points. The Open dawned with TFI already in first place in the Expert League and threatening to blow the thing wide open. He's not gloating when he types these words. No, sir-ree. But he keeps looking at the numbers -- 6,743 FedExCup points, sizzling greens in regulation pushing him from sixth for the season in the league. And your columnist is dumbfounded. Because of this: He. Did. Not. Play. Any. Of. Them. Seriously. Benched 'em all. Paul Casey, Mathew Goggin, Geoff Ogilvy and Heath Slocum. That was TFI's lineup last week. Talked himself right into taking two guys from the Open and two from the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, where the scoring conditions were more receptive. Is there no end to this columnist's brilliance? TFI has played so many of this roto weeks so poorly that one wonders how he avoids leaping off the tallest bridge he can find.
K.J. Choi wins The Memorial. On the bench. Steve Stricker rides the pine during the Sony Open in Hawaii (tied fourth), The Honda Classic (tied fifth) and Shell Houston Open (tied ninth). David Toms cracks the top 10 at the Masters (solo ninth) while sitting it out. Bubba Watson is the real crusher: On his butt thanks to TFI's ignorance for the Buick Invitational (tied fourth), Zurich Classic of New Orleans (tied fifth) and U.S. Open (tied fifth). So, you ask, how can TFI live with a quality of selections that would get a baseball manager fired before the All-Star break? Seems TFI didn't totally regurgitate it last week. The second team wound up with 52.5 points and tied for third, only 3.5 points behind Steve Alexander of rotoworld.com. And with 63.0 points it holds the overall lead by two over Christian Peterson of fanball.com. (P.S.: He's also still leading the West Division in his match-play league with five weeks remaining before the playoffs.) It all boils down to two words, girls and boys: winning ugly. Three players TFI might pick up/trade for to get onto his roster this week: Jim Furyk. So that tie for 12th in the British Open is his worst finish since the first weekend in June, an impressive stretch. He sat out the Canadian Open in 2002 when it last visited Angus Glen GC so there's no past-performance chart (but he is defending champion). And the way he's playing, you get the feeling this guy could go deep if there were 18 holes cut in a mall parking lot. ![]() Mike Weir played well all week at Carnoustie. (WireImage) Mike Weir. Ranked No. 36 in the world and rising steadily on ties for eighth at the AT&T National and Open Championship. That swing is looking better all the time and although he missed the cut the last two years in his national open -- in fact, he's missed the cut in 11 of 16 Canadian Opens -- he does have the memory of a solo 10th in 2002 at Angus Glen. Hunter Mahan. Most players drop into a deep doze for a month or two (or longer) after winning their first tournament. Instead, he tied for eighth at the AT&T National and sixth at the British Open. If there wasn't the prohibition for expert picks on pgatour.com that the sleeper choice can't have a top five in the last five starts, TFI would be going hard with this guy for a few more weeks. One player TFI might waive/drop/trade away to get off his roster this week: Vijay Singh. Sure, TFI will keep him on the roster. But he can't help but voice his displeasure over how this guy continues to play this season, especially after that Sunday 75 at Carnoustie. Hey, Buttercup, man up! Rotisserie results for Expert League at the Open Championship: 52.5 points (tied third, 3.5 points behind Steve Alexander of rotoworld.com). First in 300-plus drives and scrambling, second in fairways, third in eagles. Of course, the good news is that with so many studs on his bench, TFI minimized the damage other owners would have done by taking those points out of circulation. The silver lining! Rotisserie lineup for Expert League at the Canadian Open: Mark Calcavecchia, Mathew Goggin, Bubba Watson, Jay Williamson. Active but not in lineup: Ken Duke. Not in field: Paul Casey, K.J. Choi, Padraig Harrington, Geoff Ogilvy, Heath Slocum, Steve Stricker, David Toms.
Match-play results for Public League 3359 at the Open Championship: Danny G's Bad Boys 10.0, TFI 8.0. Overall: 14-10-2 (first place in West Division by two games). Seriously, how do you lose with a lineup of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Nick O'Hern and Zach Johnson? When the other squad has Sergio Garcia and cleans up on the FedExCup points tiebreaker, that's how. PS: Joe Ogilvie? Yeah, he's on this lineup and who the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Unfortunately, only Open Championship guys were allowed last week. Grrrrrrr! Match-play lineup for Public League 3359 at the Canadian Open: TFI vs. jcurtis1969 (5-19-2). Vijay Singh, Joe Ogilvie, Mark Calcavecchia, Briny Baird, Stephen Marino, Pat Perez. Not in field: Jose Coceres, Ernie Els, Zach Johnson, Bernhard Langer, Nick O'Hern, Nick Watney. Roster move: Dropped Jesper Parnevik, added Briny Baird. Salary Cap Cup results for the British Open Championship: The main lineup of Tiger Woods (507 FedExCup points, tied 12th), Luke Donald (59 points, tied 63rd), Ian Poulter (187 points, tied 27th), Hunter Mahan (956 points, tied sixth) and Justin Leonard (0 points, missed cut) earned 1,709 points and placed 6,726th. Through Week 29 it totaled 10,127 points and ranked 9,752nd in Segment 3. For the season it totaled 68,032 points and ranked 4,066th overall. Thanks, Mr. Mahan, for saving this squad. Wouldn't it have been nice, though, to have Mr. Romero at the rock-bottom price of $75,000? The "Hey, buddy" backup lineup of Phil Mickelson (0 points, missed cut), Geoff Ogilvy (0 points, missed cut), Carl Pettersson (83 points, tied 45th), Sean O'Hair (56 points, tied 67th) and Darren Clarke (0 points missed cut) earned 139 points and placed 35,700th. Through Week 29 it totaled 9,210 points and ranked 12,430th in Segment 3. For the season it totaled 61,558 and ranked 6,729th overall. The only thing saving these guys from a severe tongue-lashing is that this is a family column. But they know what TFI's thinking. Week 29 winner: My Favorite Players 10,044. Segment 3 leader: Tiger's Woodz 28,895. Overall: Idol 63 109,588. Salary Cap Cup lineup for the Canadian Open: Main lineup, Jim Furyk $300,000, Mike Weir $293,500, Charlie Wi $163,500, Steve Flesch $118,000, Briny Baird $114,750. Total: $989,750. "Hey, buddy" backup lineup, Stephen Ames $290,250, Hunter Mahan $280,500, Sean O'Hair $274,000, Tommy Armour III $75,750, Bob Heintz $75,000. Total: $995,500. Tiebreakers: 272, 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. |