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By Brett Avery
The Fantasy Insider
PGATOUR.COM Contributor

As Ken Venturi would say, The Fantasy Insider is going to take his five and go quietly.

He knows a good week when he sees it: three of the top six players selected at the EDS Byron Nelson Classic in Salary Cap Cup, four of the top 12 -- heck, he'll go so far as to admit he had nine of the top 54. [!]

If you can get him, TFI suggests snatching up Vaughn Taylor this week. (Fontaine/WireImage)

But he also knows when to let a moment stand on its own, so with apologies for those seeking selection help for this week's Wachovia Championship, please allow TFI to pass a message along to the players who are gathering this week in Charlotte:

Enjoy whatever you're able to shoot this week, boys, because Carnoustie is waiting.

This morning it is shrouded in quiet fog, slowing dissipating as half past six in the morning approaches. A lone figure went off the first tee about 20 minutes ago, disappearing into the mist a few yards beyond the burn. A few minutes later a course worker came out of the mist and strode onto the 18th green to change the hole location from center-back to center-front.

The first of the massive grandstands is a work-in-progress, half its seats installed, to the player's right of the 18th. Somewhere off to the right, barely seen in the lifting fog, a car creeps along toward the Burnside Course.

Quail Hollow Club is one of the PGA TOUR's best tests, fellows, and next week's visit to the revitalized TPC Sawgrass makes for a nifty one-two punch. Those of us who play fantasy golf are going to sit back and enjoy these weeks, watching some of the best in the world slug it out.

But Carnoustie is waiting. And it is going to eat your lunch.

The ground is firming yet still yielding in spots. The gorse is in full bloom, all yellow blossoms and sharp fragrance, and the deepest of the rough is barely tall enough to hide the errantly struck shot. By the time the bright yellow petals fall away the ground should be that much firmer, the grass that much taller.

Not a cloud in the sky yesterday and the first played downwind, an unbelievable combination for this place. That means the long holes coming home were into the wind and it was brutal.

At the par-3 16th, the caddie said simply: 267 to the hole.

You're going to love it, guys. Especially after the way Augusta National played this year in the Masters.

Now, girls and boys, if you'll indulge TFI, he's going to push away from the computer. He has about 90 minutes until a morning press conference and he's going to settle into the easy chair next to the window and watch the fog lift.

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

• Phil Mickelson. Life's becoming a soap opera for the left-hander, what with the change in teachers and the travel plans and all. That 66-65 finish at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship was one of his best back-to-back performances in ages and there's no reason to think he won't play more like his first two visits to Quail Hollow (tied for fifth and seventh) than last year (tied 35th). Don't look now but he was third in putting last week (after ranking mid-pack for the first half of the season).

• Ken Duke. Like that run he's on lately of three straight top 10s? Did you notice that last year he moved up from the Nationwide Tour twice, taking a tie for 26th at the Ford Championship at Doral and a tie for 14th at ... why, the Wachovia Championship?

• Vaughn Taylor. Top six the last two times at Quail Hollow should outweigh a habit of starting slowly after returning from a break -- he took two weeks off after the Verizon Heritage, where he tied for fourth. It's no fluke that he's sixth in the all-around stat, fourth in par-breakers (22.65 percent) and seventh in putting average (1.738).

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

• Tim Petrovic. True, he's gotten off that run of three missed cuts that haunted him during March. But the last three weekends since then haven't been bargains: 76-79 at the Verizon Heritage, 74-70 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, 66-74 at last weekend's EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Quail Hollow is unforgiving and ranking 162nd in greens in regulation (59.31 percent) isn't exactly the heartwarming stat a fantasy player craves this week.

Rotisserie results for Expert League at EDS Byron Nelson Championship: 45.0 points (fifth). First in putting, third in fairways. Overall: 59.0 points (first). Not a great week. But it's a week closer to the end of the season while still in first place, so no complaints.

Rotisserie lineup for Expert League at Wachovia Championship: Ken Duke, Shigeki Maruyama, Geoff Ogilvy, Steve Stricker. Active but not in lineup: K.J. Choi, Padraig Harrington, Ryan Palmer, Bubba Watson. Alternate: Anders Hansen. Not in field: Paul Casey, Tim Clark, David Toms.

Match-play results for Public League 3359 at EDS Byron Nelson Championship: back9 11.0, TFI 7.0. Overall: 9-5-1 (first in West Division). The team had its moments but got crushed Sunday, 3-1. Oops!

]Match-play lineup for Public League 3359 at Wachovia Championship: Vijay Singh, Davis Love III, Ernie Els, Zach Johnson. Active but not in lineup: Troy Matteson, Jonathan Byrd, Frank Lickliter II, Nick O'Hern. Alternate: Anders Hansen. Not in field: Mark Calcavecchia, Daniel Chopra, Jose Coceres.

Salary Cap Cup results for EDS Byron Nelson Championship: The main lineup of Luke Donald (2,700 FedExCup points, second), Jerry Kelly (1,200 points, tied third), Sean O'Hair (199 points, tied 25th), Anthony Kim (60 points, tied 51st) and Shigeki Maruyama (74 points, tied 44th) earned 5,083 points and placed 1,559th. Through Week 16 it totaled 8,790 points and ranked 11,279th in Segment 2.

The "Hey, buddy" backup lineup of Phil Mickelson (1,200 FedExCup points, tied third), Brett Wetterich (625 points, tied 10th), Ryan Moore (0 points, missed cut), Ken Duke (806 points, tied seventh) and Dudley Hart (74 points, tied 44th) earned 2,705 points and placed 5,592nd. Through Week 16 it totaled 12,291 points and ranked 4,167th in Segment 2.

Week 16 winner: Daniel 9,443 (one of two at that score).

Segment 2 leader: BAMF 28,844.

Salary Cap Cup lineup for Wachovia Championship: Main lineup, Phil Mickelson $293,500, Luke Donald $270,750, Vaughn Taylor $202,500, Sean O'Hair $127,750, Shigeki Maruyama $75,000. Total: $969,500. "Hey, buddy" backup lineup, Tiger Woods $300,000, Adam Scott $290,250, Lucas Glover $173,250, J.J. Henry $147,250, D.J. Trahan $75,000. Total: $985,750. Tiebreakers: 277, 2.

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.