Aug. 18, 2009
By Scott Pianowski, The Fantasy Insider
The season continues to fly by as we hit the final week of the regular season -- it's the final shot for players to qualify for the FedExCup (or get in a better pre-playoff position). Sedgefield Country Club is a track amenable to low scores, so if you want to make a late move, bring some red numbers with you.
|
VIDEO EDITION: Want more fantasy information? Check out this week's video version of The Fantasy Insider. Click here  PLAY FANTASY GOLF: Join our fantasy leagues! Click here |
|
Last Week: Tiger ran second, Lee Westwood grabbed third, and we had three other top-20 players from the PGA Championship (Hunter Mahan, Ross Fisher, Ian Poulter). It's hard to make up ground on a week where Woods is in the field, but 173 points out the door, we'll take it.
Fantasy Game Basics: We're picking eight players every week from three separate pools: two players from the A-List, four players from the B-List, and two players from the C-List. From round to round, you'll "start" four of those players (one of your A players, two from B, one from C), making daily changes as you see fit.
If your guys play well that day or for the week, you score well. The eight players you pick at the beginning of the week are the only ones you can use and switch up during a particular tournament; the next week, you'll re-evaluate and refresh your group of eight.
You're allowed to use any player up to 10 starts for the year, and anything from 1-4 rounds in a given event counts as a single "start." As always, choose carefully, and have a long-term plan in addition to your short-term goals.
|
| A-List Selections |
MICHAEL LETZIG (Round 1 starter): Somehow I've gone the entire year without ever starting him, which reflects just how star-studded the A-List tends to be. Letzig only has one missed cut all year, he's off two straight top-10 finishes, and he quickly figured out Sedgefield Country Club last year, running ninth. Let's make up for lost time.
RYAN MOORE: His game tends to be a little bit streaky at times but I liked what Moore was doing just before the missed cut at the Buick Open. He's got plenty of distance and birdie potential - hes also a better putter than the stats would suggest - and hes done reasonably well in four stops here (MC, T6, T34, T24).
OTHER A-LIST OPTIONS: I want to pick Sergio Garcia, I want to root for him, I want to see him on the top of his game. You saw his missed cut at the PGA Championship and his ordinary British Open (T38). Is there a reason to jump on board now? His last trip down to Greensboro was a T13 back in 2005. K.J. Choi is another name player in the midst of a down season, but the Wyndham Championship might be the cure to that; he won Greensboro in 2005 and he's got four top-10s at this event. Choi seemed close to breaking through last week at Hazeltine, checking in with a respectable T24 finish. John Senden's sublime iron game is always going to get him consideration for my teams and he gave us a T6 at the Wyndham Championship last year. If he gets comfortable on the greens early, watch out. Justin Rose is another name player who has got us scratching our heads; he had some momentum into the PGA Championship last week, then shot 73-76 and slammed the trunk. He's only made one cut at this event but it was a deep run, a T6 check in 2005. Kevin Sutherland has one of the more consistent games on tour and that's been the case again this year (17-for-21 on cuts made), but he's struggled at the Wyndham Championship in recent visits (MC, MC, 43, MC). This might be the only week all season I'm not confident giving him a fantasy spot. |
|
|
| B-List Selections |
TIM CLARK (Round 1 starter): He looks back in form after a couple of strong weeks (T29 at Bridgestone, T16 at Hazeltine) and Clark knows what it takes to contend at Wyndham (sixth, 22nd, sixth the last three years). A player this consistent and this talented has to win a tournament sometime, right? Ill keep chasing after it.
LUCAS GLOVER: Ive paid the price for not jumping on this train earlier in the season but theres no reason to save the starts now. Glovers U.S. Open win and fifth-place run at the PGA last week are the biggest feathers in his cap this year, but hes been outstanding and consistent all season (first in total driving, seventh in scoring, seventh on the money list). Welcome to the elite, kid. Hes made five consecutive cuts at Wyndham, including a T6 three years back.
DAVID TOMS: He doesnt throttle the ball off the tee but you wont find any other weaknesses in his game (second in tee accuracy, 18th in GIR, third in scoring). Toms returned to Greensboro last year after a mild layoff from the event and finished T41; the form hes consistently shown this year gives us reason to expect a much higher showing now.
Jonathan Byrd He fits the shot for this week, standing fifth in par breakers, eight in GIR and 22nd in driving distance. Byrd obviously feels comfortable doing his thing done in the Carolinas, check the track record at this event (13, 12, 28, MC, 5, 3). OTHER B-LIST OPTIONS:
Carl Pettersson's slump has been one of the most puzzling stories of the year -- how does a player with his skills miss 14-of-24 cuts? Perhaps a return to Sedgefield Country Club will get Pettersson's game going again; he's the defending champ and he also ran fifth here in 2007. He'll need a quick rally if he wants to be playoff bound; Pettersson sits No. 151 entering the last regular-season week. Greensboro golf fans finally get another look at Fred Couples, who hasn't played down here since the early 1990s. Couples still is a fantastic shotmaker and ball striker and his touch on the green hasn't left him either; I would not be surprised if hes getting plenty of air time on the weekend. Bubba Watson's length and birdie potential get him on the radar for this event, but I do not have the nerve to start him off four missed cuts. North Carolina grad Davis Love always enjoys this stop -- he's won here twice over the years, including three seasons back, and he was in a nice little groove before last weeks step back at Hazeltine. He's got a decent shot at a top 20 finish here. Charley Hoffman's been a heck of a fantasy find for most of the year, and we know he's capable of painting the scoreboard red at any time, but he also heads into this week off three missed cuts and hes yet to make a deep run at the Wyndham Championship (43, 41). He'll probably be a fairly popular fantasy pick this week but I'm going to roll the dice and leave him off my card. Bo Van Pelt hasn't done much since the victory at the U.S. Bank Championship and he's got a mediocre record at Wyndham, but his skill set in theory should translate well to what they ask you to do at Sedgefield Country Club. Call it a random hunch, but he's on my sleeper list and I'm calling for something inside the top 30. |
|
|
| C-List Selections |
JASON DUFNER (Round 1 starter): It's tricky to look at his recent results and project forward; his T3 at the RBC Canadian Open made us happy, but he didn't make the cut in Milwaukee the week prior or at the PGA Championship last week. The Cleveland native does know what to do at Sedgefield Country Club (26, MC, 8), and there's a lot on the stat sheet to feel good about (26th in GIR, 38th in scoring, 38th in driving accuracy).
ROCCO MEDIATE: The veteran is a check-cashing machine and that's why he's the perfect option to have in the bullpen for this spot. Mediate has a couple of Greensboro wins over the years (2002, 1993), and while his stat profile from 2009 doesn't jump up and grab you, there's a lot to be said for consistency in this game, and picking players you want to root for. Be ready for some weekend duty, Rocco.
OTHER C-LIST OPTIONS: It took Nick O'Hern a while to get back in form off his injury problems but he's quietly settled into a groove, making 7-of-9 cuts over the last few months. On a different course I'd be ready to go with O'Hern here, but he's lagging in the birdie stats and he seems to be a player better suited for events where the scoring is more difficult. Charles Howell generally seems like an early-season pick for our purposes (he's missed 6-of-9 cuts), but he's been solid at the Wyndham Championship (19, 34) and probably will get a fair amount of fantasy support this week. Don't sleep on Chris Riley, who's been flying under the radar of late (7-of-8 cuts made, with all of those cashes T34 or better). Riley's not a power guy off the tee, but he'll hit it straight and he'll roll the ball consistently and that always gives you a fighting chance. If he had a better Greensboro record (3-of-7 cuts) I'd have him on my squad for this week |
|