The Fantasy Insider: Verizon Heritage

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A tight course, small greens, a premium on accuracy and scrambling -- Harbour Town is my kind of course and the Verizon Heritage is my kind of tournament. Keep it in the short grass and let's go snap up some fantasy points.

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Last week: I had a blast watching the Masters even if my selections didn't fire on all cylinders. Both of my C-List starters missed the cut, and for the first time in a few weeks I wasn't able to score any bonus points for a top-3 selection. The picks look better from a broad view -- Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Sean O'Hair all made the top 10 and Tim Clark and Nick Watney finished in the top 20 -- but my round-by-round start decisions were a little lacking and the final score of 126 points dropped me a tiny bit in the season ranks (I'm now sitting in the 94th percentile). But hey, from a fan's perspective, what was better than Sunday?

PGATOUR.com Fantasy Golf -- here are the rules in a nutshell:

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

JIM FURYK (Round 1 starter): Harbour Town demands precision and scrambling over raw power, and that plays right into Furyk's wheelhouse. His last five Verizon starts jump out at you (4, cut, 2, 2, 10), he was in fine form at the Masters, and the stat sheet backs us up as well (he's 14th in tee accuracy and fifth in scrambling). Go ahead and pick against Furyk, I dare you. ERNIE ELS: It's going to come down to his putting this week, as it generally does. He's got the rest of the skills for success here; Els is seventh in greens, 22nd in scrambling and 36th in scoring. He's never missed a cut at the Verizon Heritage, and most of the checks have been sizable ones (2, 7, 3, 10, 19, 3, 10, 68, 7). Other A-List Options: • Camilo Villegas looked to be in fine form at Augusta last week and he's finally starting to figure out Harbour Town as well (T7 last season). You know Villegas is money from the fairway (he's ranked No. 1 in GIR right now), but will he make enough putts to put together a weekend charge? I can't blame anyone who dials him up here. • Kevin Na isn't having the best ball-striking year, but he's doing well with the scoring shots: he's 12th in scrambling, second in putting and third in scoring average. And when you're scoring well, obviously you're cashing plenty of big checks (he's already bagged four top-10s this year). He's made the cut in four of five starts here, including a T4 run back in 2007. • Stewart Cink will probably get a lot of fantasy support this week as he's won here twice this decade (2000, 2004), but his game has been off a bit over the six weeks (no checks over $42,000) and he's also dealing with a disappointing Masters (a 78 on Friday sent him home, after a snappy 69 to start). I'm going to wait until he turns things around a bit. • Justin Leonard has a lot going for him at the Verizon Heritage. He's won here (2002), he's true off the tee, he's tough around the greens (this is a scrambler's tournament, after all). Don't let his misstep at the Masters throw you off course; Leonard's game was very sharp prior to that, and he's got an excellent chance to contend at Harbour Town. • Paul Casey has a game that will translate to just about any course (37th in greens, ninth in putting), albeit he's had some issues off the tee (149th in accuracy) and he's making his debut at the event. That's enough to steer me to someone else, as there are too many strong options in this pool who already know their way around the track. • It took Robert Allenby a while to figure out this course but he finally did it last year, grabbing a T14 check. He remains a brilliant ball-striker (second in total driving, fifth in GIR), but you wonder how confident he is with the flat stick right now (125th in putting). That last stat is what's kept Allenby from winning for such a long time, despite his obvious talent. • Trevor Immelman is slowly but surely putting his game together (four straight cuts made in stroke-play events, with two top-20s), but this isn't the ideal course for him. He finished T27 in his Harbour Town debut three trips back, and he's missed the cut in his last two stops.

B-List Selections

BOO WEEKLEY (Round 1 starter): He hasn't done much of late, with just one round in the 60s over his last five events, but how can you ignore the guy who's won this tournament in each of the last two years? Let's not complicate things -- that's means for an automatic start. Being on the grounds of Harbour Town might be enough to get Weekley's game back in gear. TIM CLARK (Round 1 starter): He's got the profile we're looking for this week -- he's a straight driver and true iron player with plenty of guile around the greens. Clark has cashed five times in six Harbour Town starts (including a T7 two years back) and he's already got six top-25 finishes in 2009, including last week's steady showing at the Masters (68-71-72-71). It's only a matter of time before Clark breaks through and hoists a trophy; keep using him. AARON BADDELEY: The man known as Badds brings the goods when he steps on the Harbour Town track; he's run second, 10th and first in his last three visits. He's also heading into this week with some much-needed confidence after a T17 at the Masters. You know he can roll the ball as well as anyone on the greens; the key will be how consistent he drives the ball this week. RORY MCILROY: I generally don't like to pick players on the A or B-list who don't have any course experience, but McIlroy is fast proving to be the exception to a lot of rules. Someone give him a nudge and remind the kid that golf isn't supposed to be this easy. Honestly, I'm afraid to have him on my bench, so we'll tuck him into the No. 4 slot this week, just in case. Other B-List Options: • What do you do with Davis Love III this week? He's got those five pretty Harbour Town wins sitting on his resume, but only one of them came in the last decade (2003). He hasn't been inside the top 30 here since 2005. He's just 132nd in scrambling, 126th driving accuracy and 113th in putting. It's never easy to look past Love when the TOUR comes to the Verizon Heritage, but I'm prepared to do it. • It's been an odd run for Zach Johnson; he finished in solo third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational but otherwise he hasn't broken 70 since the Northern Trust Open and he's coming off a missed cut at the Masters. He generally plays his best golf in the southern part of the country, but something is steering me away from Johnson this week. • Charlie Hoffman is a power player with limited experience on the grounds (just one visit, a missed cut), so I'll bide my time with him and wait for a better fit. • There's a lot to like about Lucas Glover in this spot; he's got a very balanced stat profile and he's finished in the top 16 in three of his last four stops at Harbour Town. The South Carolina native is quietly sitting 38th in the FedExCup standings, and I'm expecting a move from him on a course that obviously suits his eye. • It's been feast or famine for Brian Gay at the Verizon Heritage. While he's made just three cuts in nine stops here, he did finish T16 two years ago and T9 the previous season. The setup at Harbour Town should fit his game; he's 171st in driving distance but a sterling fourth in driving accuracy. • Jason Bohn is another straight shooter who deserves consideration this week. He's 24th in tee accuracy and he's been in the hunt at the Verizon Heritage in each of the last two seasons (6, 16). • Briny Baird jumped to my mind before I did any stat inquiries this week, so I was a bit surprised that his resume here is merely solid, not outstanding (17, 29, 36, cut, 27, cut, cut). He's definitely got the ball-striking ability to make a run here; it's going to come down to how well he plays around the green (he's 96th in both scrambling and putting).

C-List Selections

MATT KUCHAR (Round 1 starter): If he can tighten his iron play just a spec, he can contend here. He's got a nice game around the green and his scoring average is better than what the overall stat profile would suggest. Kuchar knows his way around Harbour Town, bagging a pair of top-10 finishes over the last three years. SCOTT VERPLANK: The straight-shooting veteran has made the cut 13 times in his last 15 starts at the Verizon Heritage, including three top-10s this decade (and a T11 for good measure). There's plenty to like on the stat page, where Verplank sits eighth in tee accuracy, 23rd in putting and 24th in scoring. Sign me up. Other C-List Options: • It seems like the type of course that should fit Luke Donald's game but the results haven't been there. He's missed two cuts in three starts at Harbour Town, and his lone check was a T69 two years back. • Charlie Wi is making his debut at the event but I'm trusting that he'll get comfortable quickly. And even if the ball striking is a little loose to start, I'm not too worried -- when you're 35th in scrambling and third in putting, you'll find a way to score. • Steady Ben Crane generally gives you a good run for your start, and he's grabbed five straight checks at this event (29, 23, 12, 47, 45). He's 11th in driving accuracy and 27th in putting, a nice combo to have in your bag when you head to Harbour Town. • Charles Howell III hasn't looked confident of late around the green, and this is the wrong place to try to turn that around. He's also 112th in scrambling and 152nd in putting. That established, the lay of Harbour Town seems to agree with him -- he ran T12 last year and T19 back in 2005. • Nick O'Hern is another potential horse for the course, a meticulous and steady player who understands how to work the ball around a tight track. He was playing as well as anyone at the end of the Shell Houston Open (T3) and I expect a carryover in this spot.