Fantasy preview: Waste Management Open
By Rob Bolton, PGATOUR.COM Fantasy Columnist
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The start of the Matchups game on Facebook remains TBD. I will post my picks here once it begins.
Power Rankings Distribution for Yahoo! (rank)
Group A ... Webb Simpson (6); *Nick Watney (7); Kyle Stanley (8); Matt Kuchar
Group B ... Rickie Fowler (1); Bill Haas (2); Brandt Snedeker (3); Mark Wilson (4); D.A. Points; John Rollins
Group C ... Martin Laird (5); Cameron Tringale (9); Vijay Singh (10); Scott Piercy; Johnson Wagner
* - Watney withdrew on Tuesday due to an illness.
Sleepers Distribution for Yahoo! (rank)
Group A ... none
Group B ... Bryce Molder; Gary Woodland
Group C ... Joe Ogilvie; Pat Perez; Josh Teater
On a Roll (Yahoo! Group)
Bubba Watson (B) ... I'll save you a sophomoric attempt at humor regarding golf and the name of the county in "The Dukes of Hazzard" and just relay the photo of Watson rolling up to TPC Scottsdale in his newest purchase, the General Lee. Meanwhile, he arrived with a T18 at the 27-man Hyundai TOC and a T13 at the Farmers in tow. Two top 25s among four cuts made in five starts here, too.
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Keegan Bradley (A) ... He's chased his opening solo 16th at Kapalua with consecutive top 25s in full-field events. This includes a T22 at the Farmers where he ranked inside the top five in distance off the tee, fairways hit and putting. A first-timer at TPC Scottsdale.
Jeff Maggert (C) ... After sharing the 54-hole lead at the Sony Open, he shot 74 to finish T13. Undeterred, he bounced back immediately with a solo fifth at the Humana Challenge. Currently leads the PGA TOUR in the all-around ranking and both actual and adjusted scoring averages. Has made the last three cuts here including a T10 in 2009.
Camilo Villegas (A) ... Top 25s in his first two starts to extinguish doubt some had that he had regressed again at the end of 2011. Since sharing second place in his first appearance at TPC Scottsdale in 2006, he's alternated cuts made with two missed cuts and a withdrawal (back injury, 2011).
Brendon de Jonge (B) ... While he hasn't contended, he's off to the best start of his PGA TOUR career, with a pair of top-12 finishes and a T27 at last week's Farmers, and that bodes well for the long-term. Two top 25s in three starts here.
Bud Cauley (C) ... The first-timer at TPC Scottsdale is a tempting play as he's posted three straight top 30s at sites where he was also making his debut. This includes a T13 at the Farmers where he closed with a six-birdie 67, matching winner Brandt Snedeker for low round of the day.
Justin Leonard (B) ... Making his 18th consecutive appearance. Twice a runner-up and a total of four top 10s, but no top 40s in his last five showings. However, he finished T8 at the Farmers, his first top 10 in the first seven months of a PGA TOUR season in three years. Ranked inside the top 25 in fairways, greens and putting at Torrey Pines.
Rod Pampling (C) ... Coming off a T8 at the Farmers where he incurred just two bogeys on the weekend. The Aussie has made six of seven cuts at TPC Scottsdale including a T12 in his last appearance in 2009.
Horses for Courses (Yahoo! Group)
Jason Dufner (C) ... He's rapidly lining up sites that fit his fearless approach. Lost in a playoff here last year but had just two bogeys all week. Played his final 51 holes in bogey-free 12-under. En route to a T12 at the Humana Challenge two weeks ago, he crafted a bogey-free 63 in the second round at La Quinta Country Club.
Charles Howell III (A) ... After earning co-runner-up honors at Waialae, he's finished outside the top 40 in his last two starts. While he's missed the cut at TPC Scottsdale twice in the last three years, he's also posted five top 25s including a T4 in 2010.
Kevin Na (A) ... Hasn't posted a top 10 in four starts since his breakthrough in Vegas in October but he's finished inside the top four at TPC Scottsdale in half of his six appearances.
Ryuji Imada (B) ... Zero top 25s in his last 15 PGA TOUR starts but he's posted three top 15s at TPC Scottsdale including in each of the last two years.
Chris Couch (B) ... Just one cut made in his last seven starts on the PGA TOUR and that was a T54 at Sea Island in October. However, he's finished inside the top 10 here in his last two appearances (2010, 2011).
Leaking Oil (Yahoo! Group)
Anthony Kim (B) ... Since closing out 2011 with a bang, he's missed his first two cuts on the West Coast Swing by an aggregate 16 strokes.
Danny Lee (B) ... After sharing fifth place at the Singapore Open in mid-November, he's gone 2-for-5 worldwide with no top 25s. His lone cut made in three starts this season is a T66 at the Humana Challenge.
Brandt Jobe (C) ... He's missed his first two cuts to start 2012. He hasn't missed three in a row anywhere since mid-2010 on the Nationwide Tour.
Hunter Haas (B) ... Dating back to The McGladrey Classic, he's missed four straight cuts, including two to start 2012. Finished T41 in his only career appearance here last year.
J.J. Henry (B) ... Zero top 50s in his last 11 starts worldwide, 10 of which have occurred on the PGA TOUR.
Troy Matteson (B) ... Off to an 0-for-3 start. Always a better long-term own given that he's averaged 12.33 missed cuts per season since his rookie year of 2006, but he shouldn't be dismissed entirely as he's retained fully-exempt status ever since. Both of his PGA TOUR victories have occurred in the desert. The first was in Las Vegas in 2006, the second was at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale in 2009.
Matt Bettencourt (C) ... He's started the year 0-for-3. Has just one top 50 in his last 25 PGA TOUR starts.
Arjun Atwal (C) ... He's missed the cut in each of the last three weeks. Just one top 40 in his last 13 PGA TOUR starts (T24, Frys.com Open).
Danger (Yahoo! Group)
Phil Mickelson (A) ... His missed cut at the Farmers marked his third straight finish worldwide outside a top 30. That's a slump he hasn't seen since busting the last one with a runner-up at last year's Farmers Insurance Open. If there's a site that he'll end his current slide, it might as well be at TPC Scottsdale, where he's a two-time champion and all-time leading money winner. It deserves to be noted that he was likely distracted by the fact that his daughter Sophia was dealing with a health issue in the days leading up to Torrey Pines.
J.B. Holmes (A) ... Shot 1-over 76-69=145 at the Farmers, missing the cut by three strokes. His second round included seven birdies. It's more than an acceptable return from brain surgery but continue to allow the two-time champ at TPC Scottsdale time to shape his game and strength back into form.
Y.E. Yang (A) ... In two starts at TPC Scottsdale, he's finished solo third (2010) and T8 (2011), and owns an actual scoring average of 67.50 over eight rounds. However, he missed the cut last week in what was his first start since suffering a shoulder injury at the Dubai World Championship in December.
Tommy Gainey (B) ... Last year's solo leader after each of the first three rounds settled for a share of eighth place after closing with a 74. More recently, since his last of four third-place finishes of 2011 at the JT Shriners in October, he's missed five of six cuts on the PGA TOUR. The lone cut made was a T79/MDF at the Sony Open. (He also placed T23 in Malaysia in November.)
Medic! (Yahoo! Group)
Scott Stallings (B) ... According to his blog, he's ready to return this week after suffering an injury to an intercostal muscle on his right side. As a result of missing the last two weeks, he's scheduled next week's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Arron Oberholser (n/a) ... First start since the Frys.com Open in October 2009. That was at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale. He lives locally and has always possessed enough firepower that he is not an automatic fade this week.
Notable WDs (Yahoo! Group)
Nick Watney (A) ... Withdrew on Tuesday due to an illness.
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