Fantasy Golf Picks

I’m giving myself points for picking winners.  Hopefully my picks can help you win your fantasy golf league this season.  My goal is to get to 111 points for the season, or the equivlant of picking a Top 3 finisher or better each week, based on the point scale below:

Winner = 10 points

2nd Place = 5 points

3rd Place = 3 points

Top 10 = 1 point

2010 Fantasy Golf Picks Total:  37 Points

2010 Fantasy Golf Picks Weekly Average:  1.61 Points

Think you can pick better?  Leave a comment with your 5 picks for the 2010 U.S. Open.  If you Beat The Expert in any week you will win a FREE 2010 Rotoff Golf Draft Kit (a $9.99 value) with one possible Grand Prize winner at the end of the FedEx Cup season.  See here for official BTE rules.

Joey Books gets back on the board with his 3rd weekly win.  Not only did he pick the winner in Lee Westwood but also gets a point for Camilo Villegas’ Top 10.  His 11 total points move him up the board into a tie for 4th and within striking distance of the overall top spot.  Funny to note all other teams in the Top 3 also picked Westwood. 

Beat the Expert Leaderboard

Last Week:

My intentions were good in picking a Brit to win last week, I just picked the wrong Brit.  Rory McIlroy was on his way before a weekend of 72-71, and a disappointing T29 finish.  Also finishing T29 was David Toms who didn’t play bad, there were just twenty-nine golfers better then him for the week.  Had he cracked a round better then 70 in the first three rounds who knows (a final round 65 was too little too late).  And last but not least my best pick falls just shy of points, as Zach Johnson ended just outside the Top 10 at T12.  My (lack of) skills for picking winners has all but left me, as I haven’t picked a winner since Dustin Johnson at Pebble Beach back in February.  I’m hoping that will be a good omen of things to come.

This week:

The time has arrived my friends.  Not only is summer knocking on the door but we might be on the cusp of a whole new golf world.  All the buzz this week surrounds Phil Mickelson and for good reason.  A win this weekend and we’ll be talking Phil Slam.  A friggin Phil Slam!  With all the hoopla surrounding World #1 this year it’s amazing how the stage is being set.  A Lefty Masters win, dominant Europeans and no Tiger, oh my! 

But it’s Tiger Woods that makes this week so intriguing.  At the site of the most dominant major win in the history of golf, Tiger returns to a 2nd U.S. Open at Pebble Beach where he won last time by fifteen strokes.  Ten years later we are on the brink of a changing of the guard.  For the first time in that same ten year span Tiger is not the outright favorite in Vegas to win (he and Phil are tied at 7/1).  A new number one?  Long live the king?  The king is………………all but dead.

I don’t have the balls to pick him but don’t be suprised to see Tiger’s best this week.  Afterall he is still chasing Jack’s record of eighteen majors.  When you’ve lost your image the only thing left is immortality.  And I know I beat this dead horse just about every April and June but If we’re lucky we’ll see a Tiger/Phil final pairing on Sunday.  And maybe if we’re luckier, Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington just infront.  If Phil gets to career major number five…….it’s gonna be one hell of a summer for golf fans (or maybe just for Phil fans?).  If Tiger should win number fifteen will we forget the last eight months?  Or will a relative unknown step up and steal immortality for themselves? 

The ifs will all be answered come Sunday. 

1.  Phil Mickelson

Bet you didn’t see this coming.  This is by far the consensus pick by all the golf world but for good reason.  Already a major win in 2010, Phil has a great track record at Pebble Beach over the years including three career wins and six Top 10s in fifteen career starts.  Phil was in contention (kinda) in 2000 if not for a 76 on Sunday (well and the fact that Tiger ran away and hid from the rest of the field), but still finished T16.  You no doubt know Phil’s near misses in U.S. Opens.  I’ll say no more then that for fear of jinxing him.

2.  Lee Westwood

You no doubt know Lee’s near misses in U.S. Opens.  Now that he’s won for the first time since 1998 it would not suprise me in the least to see anther British slump end at Pebble Beach.  He finished T5 here in 2000 and has only one missed cut in the U.S. Open since that same year.  That’s seven starts.  In eight starts in 2010 he has yet to miss a cut along with five Top 10s.  There’s a reason why he’s number three in the world.  And there’s a reason why you should pick him in your fantasy golf lineup this week. 

3.  Stewart Cink

Under the radar for most, except for you as a dedicated reader of this blog, Stewart Cink is a threat to win this week.  He has not had a round over 71 in his last twelve rounds.  How’s that for research!  Stewart is no stranger to majors and (as you know) plays his best golf in the summer months.  He finsihed T8 here in 2000 and has three career Top 10s in fourteen career U.S. Opens.   If Stewie can get out to a good start he will be in contention come Sunday.  And know that he knows how to win majors he just might do it again.

Sleepers (outside World Top 50):  Heath Slocum, Mike Weir

(all that and not a mention of the triple bogey gift from last Sunday, it must be U.S. Open week)

Happy (early) U.S. Open Sunday and to all a good night!

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Poll:  Please vote on the newest poll at the upper right hand side.  Do you think it will be Tiger, Phil or McClung victorius?

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE SITE!!!

Standard calcutta format (i.e. not parimutuel):

• Deadline: The calcutta ends Wednesday June 16th at 5:00 PM Eastern.

• Payment: Josh LaFountain AKA “Wurgler” will be handling the collection of money and prize payouts.  Accepted payment methods are Money Order and Certified/Cashiers Checks.  We will post the information after the bidding closes.  Please contact Josh if you have any questions regarding payment.  

NOTE: 
a) No partial payments if you split a golfer!!! It’s too much of a hassle for us to keep track of.  The person who actually won the bid is responsible for the entire amount. 
Please remember the One Hour Rule:

b) Be able to make your payment within 24 hours of the end of the bidding.  If this is not possible, have someone else bid for you who can.

c) A small administrative fee (amount TBD) will be deducted from the prize pool.

• The One Hour Rule: This rule is put into place to squash any attempts to sandbag bids at the last minute.

If a bid is placed in the last hour of the Calcutta (i.e. between 4:00 and 4:00 PM on Wednseday June 16th) then an additional one hour of bidding time (from the time of said bid) will be added for the player being bid upon.

This will continue to happen as long as the bidding for the player continues.

Example: If someone bids on Tiger Woods at 4:26 PM on the 16th, Tiger’s deadline will be extended until 5:26 PM. If someone then bid again on Tiger, at say 5:02 PM, then his deadline would be further extended to 6:02 PM.

• Betting Minimum: Each player will begin with a bet of  no less than $10. Bidding increments go up as the bids get higher.

• The Field: There WILL be a Field Bid, however it will not be available until the main bidding period ends at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, June 16th.  At that point, all players who have not received a bid, will be included in “The Field”.  Bidding will continue as per the One Hour Rule set forth above.

• Prize Structure: Four prizes, split will be 40%, 30%, 20%, and 10% of prize pool.

• Sign Up: You will be required to register before you place a bid. PLEASE, ONLY USE YOUR REAL NAME!!!

• Email Notification: You will (should) receive an email notification indicating that your bet has been accepted. You will (should) also receive an e-mail notification when someone places an Outbid on a player that you had action on.   There have been issues in the past with emails, so please don’t rely on them! 
Contact info:

Queries about payment:

Josh LaFountain AKA “Wurgler”
Email: azflatx(at)gmail(dot)com
Cell: 214-4six0-8six10

Any other queries:

Ben Zeidenberg:  bzeidenberg (at) akanda (dot) com
Cell: 416-560-seven0four4

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE SITE!!!

AimPoint PGA Tour Picks

Coming Soon

Fantasy Golf Picks

I’m giving myself points for picking winners.  Hopefully my picks can help you win your fantasy golf league this season.  My goal is to get to 111 points for the season, or the equivlant of picking a Top 3 finisher or better each week, based on the point scale below:

Winner = 10 points

2nd Place = 5 points

3rd Place = 3 points

Top 10 = 1 point

2010 Fantasy Golf Picks Total:  37 Points

2010 Fantasy Golf Picks Weekly Average:  1.68 Points

Think you can pick better?  Leave a comment with your 3 picks for the 2010 St. Jude Classic.  If you Beat The Expert in any week you will win a FREE 2010 Rotoff Golf Draft Kit (a $9.99 value) with one possible Grand Prize winner at the end of the FedEx Cup season.  See here for official BTE rules.

Cal gets his first weekly win of the season nabbing 3 points on Ricky Barnes 3rd place finish.   Not only does he win a FREE 2010 Rotoff Golf Draft Kit but he also moves into a tie for 7th on the BTE LB.  Cal, contact me to claim your Draft Kit and congrats!   (I’m sad to say I left Barnes on my bench on my Rotoff Golf team, I might have to start copying your picks)

Beat the Expert Leaderboard

Last Week:

One point wasn’t bad considering no one picked the winner in Justin Rose.  Though Stewart Cink only had one round in the 60s he was consistent all week and finished T8 for my single point of the week.  Keep an eye on Stewie with the U.S and British Open’s looming.  Jeff Overton was primed for a third straight Top 10 finish thru 54 holes before a final round 73.  He ended up T12, one stroke away from points.  Not sure what the hell happened to Nick Watney who shot 74-82 and missed the cut badly.  Guess I should have gone with Phil Mickelson after all, though he only does well when I don’t pick him.  Not sure how I’m going to play that next week.

This week:

I can’t remember the last time the top three golfer odds out of Vegas for a tournament in the states were all Englishman.  Infact this might be the first.  Add to that one Justin Rose (another Englishman) winning his first PGA Tour event last weekend.  Is this a sign of things to come?  Can a Brit win at Pebble?

All ranked in the Top 15 in the world, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Padraig Harrington will have their work cut out for them at the St. Jude Classic where no Brit has ever won in 60+ years of tournaments played.  Those are some long odds.  Albeit there probably hasn’t been a lot of Englishman in the fields until recently with the tournament positioned right before the U.S. Open.  Not nearly the monster field we saw last week but enough names to make it interesing one week before the Battle at the Beach. 

1.  Zach Johnson

Coming off a win just a few weeks ago, which suprisingly is his only Top 10 of the season, Zach Johnson has a great opportunity at hand.    He only has one career start here but it was a T5 in 2006.  Though ZJ was not impressive last week with only one round in the 60s squeezed between two 73s and a final round 74, he is still only weeks removed from winning.  I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt this week and assuming he can find that same form.

2.  Rory McIlroy

If any Brit is going to break the winless streak in Tennessee it would surely be young Rory.  Already getting that first win off his back earlier this season, Rory has the long game that fits this 7244 yard course right.  No corse history to speak of so we’ll have to rely on recent play for this pick.  Rory finished T10 last week in one of the toughest fields of the year so this week should be no challenge.  A win right before the U.S. Open would be amazing for Mr. McIlroy, though I’d be happy with another Top 10.

3.  David Toms

David Toms is the darling pick this week and his track record here cannot be ignored.  He has seven Top 10s in his last eight starts including two wins back to back in 2003 and 2004.  In seventeen career starts he has only missed the cut twice and both of those came in his first appearances.  Suprisingly Toms has yet to finish in the Top 10 in 2010 but is coming off his best start of the year, a T13 at Crowne Plaza.  But better yet was his four straight rounds in the 60s with a final round 65.  Expect the streak of 60s to continue at TPC Southwind where Toms dominates.