AimPoint PGA Tour Picks

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.

Winner = 10 points

2nd Place = 5 points

3rd Place = 3 points

Top 10 = 1 point

2009 Fantasy Golf Picks Total:  97 Points

2009 Fantasy Golf Picks Weekly Average:  2.85 Points

Last week: 

I’ll take the 5 points for Tiger and move on.  Both Garcia (-6) and Streelman (-3) got off to great starts on Thursday but could only manage one round in the 60s (Streelman 69 in R3) between the two of them the rest of the tournament.  I’ve been noticing a funny thing the last month or so.  Is it just me or has that feeling that Tiger will just find a way to win disappeared?  It used to be if Tiger was within two shots of the lead on Sunday you just knew he’d come back and win.  As close as Tiger got last weekend I never felt that he was going to win.

That said, I never felt like Slocum would win either.  As the final groups approached the back nine I was sure Stricker would take it home.  But that is what is so great about golf, and this year in particular, it’s been like an indie movie with the unpredictable ending.  And it’s kept us watching.  I get the feeling the rest of the FedEx Cup race will be much of the same.  Congrats to Heath Slocum for getting his first win since 2005.

This week: 

The FedEx Cup Playoffs continue in Boston over Labor day weekend (Friday-Monday golf).  The field of 125 from last week has been cut to 100.  I’m staying away from Tiger this week but not due to his play here.  He has four Top 10s including a win here in five starts.  However Tiger has not been putting well for months now and that will bite him on this course.  Am I saying he won’t finish in the Top 10?  Not so much, I just don’t see a win this week from El Tigre. 

1.  Ernie Els

Ernie finished T3 here last year in his only appearance at TPC of Boston.  Mix in a T2 last week and there should be no suprise to see Els get back into the win column for the first time since early 2008.  There may be no one outside of Tiger playing better golf then the Big Easy as of late.  With four Top 10s in his last six starts this may be a harbinger of FedEx cup glory.  Anything less then a Top 10 this week will be a disappointment.

2.  Jim Furyk

Normally a force in the summer time, Furyk has not managed a Top 10 finish since early July.  A 69 last Sunday is a good sign and his T15 last week was his best finish in months.  Jimmy is winless on Tour since 2007 and is due.  Even in his struggles he only has two missed cuts on the year, in twenty starts.  Furyk finished T7 here a year ago and has never missed the cut in four starts.  Sitting 18th in the FedEx Cup standings I expect Jimmy to contend all weekend long.

3.  Fredrik Jacobson

At this point in the season to be making your first appearance in the Rotoff Golf picks means you are playing good golf.  So is the case with Fredrik Jacobson who has stepped up his game for the playoffs.  With six of his last eight rounds in the 60s, including a 64 on Sunday at the Wyndham, Jacobson has finished T17 and T6 in these playoffs.  In 2007 he finished T9 on this course so it’s not out of the question for Jacobson to continue his rise up the FedEx Cup standings and who knows, maybe his first PGA Tour win.  In this year of indie movie endings you just never know.

AimPoint PGA Tour Picks

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.

Winner = 10 points

2nd Place = 5 points

3rd Place = 3 points

Top 10 = 1 point

2009 Fantasy Golf Picks Total:  66 Points

2009 Fantasy Golf Picks Weekly Average:  2.44 Points

Last week: 

I’m heating up just in time for this week’s Open Championship.  Snedeker’s 2nd place finish was good for 5 points and marked my seventh straight week with points.  Perry got off to a great start but shot two rounds over par during the weekend to finish T59.  Dufner shot a 66 on Friday but was never truly in contention, finishing T39. 

Stricker’s win makes yet another golfer with multiple wins on tour this year.  It should be an exciting FedEx cup chase.

This week: 

The Open Championship returns to Turnberry for the first time since 1994.  Tiger will be looking for his first major in 2009, fifteenth in his career.  Among the many storylines this week, the most interesting to me is Padraig Harrington and the disappearance of his golf game.  It’s no secret that Paddy has changed his swing but after a streak of good golf earlier this spring he has missed four of five cuts including the U.S. Open.  That said this is still his event, expect him to play well but not to win.

Now that Tiger is healthy again the age old question arises, “Tiger or the Field?”  While I could easily pick Tiger for the win this week I’m going Field for one reason, Tiger has yet to play this course outside of practice rounds.  All that said I could easily see Tiger winning, but to keep it interesting I’m betting against him this week.

1. Lee Westwood

Westwood is coming off two straight Top 10s on the European Tour, including a T8 at last week’s Barclay’s Scottish Open.  His best finish in the Open is a solo 4th place in 2004 with only four missed cuts in fourteen starts.  While Lee has struggled here the last few years, his game is suited for links golf and an Open win will happen before his career is over.  I’m guessing sooner then later.

 2. Ernie Els

Ernie’s record in the British Open is spectacular, eleven Top 10s in seventeen starts with one win and zero missed cuts.  I’ll say that again, zero missed cuts.  He has been streaky in 2009 but like Westwood is coming off a good finish (T13) at the Scottish Open last weekend.  Two missed cuts in majors this year makes me nervous but Ernie always gets up for this championship.  I’ll take a Top 10 and if he is in contention on Sunday I’ll shake the nerves.

3. Sergio Garcia

You either love him or loathe him and for the first time this year I’m picking Sergio.  It should be noted that before the season began I called for Sergio to win his first major in 2009.  And though Serg has not played consitently good golf all year, he is coming off a T10 at the U.S. Open.  That he is under if not off the radar this week only bodes well.  Sure there are his past failures here that will be mentioned by the media but if Sergio can find a putting stroke this week look out.  I know that’s a big if (so is my not picking Tiger).  But Sergio is due and his six Top 10s in twelve starts should not be overlooked.

Sleepers:  Rory McIlroy, Camilo Villegas

Happy Open Championship Sunday to all!

AimPoint PGA Tour Picks

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.

Winner = 10 points

2nd Place = 5 points

3rd Place = 3 points

Top 10 = 1 point

2009 Fantasy Golf Picks Total:  30 Points

2009 Fantasy Golf Preview Weekly Average:  2.50 Points

Last week: 

Back in the win column baby!  Now was I the only one in America (or maybe the world)who thought Tiger was going to miss that putt on the 72nd hole?  I keep looking for signs that Tiger is human but after another amazing finish at Bayhill I suspect Tiger may be a robot.  We’ll know more about this latest development come Masters Sunday. 

As for VJ and Bart, both made the cut but were no where near the Top 10.  Seems every year Vijay has a stretch where he struggles and I wonder if maybe he’s on his way down the world rankings, only to see him bounce back into the win column.  But alas one wonders if Vijay hasn’t peaked………………….

This week:

Johnson Wagner defends his lone PGA Tour victory at the last stop before Augusta.  Johnson has two Top 10s here  in the last two years, but nothing about his play in 2008 hinted at his win last season.  Coming into last year’s Shell Houston Open, Wagner had missed six of nine cuts and his best finish was T38.  It’s much the same this year as Wagner has only one Top 10 (in the short field at the Mercedes) with five missed cuts.  But I guess that what makes golf and golf prognostication  so great.  You just never know.

Being the last tune up before the year’s first major, there is a suprisingly great field this week.  Phil, Paddy, Ernie, Sergio and Geoff will all be drawing their guns in Texas.  It should be an entertaining warm up for next week’s main event. 

1. Geoff Ogilvy

Ogilvy already has two wins on the season and has yet to miss a cut.  Don’t expect his first cut to come this week either.  In five starts here, Geoff has yet to miss the cut with three Top 1os.  He finished T2 last year, two shots behind Wagner.  Ogilvy should be hungry with The Masters looming and one (robotic) Tiger Woods back in the spotlight. 

 2. Lucas Glover

Glover is coming off an almost Top 10 (T11 at Bayhill) and has a little bit of good course history at the Shell.  Lucas has never finished outside the Top 30 with exception to his one missed cut in 2007.  His scores of 69 and 70 in brutal weather conditions last weekend are signs that his game is moving in the right direction.  And that direction should lead to his second Top 10 of the season.

3. Ernie Els

Ernie, who hosted the Ernie Els Autism Charity Pro-Am a few weeks back, is also puting together a nice season.  He has two Top 10s thus far and more importantly no missed cuts in six events in 2009.  Ernie has only played the Shell once in his career, finishing T17 in 2003.   This is kind of a reach on my part as there are certainly other top golfers in the field that could make some noise.  But I’m sticking to my hunch and expect to see Ernie in contention through the weekend.