2010 Valero Texas Open Preview
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
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: 33 Points
2010 Fantasy Golf Picks Weekly Average: 1.83 Points
Think you can pick better? Leave a comment with your 3 picks for the 2010 Valero Texas 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.
| Rank | Name | Weeks | Weekly Win | Win (x10) | 2nd (x5) | 3rd (x3) | T10 (x1) | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E. McClung | 34 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 106 |
| 2 | Brad | 32 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 96 |
| 3 | C. Giles | 26 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 82 |
| 4 | C. Cameron | 29 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 80 |
| 5 | E. Planer | 37 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 66 |
| 6 | E. Hamilton | 22 | 2 | 4 | - | 2 | 13 | 59 |
| 7 | J. Book | 31 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 56 |
| 8 | J. Littlefield | 13 | 1 | 1 | - | 8 | 23 | |
| 9 | Shane | 10 | 1 | 1 | - | 5 | 20 | |
| 10 | Dr Peerless | 6 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 14 | |
| 11 | Bryan | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 10 | |
| 11 | T. Whitehead | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 10 | |
| 13 | R. Slaughter | 3 | - | - | - | 3 | 3 | |
| 14 | C. Garner | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | Dutch | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 |
Last Week:
Amazingly enough I got my third weekly win of the season as the only one with points on Ben Crane’s Top 10 finish. He finished T4, right on the bubble for more points. Phil Mickelson got into contention through 54 holes but got no closer then three shots off the lead, struggling with a final round 74 in harsh conditions. Jim Furyk looked good early (first round 69) but three staight rounds of 73 got him a T47 finish. I’m taking baby steps but two straight weeks with points is encouraging.
This week:
For the first time ever this event will be played at the TPC San Antonio so you can pretty much throw out any past performance at this event. For that reason I’m going with recent play and only a little bit of event history. As much as I’d like to take Sergio Garcia this week, who helped design the new course, I just don’t see him bouncing back after a T47 last Sunday at the Players (shotty putter included).
1. Ernie Els
After an early exit at last week’s Players, Ernie Els gets another shot on a TPC course. Still #1 on the FedEx Cup list, last week was his first missed cut of the season but I don’t think that’s anything to worry about. Ernie still has two wins on the season and is the favorite to win. He has never played in this event so here’s to beginner’s luck. Seriously though, a Top 10 should be a cinch in a pretty weak field.
2. Justin Leonard
Homestate hero Justin Leonard makes his twelfth career start at the Valero Texas Open where he has won three times (seven Top 10s), most recently in 2007. This event could not come soon enough for Mr. Leonard who has yet to garner a Top 10 in 2010. Even with this year’s event being played on a brand new course, it’s still a “homecourt” advantage for Justin. Look for him to break out of his Top 10 slump and watch for him to be in contention on Sunday.
3. Bo Van Pelt
Bo Van Pelt could very well be playing the best golf of his career. His T4 finish at last week’s Players, amongst the toughest field all season, was his third straight Top 10 finish. And to top that these finishes have come on some of the tougher scoring courses (and fields) on the Tour. Van Pelt’s lone win on Tour came last season at the now defunct U.S. Bank Championship, but if Bo keeps playing like he has recently it won’t be long before he gets career win number two, maybe even coming this week.
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Poll: Please vote on the newest poll at the upper right hand side. I’m curious what everyone thinks about Tiger’s chances of winning a major this season. And look for my extended Tiger rant in the coming weeks.
