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, 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:  26 Points

2010 Fantasy Golf Picks Weekly Average:  1.73 Points

Think you can pick better?  Leave a comment with your 3 picks for the 2010 Zurich 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.

Congrats to Craig who was the only one to pick the winner (Jim Furyk) and with his 10 points moves into a tie for 3rd place on the BTE LB.  Craig, your first weekly win is worth a free 2010 Rotoff Golf Draft Kit.  Please contact me for sign up instructions. 

Beat the Expert Leaderboard

Last Week:

I’m at a loss for words.  K.J. Choi started on fire out of the gate with a 64 and a 1st round lead only to close with three straight rounds over par and a T41 finish.  Seriously WTF?  Is there an injury we don’t know about?  Scott Verplank and Vaughn Taylor both missed the cut.  I now know why my traffic numbers are up from last year.  You’re not here to gage who to pick but who NOT to pick.  If this point drought continues I might have to try my luck at LPGA Fantasy Golf Picks.

On a side note it seems I’m always a week late and dollar short.  A week after collapsing in the year’s first Major, Jimmy racks his second win of the season and looks dominant once again.  I can’t help but wonder if it’s not him but me.  Are my picks cursed?  Did I swiftly bring about a first round 80 with a few strokes of my dusty keyboard?  Odds are unlikely, however I will be keeping a close eye on this “Planer Curse.”

This week:

The Tour makes it annual stop in New Orleans this week, (never thought I’d say this) home of the Super Bowl Champion Saints.  The TPC of Louisiana is a Pete Dye course that plays a little tougher then it’s predecessor since it became the host course in 2004.  It’s a tournament never short on drama, with the winner three of the last four years winning by a lone stroke.   So sit back, relax and enjoy the birdie fest, even if the field is a little blah.

(Stricker has withdrawn Wednesday afternoon.  Changing my pick to Steve Marino)

1. Steve Stricker

Speaking of the “Curse,”  the first time I picked Steve Stricker this season he went on to lose as a #1 seed in Match Play.  Now I know I wasn’t the only one to pick Strick that week but I’m just sayin.  That said there’s no one more worthy of my pick to break the jinx.  Three missed cuts aside, Steve has never finished worse then T26 here in eleven career starts with two Top 10s.  He also has not missed a cut this season so I’m confident (GULP) he’ll be playing the weekend.   Coming off a T30 at the Masters, Stricks should be ready to join the ranks of Ernie and Jimmy as the only two time winners thus far in 2010.

2.  Charles Howell III

Forgeting the missed cut at the Masters (where he always stuggles), Charles Howell III is playing some consistent golf in 2010.  Which bodes well for Zurich where Howell Three has never missed the cut.  With four Top 10s in seven career starts it’s hard to overlook him.  Better yet he’s finished T2 in this event his last two starts.  Last week he was tied for the lead going into the weekend before a 73-71 finale.  That shouldn’t be a problem this weekend with a R3 and R4 RSA of -4.00 or better since 2007 at TPC of Louisiana.  You better bring it.

3.  K.J. Choi

I’m a glutton for punishment.  Do I let K.J. Choi burn me again?  I like to think of it more as a chance at redemption.  That Choi is in the field this week tells me he’s not hurt (though I don’t know if that makes me feel any better).  If we pretend that rounds 2-4 never happened last week (thus canceling the Furyk jinx?) then Choi is one of the hottest golfers in the world, coming off a T4 at the year’s first major.  If not for the fact that Choi won this event in 2002 (though on a different course) I may have looked the other way.  The golf ball’s in your court K.J.  If you ever want to be picked again here the rest of the year you will deliver at least a Top 10 this weekend!

(Here’s to hoping that a few childish threats can break the “Planer Curse”)

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, 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:  25 Points

2010 Fantasy Golf Picks Weekly Average:  2.78 Points

Think you can pick better?  Leave a comment with your 3 picks for the 2010 WGC-CA Championship.  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.

Beat the Expert Leaderboard

Last Week:

I almost looked like a genius.  Until he reached the Bear Trap on Sunday, sleeper Vijay Singh looked poised for a 2nd place finish.  Final hole colapse aside it was a great week for Vijay who got back to basics with fairways and greens.  I’ll take the 1 point for his Top 10 finish and won’t mention that Robert Allenby missed the cut (so much for that) while Scott Piercy faded after the first round for a T56 finish. 

Even in my “almost” glory I lose ground to our fearless leader McClung who was the only one that had the winner in Camilo Villegas.  It’s his second weekly win of the year as his cushion at the top gets bigger with an addition of 10 more points.  Well played.

This week:

Another week, another WGC event.  This time on the famed Blue Monster of Doral.  Expect to see lots of birdies this week as the best players in the world meet once again (seems like just weeks ago) to tune up their games for Augusta, not that the $1.4 million first place prize is anything to sneeze at.  WGC tournaments always have a major feel to them and this week should be no different as Phil Mickelson returns to the course as defending champ.  Speaking of major feel, it’s worth noting that the winners here the last three years have all won majors.  But I will be bucking that trend a bit with my picks this week (or will I?). 

1. Steve Stricker

We haven’t seen Steve Stricker since his disappointing first round exit at the WGC-Accenture Match Play.  With three weeks to rest and recover I imagine Stricks will be rearing to go.  Remember that whole bit earlier about major champions winning here, blah blah blah?  This pick would seem to stray from that rule, except I really think we’re going to see him break through for his first major win this season.  That not enough to convince ya?  Well how about a T13 and a T6 in this event the last two years.  Look for Stricker to be hanging around the top of the Leaderboard all weekend.

 2. Stewart Cink

I Cink I can, I Cink I can.  Stewart Cink doesn’t typically get going until the summer stretch.  But even before spring he already has half a million in earnings and two Top 10s in four starts.  Stewy hasn’t had a lot of success at Doral since 1999 when he finished T4.  The key will be how he performs on Sunday as his +1.67 final round scoring average over the last three years here is nothing to brag about.  But he did finish T5 in Match Play a few weeks back so I’m not completley pulling this one out of my ass.

3.  Ian Poulter

Now that that pesky first PGA Tour win is behind him, watch Ian Poulter nab a few more victories over the next few years.  He has four Top 20 finishes in this event in six career starts and came in tied for second back in 2006.  There’s not a lot of golfers playing more consistent golf these days outside of Villegas and with just two starts on the PGA Tour in 2010 he’s only just 3rd on the money list.  Can Ian make it two straight WGC wins?  I’m hoping so.

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, 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:  22 Points

2010 Fantasy Golf Picks Weekly Average:  3.67 Points

Think you can pick better?  Leave a comment with your 3 picks for the 2010 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.  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.

Ed gets the job done for a second time this year with 11 total points.  He got not only the winner in Dustin Johnson but also gets a point for Phil’s first Top 10 of 2010.  It also moves him into 2nd place overall on the BTE Leaderboard, just two points shy of our fearless leader McClung.  Nice work Ed. 

Beat the Expert Leaderboard

Last Week:

It was a great week for me in getting my first winning pick of the year in Dustin Johnson.  Garcia was on his way to a Top 10 before a +5 final round score that dropped him to T52.  Luke Donald only broke 60 once last week but still managed a T16 finish.  At least no one missed the cut.

This week:

Changing it up just a bit this week with the Match Play.  Instead of three picks I would like everyone to give their bracket winners, though the same point scale will apply.

For the first time in the history of this event there will be no Tiger or Phil.  While some may argue that it will be boring (this event is usually always boring after the first few rounds) it will be a chance for some of the young guns to shine.  This will be our first time in 2010 seeing Villegas, McIlroy and Anthony Kim (seriously can anyone vouch for him really playing the Northern Trust?).  Match Play is pretty much like the NCAA tournament, the first few rounds are exciting and the last rounds rarely live up to the hype.  I for one think the 36 hole championship round is 18 holes to long.  Rarely does the championship match have any real drama.  But I digress.

There are some great 1st round pairings this year.  Vijay vs. Clark.  Garcia vs. Toms.  Villegas vs. DJ.  Always a hard tournament to predict, it really comes down to who is hot and putting well.  It’s definately a grind and expect to see some early round upsets this year  (I’ll call it now, Toms over Garcia).  Having just filled out my Rotoff Golf Match Play Challenge bracket I’m ready to announce this year’s bracket winners.

1. Steve Stricker (Bobby Jones Bracket)

Now #2 in the world there’s not much left for Stricker to accomplish in the golf world except a Major title.  Winning here would be a good start towards that goal.  Over the last seven years, six of the Match Play winners have also got a Major.  It’s hard to argue that anyone outside of DJ is playing better then Stricker right now and I expect that to continue this week.  Being a #1 seed doesn’t hurt either.

 2. Rory McIlroy (Ben Hogan Bracket)

Rory could have an easy go in the first few rounds before having to meet Donald or Allenby in the 3rd round.  In just two events this year on the European Tour, McIlroy has a 3rd place and T6 finish.  If he can continue that success in the states it could be a great year for the youngster from across the pond.

3. Geoff Ogilvy (Gary Player Bracket)

The last time we saw Mr. Ogilvy he was victorious in Hawaii at the season opening SBS Championship.  Geoff has become an elite golfer who has the luxary of picking and choosing his PGA Tour schedule.  It cannot be overlooked that he has won this event twice and has a good track record (3 career wins) in his home state of AZ.  The only real hurdle in his way could be the winner of the Villegas/DJ matchup in the 2nd round.

4. Zach Johnson (Sam Snead Bracket)

ZJ hasn’t played since the Sony so rust could be a factor.  As the #6 seed he could have a somewhat easy draw as no one outside of Paul Casey really scare me in his possible early round matches.  Zach made a deep run (albeit on a different course) in 2006, winning the consolation match for a 3rd place finish.  If he can continue his great short game play (6th in GIR) he should make a deep run.

If you would like to play in the Rotoff Golf Match Play Challenge please get your brackets in before Wednesday at 8:00 am pst.  Good luck.

 Follow the Match Play scoring all week long at the link below:

http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r470/index.html