Fantasy Golf Picks

Last Week

The Honda Classic was claimed by Rory Sabbatini, complete with flashy hat and belt buckle. The South African nearly squandered a five-stroke lead to a hard pressing Y.E. Yang. Rounding out the top five were Jerry Kelly, Ricky Barnes and Tommy Gainey.

My picks were pretty solid, given the high scores that were posted throughout the tournament. My Must Start, Graeme McDowell finished T6 thanks to a Sunday-best 6-under 64. Luke Donald went over par in two rounds, but got low enough in the other two to finish with a share of 10th. Charl Schwartzel would have finished higher than T14 if not for a 4-over 74 in the third round, his only round over par. Ian Poulter finally settled in on Sunday with a 3-under to improve to T36. Rory McIlroy was a disappointing T70 while Vijay Singh missed the cut.

This Week

Starting in 2007 the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship has been hosted at the TPC Blue Monster course at Doral Golf Resort & Spa. Prior to taking over the CA Championship, the Blue Monster hosted the Doral Open. The field is set a 69 players, 60 of which are inside the top 65 of the Official World Golf Ranking. With only the elite invited, forget the idea of any sleeper picks this week. Also keep in mind there will not be a cut.

Martin Kaymer – Must Start

He’s the No. 1 player in the world. He just finished as the runner-up in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and T3 at Doral a year ago. He won last year’s PGA Championship and three other events on the European Tour since. He’s The Germanator, King Kaymer. His stateside schedule is typically limited so start Kaymer each and every time he’s available.

Matt Kuchar

Last year, Kaymer spilt third-place with Kuchar, who ranked first in fairways and T5 in putting. After starting the season off with three finishes of seventh or better, Kuchar took a slight step back in the Northern Trust Open. Fear not, Kuchar answered with a third-place result in the Match Play Championship and T17th in The Honda Classic. On Tour, Kuchar ranks fifth in All-Around and 11th in scoring. He appears headed to a second straight season of solid play and is always a safe investment.

Alvaro Quiros

Currently the 22nd-ranked player in the world, Quiros has fared well in this event with finishes of T6 and T13. In both starts, he finished first in driving distance. In fact, Quiros is averaging 317.5 yards per drive, first on the European Tour and several yards better than Bubba Watson, who is pacing the PGA Tour. In his last three stroke play events on the European Tour, Quiros has a win, a runner-up and an eighth-place finish.

Charl Schwartzel

I’ll role with Schwartzel for another week as he finished runner-up at Doral a year ago. As I mentioned last week, he’s been on a complete tear over the last three months on the European Tour. In five stroke play starts, the South African has a win, a runner-up performance and a total of four top-fives. Last year on the PGA Tour, Schwartzel had a pair of top-three finishes and five top-20s.

Nick Watney

Speaking of runner-up performances, Watney finished second at Doral in 2009. While he finished T26 last year, Watney scored progressively better in each round. In 2011, Watney has been on fire with three finishes of sixth or better in stroke play events. He ranks second in scoring average, fifth in birdies and 13th in driving distance.

Bill Haas

In his lone Doral start, Haas finished T6 a year ago. In five stroke play events this year, Haas owns four finishes of 12th or better. He ranks third in greens, fifth in eagles and sixth in birdies.

Puerto Rico Open picks

The alternate tournament for those not qualified for the WGC-Cadillac Championship is The Puerto Rico Open, which enters its fourth year of existence.

Stewart Cink, Fredrik Jacobson, Jerry Kelly

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