2010 Farmers Insurance Open Preview
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
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: 7 Points
2010 Fantasy Golf Picks Weekly Average: 2.33 Points
Think you can pick better? Leave a comment with your 3 picks for the 2010 Farmers Insurance 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 including Grand Prize information.
Congrats to Eric McClung who not only picked the winner in Bill Haas (10 points) but also got 5 points for his 2nd place pick in Bubba Watson! That’s an unbelievable start and you jump to the top of the BTE Leaderboard! Keep those picks coming. You win a FREE 2010 Rotoff Golf Draft Kit! Please contact me for details on how to claim your prize.
| Rank | Name | Weeks | Weekly Win | Win (x10) | 2nd (x5) | 3rd (x3) | T10 (x1) | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E. McClung | 31 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 101 |
| 2 | Brad | 29 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 94 |
| 3 | C. Giles | 24 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 80 |
| 4 | C. Cameron | 26 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 70 |
| 5 | E. Planer | 34 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 60 |
| 6 | E. Hamilton | 22 | 2 | 4 | - | 2 | 13 | 59 |
| 7 | J. Book | 30 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 53 |
| 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:
Is Tim Clark ever going to get the job done? He held a brief lead late in the final round but settles for a 2nd place finish. As much as I would have loved the 10 points, I will take the 5 points for his runner up finish. Charlie Howell flirted with the Top 10 before a 71 on SilverRock in round 4. The best Justin Rose could muster was a 67 all week and missed the cut. Still it was a productive week for me and I’ll take my current #3 standing on the BTE Leaderboard.
This week:
The site of this year’s Buick Invitational, er Century Club of San Diego Open………….I mean Farmers Insurance Open will be played on one of the best courses on the West Coast and the site of the 2008 U.S. Open, Torrey Pines. (Remember back when Tiger Woods was a family man?) With Tiger’s return even more in doubt the golf world continues on. We look to you #2.
(Keep in mind there are two courses in play for the first two rounds, with the North course typically playing easier then the South course)
1. Phil Mickelson
The stars could align in 2010 for Lefty if he can get a win this week. Playing in his first PGA Tour event of the season, Mickelson is no doubt the favorite. Mickelson has three wins in this event, although the last time was way back in 2001. Over the last six years he has followed up a poor showing with a Top 10 (T55 2005, T8 2006, T51 2007, T6 2008). That said he finished T42 in 2009. In nineteen career starts he has nine Top 10s with just three missed cuts. If Philly Mick has the putter working it could be a run away win. But rust could be an issue as he has not played since November at the WGC-HSBC Champions on the European Tour (which he won by the way). Golf needs you now Phil, no pressure.
2. Bubba Watson
Watson was awesome last week, finishing T2 with five straight rounds in the 60s (including a 62 in round 2!). That he is always at the top of the league in driving distance will bode well this week on the long courses of Torrey Pines. In four career starts here he has two Top 10s with no missed cuts. I suspect Bubba will be able to maintain his current good play and anything less then a Top 10 will be disappointing.
3. Brandt Snedeker
Sneds has limited experience at the Farmers, but did finish 3rd here as a rookie in 2007. In his first start of 2010 and somewhat under the radar last week, Brandt managed a T10 finish at the Bob Hope and shot 65 and 66 back to back in rounds 3 and 4. Typically a slow starter, another Top 10 at Torrey Pines would be huge and could establish Snedy as yet another young American golfer on the rise. Currently 101 in the World Rankings look for him to be in the Top 50 by years end. Top 10 or bust.
