2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Preview
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
Last Week
In what has been a season-long trend, The Greenbrier Classic was settled in a playoff. It’s also been a good year for first-time winners. This time rookie Scott Stallings emerged the victor with an overtime birdie to eliminate Bob Estes and Bill Haas. With only two events under its belt, The Greenbrier has produced a pair of exciting finishes. Last year, Stuart Appleby shot a historic 59 in the final round to sink Jeff Overton.
The picks of the week were looking OK prior to the weekend but ultimately fizzled. Charles Howell III led the way finishing T32. Sergio Garcia, the Must Start, was just behind him, T39. Jeff Overton and Chris Kirk both settled at T49. Spencer Levin blew a top-20 finish with a dreadful round on Sunday, falling all the way down to finish T64. Finally, perhaps the biggest surprise of the week, Phil Mickelson missed the cut all together.
This Week’s Fantasy Golf Picks
Lee Westwood
After finishing T3 in the U.S. Open Championship, Westwood was one of several top-ranked golfers to miss the cut at The Open Championship. Injury forced him to withdraw from this event a year ago but the No. 2 player in the world grabbed a split of second at Firestone Country Club in 2008 and added another top-10 result the following year. With three top-11 finishes over his last four Tour starts, Westwood will quickly get The Open disappointment behind him.
Steve Stricker – Must Start
While Firestone is the longest par-70 course on Tour, Stricker’s rank of 120th in driving distance is not a cause for concern because he’s so dominant elsewhere. On Tour, he’s the top player in scoring, birdies and strokes gained – putting. With some of the other big names struggling, Stricker is easily the safest pick in the field.
Rory McIlroy
Last year at Firestone, only two players shot all four records in the 60s. En route to a share of ninth, McIlroy was one of them; Bo Van Pelt was the other. After winning the U.S. Open, McIlroy braved the wild weather at the British to come away T25. Coming off a T34 in the Irish Open, McIlroy figures to contend for another title stateside.
Nick Watney
Aside from his disappointing performances in majors, Watney has been bulletproof nearly all season, including a win in the most recent WGC stroke play event, the Cadillac Championship. He currently ranks in the top-five in scoring, birdies, strokes gained – putting and All-Around Ranking. Last year, Watney finished T16 at Firestone after entering Sunday in the top 10 but enters with much higher expectations this time around.
Miguel Angel Jimenez
In addition to looking like The Most Interesting Man in the World, Jimenez is also a highly interesting pick this week. He was recently flirting with top-five at The Open Championship until fading to T25 on Sunday. At Firestone, Jimenez owns top-10 results from 2008 and 2009. A year ago, he finished T22 but was T7 at the start of the weekend.
Bo Van Pelt
Over the last few months, Van Pelt has emerged as one of the most consistent options in the field. Aside from a T57 at The Open Championship, BVP has finished inside the top-15 in six straight events. Last year was his first start at Firestone and saw him finish with an impressive T3.
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