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Yeah, I'm playing Henrik Stenson this week

2009-03-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

I couldn't believe my eyes last night when I saw a "naked golfer"... well almost naked.

It was Henrik Stenson. As the story goes, his ball buried in some mud and he didn't want to get his clothes dirty, so he stripped... right on the course. Fanny (his caddie) was doing her best to gather his clothes and get some towels ready.

He ended up bogeying the hole, but still gained some points for me.

Oh, and yeah... he's pretty good eye candy!

Time to update my progress...

2009-03-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

So far so good.

With the scoring method this year (on each round rather than FedEx Points), I'm holding my own.

Through last week's tournament, I was in the 94th percentile.

Of course it's still early in the season. We're just now settling into the "Florida Swing".

Mercedes-Benz Championship this week

2009-01-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

After one of the shortest breaks in all professional sports, the PGA Tour is underway again in Hawaii with the Mercedes-Benz Championship. This limited-field, no-cut, tournament is always a favorite. To qualify, all you have to do is win a PGA Tour event during the regular season.

This is also the unveiling of the new PGA Tour Fantasy Golf/Yahoo! Sports marriage. You get a whole new way of doing things, which I believe will be better than last year. I just wasn't a fan of tying the Fedex Points to the Fantasy golf game.

So, basically, you pick two golfers from the "A" list (those are the super-stars), four golfers from the "B" list (these are the guys who play well day in and day out, and sometimes even win), and two golfers from the "C" list (these are rookies, foreign "unkowns", and "over the hill" guys). Once you've selected your roster, then you pick half of the roster as your team, 1-A, 2-B, 1-C player. You may also adjust your team throughout the tournament.

I like this format, as you can adjust according to the 36 hole-cut, or DQ's, or WD's. Also, if you've picked a guy who isn't doing as well as one of your bench guys, you can make a change at the end of a round.

Scoring is "per round" basis with the lowest round golfer receiving 20 points and each stroke behind receiving 2 points less. Additionally, the tournament winner gets 20 points, second place gets 10 points and third place gets 5 points.

You can only "start" a golfer in a maximum of 10 tournaments. There is no reset at the start of the next "season segment" (total of three segments).

So, who did I select?

Hey, I can't give away all my secrets... Get signed up on Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf. Then go to private groups type in ID#5452 pw is entrecard.

2009 Fantasy Golf Season Starts Now!

2008-12-29T12:19:00.001-08:00

Here we go again... new partners, new format... Hopefully a better game overall.

Got a hankering to play PGA Tour Fantasy Golf? Are you a member of Entrecard? Join me at the Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf. Once you do that, you may join my private group by leaving a comment here on this blog. I'll send you the group ID and password via the Entrecard messaging system.

It looks like this could be a fun year. Tiger is on track to return for The Masters. Before that, there's the always "rough and tumble" western swing where sometimes the weather wins, and sometimes the golfers win. One thing for sure, there's no real dynasty.

Now, just to be clear, in order to play Yahoo! Fantasy Golf you must have a Yahoo! ID and you must be at least 18 years old, and a resident of the USA (50 states or Wash DC). These rules are in place to make sure you're eligible to win one of their many prizes, including a "PGA Tour Experience".

Most Loyal Advertiser Link Love!

2008-10-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

Quite some time ago, I instituted an "Advertiser Loyalty Program" for folks who belong to Entrecard, an advertising community for bloggers.

Here's the deal on my "Advertiser Loyalty Program".

Every time you purchase a 24-hr ad spot from me, I enter you into a pool of that month's advertiser. That means, at least, you have a 1 in 31 chance of winning at least 60 EC from me. I have five blogs, so you are welcome to advertise across all five and compete for each of the pools.

I also keep track of how many times you advertise with me. See that "Most Loyal Advertisers" in my Blogroll? Each of those bloggers have advertised at least 10 times with me. They may have advertised two times on each blog, or 10 times in just one blog. Either way, they all earned a permanent link for their efforts.

I also have a "big pool" made up of all the advertisers. I set aside 25% of the credits I receive from advertising, and when that totals 500, I go to a random number generator and select a winner, awarding them all 500 EC.

Who's been winning? That's where the link love comes in... Be sure to check out these folks. They each received at least 60 EC from this blog.

May Winner:

AnyApples

June Winner:

Wii Golf . net

July Winner:

Just 4 Families

August Winner:

This Just In Fantasy Football

If you'd like to get in on the action, join me at Entrecard. It's where bloggers really have come together to create a program that works.

Bet'cha wonder where I've been...

2008-06-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

Life has been rather busy for the past few months. Now, that doesn't mean I've dropped out of the PGA Tour Fantasy Golf League. No, I'm still playing, just haven't had time to post.

Besides that... I'm not in love with the way we're playing this year. You see, I'm more of a "handicapper" than a "pick the winner" type player. I love to analyze the stats and pick players to win certain skills categories. This year, it's all about picking who will finish highest on Sunday.

With that said, let's just say I'm mediocre at best. Heck, my best weeks have been when I've "thrown darts" at the selection process.

At least the powers that be have broken this whole thing into several segments.

I finished segment 1 (The West Coast Swing) in 2855 place with 35,980 points. Here's what I can report regarding the last 8 weeks of that segment.

Phil Mickleson did have that breakout week... and he was on my team! However the other five guys really let me down. Only Rory Sabbatini and Charles Howell III even made the cut, and they finished way down the leaderboard. The rest of my team, Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker, and Charles Warren all got early starts on the next week.

Week 8 there are no results available... wasn't that a match-play week? Guess I didn't sign up for that game this year. They've got me so confused...

On week 9 I returned to less than mediocre as only 4 of my guys made the cut, and then didn't play particularly well, except Robert Allenby, who earned 1033 points. Joe Durant, Charlie Wi, and Boo Weekly played on the weekend, while Mark Wilson and Bill Hass headed to the next tournament site.

Week 10 was even more disappointing. This was the Pods Championship, where I had dismal results. Three guys made the cut. Robert Allenby, Mark Calcaveccia, and Steven Ames got to play on the weekend, but weren't the least bit impressive. Ernie Els, JB Holmes, and Dudley Hart moved ahead to the next tournament as they all failed to make the cut.

Finally... my MAN is playing... Tiger Woods! He didn't disappoint either as he swept the Arnold Palmer Invitational. This time, the supporting cast played much better, providing me a total of 5459 points. Only one problem... all those points were overshadowed by everyone else who had a lot more points. For the week, I was in 7281 place. See what I mean?

Ok, here's the supporting cast... Brandt Snedeker, Chad Campbell, Steve Marino, and Kenny Perry. Only Luke Donald failed to make the cut.

At the World Golf Championship, I actually had points on all six guys (that's the first time this year). Too bad Tiger Woods didn't win again. Oh well, my team (including Tiger) was Vijay Singh, Aaron Baddeley, Brandt Snedeker, Ernie Els, and Charles Howell III.

My team tanked at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans... C'mon guys, you're supposed to party AFTER the tournament ends. Mark Calcaveccia, Kevin Sutherland and Joe Durant barely made the cut and all stumbled home at the end of the pack. Chad Campbell, Stewart Cink, and Steve Marino couldn't get out of there fast enough. Would you believe a total of 251 points for the whole weekend?

By now, I'm throwing darts at the line up to see if I can do any better.

I get better results at the Shell Houston Open. My darts told me to select Chad Campbell, Steve Stricker, Stuart Appleby, Robert Allenby, John Mallinger, and Dudley Hart. Only the last two guys took a hike eariy.

I'll be back with results of the Southern Swing, a nine week sprint.

Used to be the Nissan, now it's Northern Trust Open

2008-02-14T12:03:00.000-08:00

But, it's still at the famed Riviera.

Once again, I'm going with veterans who have done well here for the most part.

Phil... you're getting a second chance from me. I really believe you're fighting mad now, and fully embarrassed. That's usually an indication you're ready to bust loose... ya think?

Rory Sabbatini has won in the past, and he's playing with tons of confidence.

Charles Warren hits the ball long and straight... now, can he putt on the tricky greens? I sure hope so.

Jim Furyk likes this course, and I expect steady play from him.

Charles Howell III won here last year and has it in him to repeat the performance. This course fits his eye well.

Brandt Snedeker stays on my lineup as I really believe he'll soon have another breakout. He's too good to keep off the list.

Which way did they go? Surely they weren't playing in the same tournament.

2008-02-12T10:35:00.000-08:00

Phil!!! What were you thinking... an 11 on ONE hole? I picked you to win... and you didn't even make the cut.

And Briny Baird... how come you were listed to play, but never showed up? I can't win when you don't play.

To the rest of you... thanks for not much. Yeah, you gave me a few points, but that doesn't cut the mustard.

Now, I don't want to hear your excuses... wind on the first two days, crazies on the 15th hole, the amateurs, the slow play... Hey, you signed up to play, and you've all played before.

Do I sound a little unhappy? Well, yeah I am.

Jim Furyk was my top point producer with 364. Mark Wilson came along with 118 and Brandt Snedeker limped in at the very bottom of the players on Sunday generating 58 points. What a bunch of losers! I really had a lot of faith in y'all.

So, where does this carnage leave me? Somewhere at the bottom of the pack. I lost more rank than I had in points, dropping 979 places to 2844. My opponent is now at 250 having gained another 113 places.

Pebble Beach, one of the most beautiful courses...

2008-02-06T14:30:00.001-08:00

Here we go, it's ATT Pro-Am time At Pebble Beach. What a wild and crazy time!

This crazy tournament is like several tournaments in one... you play on four different courses, and the low amateurs play right along with the pros on the weekend.

Let's hope I do better this week.

This week, I really like Phi Mickelson. He's won this tournament multiple times, and and aside from 2006 when he was "re-tooling", he's finished well. I chose him over Justin Leonard, Daniel Chopra, D. J Trahan, and J. B. Holmes.

In the second group, it's a tough choice between Brandt Snedeker and Kevin Sutherland. I'm choosing Brandt Snedeker this week based on his playing confidence at the FBR Open. My other choices were Steve Elkington, Steve Marino, and Kevin Na.

Group 3 is all about Jim Furyk who has the right temperament and game. He's finished well there several times. My other choices include Mike Weir, Nick Watney, and first-timer's Dustin Johnson, and Chez Reavie.

I'm selecting Mark Wilson for my Group 4 player. He's playing a little steadier than the remaining golfers in that group. The guys I'll leave on the bench are Hunter Mahan, Pat Perez, Charlie Hoffman, and Tom Pernice, Jr.

Jonathon Byrd played well enough this past week to make my team again this week. He's finished as high as third in a past year. My benched players include Vijay Singh, Ryan, Moore, Charlie Wii, and Parker McLachlin.

Briny Baird rounds out my team for this weekend. He showed a lot of spunk this past weekend. My benched players include Jeff Quinny, Brian Gay, Matt Jones, and Brett Rumford.

Now, if the amateur teams just don't get in the way... and my guys play well, like they know what they're doing.

I only got one thing right at the FBR

2008-02-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

Phil Mickelson didn't win... almost, but didn't.

As for my team, they didn't like the weather, the crowds, the wind... you name it, they just didn't play well at all.

Four of the six played on the weekend. Hunter Mahan and Aaron Baddeley went home early. I was especially surprised at Baddeley not making the cut, as he's played well here in the past, and lives in the area.

Boo Weekley gave the course a good run, but couldn't keep up with J. B. Holmes, who was looking for redemption.

For scores, Boo Weekley had 650 points. Jonathon Byrd, who at one time was contending, finished with 469. Rory Sabbatini and Camilo Villegas each earned 118 points.

This was one of my worst team performances, dropping me back to where I started. With only 1355 points, I dropped 567 positions back to rank 1865.

On the other hand, the other guy in my league had a pretty good week. He's now up to 363 with with a total of 21238 points. I have a total of 16886 points.

My picks for the FBR Open

2008-01-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

Yes I know... Phil Mickelson is the perennial favorite here. But... he's not gonna be on my team.

Here's why.

I'm picking Rory Sabbatini. He's playing as well as he's ever played right now, and he feeds off of crowds, too. I look for him to continue playing well this year.

My choices in the first group were from among Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker and Geoff Ogilvy, each of whom are very strong competitors with both Phil and Vijay being previous winners.

My second choice is last year's winner, Aaron Baddeley. He's coming off a strong T13 finish at the Buick Open, and has fond memories of the very noisy crowd here. He lives nearby, and loves the desert weather.

Other's in that group included Stewart Cink, Trevor Immelman, Aaron Oberholser and newcome Andres Romero.

Hunter Mahan is my third choice. It was really tough between Brett Wetterich and Mahan. The rest of the group included Woody Austin, Stuart Appleby, and Mike Weir.

I've been watching Boo Weekly, and he's playing much better this year. His length off the tee will be a real asset as well as the how he could feed off the crowd. This guy brings new fun to professioal golf.

Others in this group were Charles Howell III, Brandt Snedeker, David Toms and Nick O'Hern.

My next choice is Camilo Villegas. He has good memories with a T2 in 2006. He also played very well at the Buick Invitational, finishing T13.

The guys I didn't choose included Mark Calcavecchia, Robert Allenby, John Senden, and Rod Pampling.

Group six includes Johnathon Byrd, Jerry Kelly, Carl Petterson, Sean O'Hair, and Peter Lonard.

My choice is Johnathon Byrd, as he has good memories of the FBR Open.

As tie breakers, I've selected Justin Leonard as the top FedEx Point finisher among players who are not on my team or on the original options. The further tie breaker score for the final round winner's score: 68.

Thanks Tiger!

2008-01-29T10:38:00.000-08:00

Like I said... don't bet against Tiger Woods.

With the 4500 FedEx Points from him, I exceeded my goal of getting total points into 5 digits.

I picked up a cool 6392 points with Stewart Cink coming T3 and Charles Howell III coming in T13.
It would have been real sweet to have the other three guys playing on the weekend, but there's always next week.

So, my new standings are as follows.

I'm now in 1284th place with 15531 points. The other guy in my league is still ahead of me, but not as far. He's at 542nd with 17678 points. The overall leader has 25019 points.

Be sure to check back in a day or so, as I'll be announcing my team for the "ever-rowdy" FBR Open.

My Fantasy Team for the Buick Invitational

2008-01-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

With the weather once again looking like an issue, I'm choosing playing experience at Torrey Pines as my primary qualification. For the most part, I've chosen players who have made the cut here more than they've missed it.

Tiger Woods is kind of a "no brainer". He's after his fourth consecutive win on a course he's played many, many times in his storied career. I would NEVER bet against a win if there's a record to attain. Only three other players have won the same event four consecutive times. Woods has won the Arnold Palmer Invitational four times. Woods will have a chance later this season to win his fourth in a row at both the WGC-CA Championship and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Stewart Cink has played well at Torrey Pines finishing as high as T10 in recent years. My other choices were Rory Sabbatini, Aaron Baddeley, Geoff Oglivey or Trevor Immelman, and Cink had a better record than any of the other player.

Tim Clark has missed one cut in the past 4 years and has finished as high as T10, with another finish at 12. Again, the other possible players were Woody, Austin, Hunter Mahan, Stephen Ames, and Brett Wetterich.

Charles Howell III has the highest (non-winning) finish amongst my team, finishing 2nd last year. He played in the final two-some with Tiger more than once, and understand the pressure. I look for him in the top ten again this year. My other choices were Boo Weekly, Stuart Appleby, Nick O'Hern, and Mike Weir.

Brandt Snedeker gets a spot on my team this year after his play last year. He learned a lot about pressure, finishing alone in third place. If I could have had a second player from this group, it would have been Mark Calcavecchia. The remaining players in this group were Robert Allenby, John Senden, and Rod Pampling, who has also played well here.

Jerry Kelly rounds out my team. He's had his up's and down's with Torrey Pines, but his opening play at the Sony Open leads me to believe he's my man. None of the other players could show me a better record. Those not selected were Camillo Villegas, Carl Petterson, Sean O'Hair, and Peter Lonard.

Fun in the desert... all six of my guys played on Sunday!

2008-01-21T14:54:00.000-08:00

One of these weeks, I'm gonna pick a winner!

Once again, all six of my guys played on the final day. They just needed less competition and a few more holes to climb to the top.

All kidding aside...

Top finisher was Vaughn Taylor with 700 FedEx Cup points. He was followed by Robert Allenby with 606 points. Scott Verplank garnered 250 points. The other three finished far back in the pack. Heath Slocum had 76 points, Chad Campbell had 60 points, and Lucas Glover ended up with 53 points.

Even with the mediocre scores, I moved up in the standings, now in 1834th place. The other guy in my league continues to move up, too. He's broken into the top 1000 at 839.

My goal for this next week is to end up with a total points (for the season) in five figures. Actually I'd like to move from 9139 points to better than 11,000.

Stay tuned for my picks at the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines. I just peeked, and it's kind of a "no brainer"... I see Tiger's in the field and on my pick list. Ok, off to feed my sheep, then return and do this week's picks.

Bob Hope Chrysler Open... fun in the desert!

2008-01-15T11:02:00.000-08:00

Here we go again... and expect the wind to blow, too. That will present the biggest challenge. Playing 90 holes and having all the amateurs in the field will be the least of their problems. Wind will put teeth into the Classic Course.

I just checked the Weather Underground and it's calling for winds 15 to 20 mph for Wednesday and Thursday. Now, here in Utah, we're expecting the jet stream to run nearly north to south right over our western border through the weekend. That's because there's a very strong high pressure area building over the Nevada desert.

This is reminiscent of the weather pattern last year... so, I look for the wind to blow again this year.

With that in mind, here are my picks. I allowed last year's finish to influence my decision.

Scott Verplank is nearly unflappable... unless it has to do with a possible rules infraction. You can bet he won't be soling or grounding his club anywhere near the ball this week.

Robert Allenby finished T8 last year. That tells me he can hang in there under very difficult conditions. Having missed the cut at the Sony Open, he's had plenty of time to get ready for the duel in the desert.

Heath Slocum is another high finisher last year finishing T4. He's playing well this year, having gone T10 at the Sony Open. I look for Heath to have a breakout year.

Lucas Glover plays well with the Amateurs, and seems virtually unflappable when it comes to slow rounds, and high winds. Last year he finished T13 and that's good enough for me to select him this year.

Chad Campbell gets my nod again. He's won here previously, and is playing solid golf this year. Yes, he missed the cut last year, but I'll forgive him. He's playing much better golf this year.

Vaughn Taylor rounds out my team. This year he began his tournament play at the Sony Open and played through the weekend, finishing T25. Last year he began his season with the Bob Hope Chrysler Open, and finished T33.

So, there you have it. My goal is to have all six make the cut and play. That means they all have to do better than just making the cut, as only the top 78 will progress to the weekend. I'd love to have a winner, and I'll hedge my bets with either Lucas Glover or Chad Campbell.

My Sony Open results... did much better this week

2008-01-15T10:21:00.000-08:00

Even though I looked at KJ Choi and didn't choose him... neither did the very top PGA Tour Fantasy Golf winners.

How did I do?

Jerry Kelly was my top finisher and earned 1700 points. Pat Perez was T4 and earned 984 points. Stephen Ames and Chad Campbell were each T10 and provided me combined total points of 1072. Jim Furyk finished T20 with 281 points, and then there was Charles Howell III who was among the "MDF"... that means "Made Cut, Did Not Finish" thanks to the new "made for TV" rule about limiting fields so play can be completed before darkness.

Overall, I earned 4083 points. That moved me to a total of 7494 points for the season, and puts me into 2105 place an upward movement of 3575 places.

I'm gaining on that dude that's ahead of me. He didn't fare quite as well, moving up to 1703 a gain of 2686 places.

Watch for my next post. I'll release my team selection in that one.

Did the new rule catch you, too?

2008-01-12T08:36:00.000-08:00

Here we are, late Friday evening... the last golfers are now in the clubhouse, the cut has been made at EVEN, but the main topic at the bar is that "making the cut doesn't mean you'll play tomorrow".

During the off-season, the players' representatives negotiated a new deal to help move the game along, fit within broadcast schedules, and in general become even more streamlined.

The problem: With very large fields, often as many as 90 golfers (think the ATT Pro-Am) would make the week-end cut. That would require threesomes simultaneously off both front and back nines. Well, sometimes there would be just enough of a lag, that by the time you played the first nine and came around to start the second nine... you'd have a two group wait. Time on that could be anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes.

If there was any kind of weather delay, or delay for rules interpretation, it got really ugly, to the point of rounds not completed before darkness stopped play.

This year's solution: First, establish the cut line... that means "the top 70 players plus ties" .

Now, if there are more than 78 players, who have met the above criteria, go back to the next score closest to the total of 78 players. Those who made the cut, but don't get to play, automatically earn FedEx points for last place, and retirement points (a very important thing).

Here's how this affects the Sony Open.

The cut line was "even". That made for a total field of 87. Eighteen players made the cut "on the number". However 69 players played to -1. So, the guys who played to "even" will get paid for last place, but not play today or tomorrow.

For me, that means Charles Howell III is locked in at last place for FedEx Points this week.

The good news is that I have five other players, who made the weekend playing roster. With the leader at -11, my guys have some work to do. Currently Jerry Kelly is T6 at -6, Pat Perez and Chad Campbell are T12 at -5, and Stephen Ames and Jim Furyk are T48 at -2.

Sony Open, and I think I've got it figured out

2008-01-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

Keeping in mind that the ONLY thing that counts this year is FedEx Points from week to week, here is my team for the Sony Open being played at Waialae CC, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Once again, I'm selecting Jim Furyk as he knows this course like the back of his hand. He's finished in the top 10 here for the past two years and has been steadily moving up the earnings board. His unorthodox swing has proven to serve him well as he finished 2007 #2 on the World Money List.

Stephen Ames is my second choice. He played very well at the Mercedes Benz Championship and simpy ran into a couple of buzz saws (Daniel Chopra and Steve Stricker). I don't look for a repeat of the DQ last year. Although it's been a while since he's had success here, at the Sony Open, I believe it's time for a break out. He has his family with him... and that could make all the difference in the world.

Last year, Charles Howell III dueled with Luke Donald for second. He likes this course, knocked all the rust off at the Mercedes and could be a serious factor here. Over the years, he's finished in the top 10 several times. (I think he likes the flat course.)

Jerry Kelly is the "best kept secret" here. When you look at "overall returns", Jerry ranks the highest over the years... He simply loves this course and plays well year in and year out.

Pat Perez is now 32 and after last year, my confidence in him has grown. He did well here last year, and I'm giving him another opportunity.

Chad Campbell wasn't in the best of shape for the Mercedes, having taken a long vacation, and yet he still turned in solid round. He's done well at the Sony Open, and gets my nod again this year.

Now, I picked my guys based on my knowledge, analysis, and gut feelings. After I selected my team, I peeked in on the experts. The guy who has best record so far, agrees with me... Jim Furyk to win.

What a tournament finish!

2008-01-07T08:21:00.000-08:00

Too bad none of my guys were in the playoff.

That's ok. Now that I understand how this game is being played this year, I'll make more intelligent choices.

This year I have to select one player from each of the six groups whom I believe will come in first in that group, as well as finish highest in the final standings. The only score that matters is the FedEx Cup point total.

With that said, here's how my guys fared.

Jim Furyk finished T5 and collected 913 points. He mounted a charge on Saturday, but just couldn't keep pace with Steve Stricker and Daniel Chopra (the eventual winner) on Sunday.

Charles Howell went way low on Sunday, but it was too little, too late as he finished T8 and collected 750 FedEx points.

Mark Calcavecchia was my last player in the top ten. He finished T10 and collected 650 FedEx points. Would you believe he was a full six shots off the lead at 12 under par?

My remaining guys finished as follows.

Chad Campbell was T12 and collected 525 FedEx points.

Scott Verplank had a rough go of it this week after getting into a rules discussion, which he lost. He finished T18 and collected 363 FedEx points.

Completing my team, Fred Funk finished T25 and collected 210 FedEx points. I knew Freddie didn't really have a chance when the weather turned wet, as his driving distance (short) puts him at a real disadvantage on this long course.

For all my team's effort, I finished in 5584 place with 3411 points. Another dude in my league beat me soundly... but, don't look for that to happen again.

The #1 team garnered 10765 points. Anyone who had Daniel Chopra, the winner got 4500 points. If they had Steve Stricker, too... they got 2700 points. Steven Ames, in third brought home 1700 points and Mike Weir in fourth earned 1200 points.

The maximum points available for the top six positions was 11926 FedEx points.

Buddy leagues are ready! I've got "Girls Rock the PGA"

2008-01-01T14:32:00.001-08:00

Wanna' play golf with me?

I've started the "Girls Rock the PGA" League at PGATour Fantasy Golf. You're invited to join me there. Not sure how many teams they'll have in each league. Last year we had eight teams.

This is a free to play game, and the thrill is in the chase. There are some really nice PGA Tour Experience prizes for the top winners.

Get your team in place now for the Mercedes Benz Championship and then search for "Girls Rock the PGA" and join my Buddy League.

See ya there!

My picks for the Mercedes-Benz Championship Tournament.

2007-12-29T19:03:00.000-08:00

I love this tournament. It's a restricted field, composed of last year's tournament winners... well most of them. This year, 34 golfers will assemble for the challenge.

Now, working under the new PGATour Fantasy Golf format, I've selected my players.

My "numero uno" player is Jim Furyk. He has a home there, and really understands the elevation changes, the wind changes, and the very subtle greens. This represents the first time in three years I've had Jim on my team.

I've selected Scott Verplank as my second player. He's also new to my lineup. He's not played in the Mercedes-Benz Championship since 2002. However, over the past year, his game has matured and become very solid.

In the number three slot is Charles Howell III. This is his first return to the Mercedes since 2003. However he has routinely come to the islands for the first tournaments, starting with the Sony Open.

I have Mark Calcavecchia on my team for the first time. He's a Mercedes veteran and should add stability to my team. He's played well, finishing T-5 in 2002.

Chad Campbell returns to my team this year. He's got plenty of experience at the Mercedes Championship and I really expect him to finish well this year.

My final active player is always a fan favorite... Fred Funk. He's also my oldest player, shortest driver... Depending upon how points are awarded this year, Fred can be a real asset as he drives the ball straight as an arrow, has an awesome short game, and is an accurate putter.

I've chosen Joe Ogilvie as the highest FedEx point golfer and have selected the final round winner's score as 71.

I believe tomorrow they are opening the leagues and I'll find one to join.

Bet ya' wonder what happened...

2007-12-28T12:42:00.000-08:00

Not sure what I did last spring, but long about Masters week, I got locked out of my PGA Tour Fantasy account. No matter what I did, I couldn't get back in... yeah, I requested my password and never received it.

Signing up for a new account wouldn't work, as I wouldn't have my same team... so, I was dead in the water... guess it was time for me to go do some farming.

I'm back... got a new account and I see they're doing things differently this year.

I'm playing the PGA Tour Pick'em Fantasy Game.

This year, we'll be picking an entirely new team for each tournament, selecting one golfer (6 total) from each group of five golfers. I'll then have to select a seventh golfer from the remaining field list and I'll have to predict the winning golfer's final round 18 hole score.

The season starts with the Mercedes-Benz Championship, and I'll select my team tomorrow.

So, I'll be back tomorrow with the low-down on who I'm selecting for the start of the season in Hawaii.

It's Masters Week. The cream always rise...

2007-04-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

I made one big mistake last week... I sat Stuart Appleby on the bench. I did that because he's been struggling miserably this year (in my estimation). Of course, last year he had won the Houston Shell Open... but then, he'd also had a better run up.

This week, he's playing.

My Masters lineup:

Stuart Appleby has made the cut every year since he missed it in 2002. He's still riding my bench... and here's why.

Steve Stricker is hungry. He has a lot to prove as this is his first return trip to The Masters since 2002.

Charles Howell III is a "homey". He didn't do particularly well last year, feeling way too much pressure. This year he knows how to win. He's playing with tons of confidence in his hometown on a course he's played many times.

Geoff Ogilvy is leading the Aussies as the 2006 US Open winner. I like his chances. Last year, as a "Masters rookie" he played to a T16.

I'm gambling with Henrik Stenson. He's an unkown aside from missing the cut last year. I like the way he's been playing this year. His stats aren't particularly reliable as they cover too few tournaments... let's just call him a really "dark horse".

One final thought:

We're now entering the middle "third" of the season. The longer the season, the more difficult to make points moves. My team is currently in second place, six points out of first. For me to move to first, the team in front will have to stumble, and my team will have to play way above average.

Let The Masters be a positive for my team.

Final Tune-up before the Masters...

2007-03-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

This week we're playing the Shell Houston Open and most of the "super-stars" are taking the week off in preparation for the Masters in Augusta next week.

My guys played honorably last week in a tournament that Tiger OWNS. Three of the four were in "high money" and managed to move me up in the rankings again. I climbed all the way to second just three points out of the lead.

So, what do this week look like?

I'm playing my "hot hands" from the West Coast Swing. That means I'm playing Craig Kanada, Doug LaBelle II, Brandt Snedeker, and Steve Stricker.

Here's what I expect from their play this week.

Craig Kanada isn't a long-hitter, so I don't expect points from him on 300+ yard drives. He does put the ball in the fairway 65.03% of the time, so will be looking for contribution to my driving accuracy pct., which is currently 60.83%. With a putting avg of 1.759 he should also contribute in that area. I'm only .003% away from another point in putting.

Doug LaBelle II is another of my "accuracy pro's". He won't provide any 300+ yd drives, but should help with the driving accuracy as he's currently showing a 68.44% avg for staying in the short grass. His putting average matches Craig's and his greens in regulation is slightly above my current standing.

Brandt Snedeker continues to play well. As long as he plays to at least his averages, and makes the cut, I'll be very pleased.

Steve Stricker is my "wylie coyote" of the week. With a third place finish at the Shell Open last year, and then an amazing run after that, I'll be asking him to once again step up to the plate and carry my team. This year's stats aren't really indicative of what he can do... and since he's doing his final tune-up for his first Masters appearance in five years, I'd expect him to really be honing his edge.

Standings wise I need to defend points in driving accuracy, putting, and stroke average. I could gain points in total sand saves (difference of 4 saves), eagles (tied with 10) and the next level is 11. I could move up one more time in putting with really solid play by all four on my team. If they all continue to the weekend, I could also move up the board in stroke play average.

Sliding down the board a bit...

2007-03-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Gee, I had four guys playing all through the weekend... and dropped clear to 4th, 6 points out of first place.

So much for last week's stratgey.

This week, I'm playing my "hot" players. Forget whether or not their the "undroppables".

Whatever points these guys can muster up will be greatly appreciated.

There's only one cure for what ails this team... these guys have to each play better. They've got to find more fairways, reach more greens in regulation, and put more balls in the hole in less than two putts.

So, how do I think my "hot" guys stack up?

Charles Howell III is ranked #2 in the FedEx Cup run and #15 in the world. He hits the ball a long ways, but only finds the fairway 52.62% of the time. He hits the green in regulation 68.58% of the time and his putting average is 1.76.

Paul Goydos is ranked #9 in the FedEx Cup run and #42 in the world. He doesn't hit the ball a long ways, but he does find the fairway 71.88% of the time. He hits the green in regulation 64.29% of the time and his putting average is 1.757.

Henrik Stenson is ranked #10 in the FedEx Cup run and #5 in the world. He hits the ball longer than Goydos, but not as long as Howell. He finds the fairway 57.14% of the time. He hits the green in regulation 63.89% of the time and his putting average is 1.739.

Geoff Ogilvy is ranked #15 in the FedEx Cup run and #8 in the world. He hits the ball longer than Stenson and finds the fairway 55.47% of the time. He hits the green in regulation 64.51% of the time and his putting average is 1.837.

I don't see gaining points in the 300 yd drive category, as my team is 11 drives behind the next position. The team behind me is 10 drives back.

When it comes to driving accuracy, I have a chance to regain a point if my team can hang it together. My team is .2% behind the next team. I could use a little help from them... suppose they could miss the fairways?

Greens in regulation is where I should gain a point or more as there is .03% to the next point and .2% to the point after that. My team this week will have to play above their average to gain ground as I show a current team average greens in regulation of 65.04%.

I could see improvement in the scrambling percentage, although that's an indication that your team isn't having great success with greens in regulation.

This team shows great promise for moving up a point in putting, if... and that's a big IF, they putt to at least their average, if not slightly better.

Lastly, I could gain a quick point or two with a couple of eagles.

Total birdies, sand saves, and FedEx points take care of themselves with solid play... and all four guys playing on Saturday and Sunday.