Another week, another 2nd place finish for one of my squad. That’s three 2nd place finishers in four weeks (with a 3rd place mixed in there on the off week). I was really hoping that Webb Simpson could have held on last week, but Gary Woodland played tough and showed he deserved the win coming down the stretch.
The TOUR concludes it’s Florida swing this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, teeing it up at Bay Hill in Orlando. Tiger Woods has proven to be King of Bay Hill despite not playing in this tournament last year, he’s won the tournament six other times. Ernie Els is the returning champ here from 2010, but his game so far is showing to be at a much different place than it was this time last year. Many players will be using this tournament as a tune up for the Masters in two weeks, so you’ll see a lot of marquee names in the field.
I know the state of Tiger Woods’ game is anybody’s guess right now, but with a closing 66 a couple weeks ago, as well as his history at this tournament, I’m rolling the dice and starting him. Martin Laird is solid backup, who’s played great the past 2 weeks. I toyed with starting Dustin Johnson, but I only have 7 starts left on the season with him, and there’s still a long way to go, so I’ll be keeping him in reserve. Just hope it doesn’t bite me in the rear this week!
Yes Justin Rose squandered a good lead and fell all over himself on this past Sunday, but he won the AT&T after doing something similar at last year’s Traveler’s. Plus he ranks 6th in GIR, a good stat to have at Bay Hill. With four top 10′s this season (out of 7 starts) Hunter Mahan is a great pick. He also has had relatively good success on this track with top 25′s in his last 3 starts.
New dad Brandt Snedeker is on the upswing with a 4th place finish last week. I also like Chris Couch as a solid backup here. With a T5 last week, and a 4th place finish at Bay Hill in 2010, Couch also ranks third on TOUR in putting, and seventh in birdie average.
Starting Foursome: Tiger Woods, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker
Bench Players: Martin Laird, Kevin Na, Brendan de Jong, Chris Couch
My Year-to-Date Stats are:
Current Points: 1753
Points Last Week: 168
Current Percentile: 96th
Winners picked so far: 1
Top 5s picked so far: 13
About Jeff Palopoli
Web marketer, father, husband, and golf blogger continually searching for the golf game I used to have.
Related posts:
- Fantasy Golf Picks for the Waste Management Phoenix Open
- Fantasy Golf Picks for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
- Fantasy Golf Picks for the Transitions Championship
- Fantasy Golf Picks for the Bob Hope Classic
- Fantasy Golf Picks for The Honda Classic
