Dropped to 2nd place by a half point...

Last week wasn't nearly as good as I wanted. I limped across the finish with three guys on the the weekend... not good when others had at least three and in one case, four.

In a woulda-coulda-shoulda moment, I would have played Heath Slocum. Who knew he'd make a strong run early, before fading on Sunday.

I'll give him a chance this week along with Stuart Appleby, Charles Howell III and my newcomer, Henrik Stenson.

I've dropped Ryuji Imada in favor of Stenson. As I've watched him play over the last couple of years, he's got a lot of drive, and isn't bothered in the least by less than optimal conditions.


With Stenson, I gain length, a better putting average, and of course, that "winner's edge".

I'm looking for strong play this week from Stuart Appleby. He's off to a bit of a slow start, but has good memories of Bay Hill. He's come close to winning and has finished in the money more times than not.

Charles Howell III is playing so solidly, he's a "no-brainer" to start this week.

My goals are four guys playing on Saturday and Sunday; good putting as I need points in putting average, and it's very possible; over 60% of the drives in the short grass; and nice high finishes for FedEx points.

Most of the other teams in this league are playing four players this week, so the real winners will be those who have the most players playing on the weekend.

Areas where I can attack and move up include putting average. I'm showing a 1.785. With the kind of putting my team averages, I could pick up a couple of points. The team with 5 points shows a putting average of 1.781 and my guys average 1.750. There's only .001 separating me from the next team and a point.

I could pick up points in the stroke average, too if my guys play well. I'm .02 away from the next point as I'm showing tied (sharing a point) at 70.64 with the next point at 70.62. Right now, my team has about a 70.32 average. Like I said earlier... Stuart Appleby's had a slow start. I expect him to come to life this week.

Other points up for grabs include total eagles, as well as the FedEx points.

I have to defend against losing points in driving accuracy and greens in regulation, as well as stroke average.

Four team members playing in the late afternoon on Sunday would give me great joy!