My picks for the FBR Open

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!

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

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!

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!

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

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?

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

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!

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"

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!