LATE WITHDRAWALS: None as of Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.
Every year I'm glad to hear the Yanni music in commercials that means the Masters is here, but after last week's Fantasy Golf debacle, I'm especially glad this time around.
After 18 holes in Houston, I had three guys in the top five, including Adam Scott. Then, the Aussie gets sick, shoots a 76 on Friday, and withdraws. And to add to my misery, a guy that had missed six of his last seven cuts with his only weekend coming in New Orleans, where he finished T64, wins the bloody event.
Congrats to all 89 of you that somehow managed to pick Johnson Wagner last week, whether by accident or not. If you are one of those people, I'd love to hear your reasoning behind picking the guy. Write to me with a legitimate reason and I promise I'll mention you in next week’s column.
Wagner finished T4 in GIR, which I knew was going to be a key at Redstone, but he putted lights out the first two days to really key his victory. He regressed a little on the greens over the weekend, but he managed to hold on own the stretch for his first PGA Tour victory.
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Vijay Singh won at Augusta eight years ago and has been in the hunt ever since.
(Getty Images)
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These last two weeks, with
Andres Romero and Wagner winning, just shows how tough it is to pick winners on a regular basis in Fantasy Golf and how it's these kind of weeks that separate the successful players from the bottom-dwellers.
Things don't get any easier this week, however.
I could be in Augusta today watching the practice rounds, but my application wasn't one of the lucky ones chosen back in the fall. Instead, I will be watching this week from the comforts of my cubicle in Fort Lauderdale.
What I won't be watching this week, however, is The Golf Channel's coverage pre-tournament. That's because I'm boycotting their coverage after they decided to leave an enthralling playoff on the European Tour after two holes Sunday to switch to a Champions Tour event in which the leader was ahead by four shots at the turn in the final round. What a joke. Let me see ... sudden-death golf or a chance to watch an old guy choke down the back nine in the Dominican Republic. I think I know what I would choose, but I'm just a golf-loving desk jockey, not some overpaid programming executive.
With that off my chest, let's take a peek at this week's event in Georgia. I heard you get a green jacket or something if you win the thing.
All kidding aside, to me this is the real beginning of the golf season, when people other than just avid golf fans stop what they're doing on a Sunday afternoon, turn on CBS and watch the first major championship of the year.
If you don't know what the host course this week is, then just turn your computer off right now and never read my column again. Augusta National, the second-most famous golf course in the world behind St. Andrews, is known primarily for its green grass, superb floral features and lightning-fast and hard bent grass putting surfaces.
The list of former champions at the Masters tells you all you need to know about what it takes to win this event. You must bring your A-game to Augusta, and your A-game must be one of the best in the world. Underdogs might pop up near the top of the leaderboard now and again, but they rarely, if ever, get their mitts on a green jacket.
Looking at stats from the past 10 winners, two things really popped out at me: greens in regulation and par-5 performance. Last year, Zach Johnson finished 12 over on the par-3s and par-4s, but went 11 under on the par-5s, while finishing T4 in greens in regulation. Only twice in the last 10 years has a winner finished outside the top four in that category.
While length might help some folks at Augusta, iron play and putting are going to be the difference this week. The higher you can hit it with those irons, the better, as the greens are as firm as anywhere in the world. There is some rain expected on Friday and Saturday, however, so that could help even things out.
Basically, if you can play like Tiger Woods this week, you have a shot at adding a jacket to your wardrobe. Of course, as I've mentioned before, picking Woods would be too easy this week, but he will be in my Golf Challenge lineup, as I'm not stupid.
The Members ($200,000 and up)
Vijay Singh ($274,000) -- It may have been eight years since Singh won his lone Masters title, but he has five top-five finishes since then and has only finished outside of the top 25 once since 1996. Oh, and he has back-to-back top-three finishes coming into this week. With Phil Mickelson struggling a little and Ernie Els going to a new coach and feeling a little under the weather, Singh is my second favorite behind TW.
Geoff Ogilvy ($267,500) -- He may be a very popular pick this week with the way he's playing lately, and the Aussie has a pretty good record at Augusta with two top-25s in his only appearances. He isn't usually someone who finds that many greens, a key at the Masters, but his iron play has been solid so far this season, along with his putting of late.
Stewart Cink ($254,500) -- Cink was last in the news for DQing himself in New Orleans, an act that has to give him some good karma this week in an event where the golfing higher powers will definitely be paying attention. He has five straight top-25s at Augusta, and is fifth in the all around ranking and 10th in GIR this season.
The Players ($75,001-$199,999)
Tim Clark ($192,750) -- Clark doesn't hit many greens or hit the ball a long way, two things that can certainly help you quite a bit at Augusta, but the man can putt with the best of them. He led the tour in putting average last season and has back-to-back top-15s in the Masters, including a runner-up finish two years ago.
Mark Calcavecchia ($176,500) -- Calc is always a popular Fantasy pick because he's a very likeable guy, and his Masters record is a little better than you might think. In eight appearances spread over the last 12 years, he has five top-20 finishes. His putter has let him down at times this season, but he is hitting so many greens (seventh on tour) that he gets more chances at birdie than most people.
Charles Howell III ($170,000) -- Every year leading up to the Masters we hear a lot about Howell, who was born and raised in Augusta. But this year, with his game a little off, the pressure is less and that might help him sneak up and surprise some people. Of course, the man really can't putt worth a lick, but we all know some people sometimes just find that groove on greens this smooth.
The Peasants ($75,000)
Fred Couples -- There are only 20 guys playing this week who you can get for the rock-bottom price of $75k, and Couples stands out way above the rest of them with his stellar record at Augusta and the fact he is coming off a top-five in Houston. Of course, his back could act up one morning and this pick could go all WD on me, but if that doesn't happen and he plays well enough to get a ton of the fans behind him on the weekend, watch out.
Jeev Milkha Singh -- Singh got a special invitation this week, and the man from India might just have the game to make some kind of impact. He has a solid short game and is hitting greens a lot better this season on the European Tour than he did in 2007. He finished T37 here last year, so this won't be his first trip around Augusta, which is a huge factor.
Miguel Angel Jimenez -- I picked Jimenez a few weeks ago at the CA Championship and he looked good leading after one round before fading back into the pack over the last three rounds. With the pickings very slim in the $75k category, thanks to so many senior guys being in the field, Jimenez was a pretty easy selection here.
My Golf Challenge Lineup
Woods, $300,000; Singh, $274,000; Ogilvy, $267,500; Jimenez, $75,000; Couples, $75,000.
Last Week
Steve Stricker (T11) $128,800; Scott (WD) $50,000; Baird (T47) $13,932.80; Mills (MC); Merrick (T26) $38,920.00. Total -- $231,652 (10,131st). Overall and Segment One final -- $8,051,598 (3,791st).
Congrats to 'my guys are good', whose lineup of Wagner (won), Ogilvy (T2), Couples (T4), K.J. Choi (T11) and Stuart Appleby (T23) was good enough for $2,279,760 and a win by $116,480.
Also, well done to, 'Furyk’s Army', who won Segment One with a total of $15,096,334. They take home the $1,000 cash prize for winning one of our four segments and is in pole position for our $2,000 grand prize at the end of the season. Segment Two is nine weeks long and starts this week with the Masters.
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