Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Fantasy Golf: The Quicken Loans Preview

The Fantasy Golf Report is going to be a little thin for the next few weeks because the FGR has left the country (without giving it away, I may or may not have played shirtless Bocce with the Molinari brothers last night).The conundrum that this presents is that I have the time and the freedom of mind and spirit to get some serious writing done. That is, however, being countered by some technological obstacles and a deep desire to not do jack squat all day and night other than drink copious amounts of wine and sleep. The result will probably be some random posts that have little or nothing to do with golf. Fortunately we are in one of the bigger lulls of the season between the U.S. Open and the British Open and not even to return by Tiger would move the needle at this point (he wait ... what?). Um, like I said, the Fantasy Golf Report is going to be a little thin for the near future.

But before we check out for the day, let's at least the basics for a complete tournament preview starting with a brief review of a return to middling picks last week. If you're a glass half full guy, the rankings were solid as they implicitly advised you to avoid Matt Kuchar who was two for a below average performance at best (he tied for 31st.) If you're a glass half empty guy, you might focus on the fact that I went chalk with my top three picks and they all tied for 31st. The result was a bright glistening "C".

Last Week's Report Card: C

We made ​​them put their clothes back
on for the trophy ceremony. I thought
the gold jackets were a little much.
1. Bubba Watson - T31st
2. Keegan Bradley - T31st
3. Dustin Johnson - T31st
4. Marc Leishman - T11th
5. Ryan Moore - T5th

Back to Reality Report

Hyundai: Gary Woodland - $ 130,000
Sony: Chris Kirk - $ 604,800
Humana: Charles Howell III - $ 12,198
Farmers: Bill Haas - $ 20,740
WM Phoenix: Billy Hörschel - M / C
Pebble Beach: Russell Knox - $ 46,860
Northern Trust: Dustin Johnson - $ 723,600
Match Play: Hunter Mahan - $ 148,000
Honda Classic: Graeme McDowell - $ 15,600
WGC-Cadillac: Rory McIlroy - $ 76,000
Here's me renting a Fiat. 
Best Avis agent ever.
Valspar: Harris Inglese - $ 23,940
Palmer: Justin Rose - M / C
Texas Open: Kevin Chappell - M / C
Houston Open: Keegan Bradley - $ 18,374
Masters: Matt Kuchar - $ 342,000
Heritage: Jim Furyk - $ 187,050
Zurich: Graham DeLaet - $ 44,200
Wells Fargo: Webb Simpson - $ 28,980
The Players: Adam Scott - $ 38,000
Byron Nelson: Jason Dufner - $ 17,327
Colonial: Zach Johnson - $ 12,416
Memorial: Charl Schwartzel - $ 167,400
FedEx St. Jude: Lee Westwood - M / C
U.S. Open: Jason Day - $ 326,310
Travelers: Bubba Watson - $ 32,296

Season Total: $ 3,016,391

This week we head to the Congressional which is right down Route 95 from FGR headquarters. It's too bad that I'm not there because with Tiger's return and an otherwise solid field, it may not have been worth a visit to one of the cooler venues spectating I've encountered (assuming you get access rooftop patio overlooking the 10th tee of course.) The last two winners were Bill Haas and Tiger with Roberto Castro and Bo Van Pelt taking the runner-up spots. The two years before that, this event was held at Aronimink so those results kind of go out the window to the extent they would have been instructive. Congressional demands a solid all-around game with a premium on ball striking as evidenced by Rory McIlroy's blistering of the course at the U.S. Open. Brendon Todd has been on a roll since his win at the Byron Nelson and he should be relatively fresh after taking last week off. And speaking of taking time off, that's about all I have in me this morning as I have a firm appointment to do nothing for two hours starting in twelve minutes. 

The Quicken Loans Favorites
"... Avis We Try Harder." . . indeed.


1. Jason Day - 15 to 1
2. Jordan Spieth - 15 to 1
3. Tiger Woods - 16 to 1
4. Justin Rose - 16 to 1
5. Brandt Snedeker - 26 to 1
6. Keegan Bradley - 29 to 1

The FGR One and Done Picks

1. Brendon Todd
2. Jason Day
3. Jordan Spieth
4. Justin Rose
5. Brandt Snedeker
6. Horschel Billy 

Footnote

* One byproduct of writing in my current location is that I'm dealing with an auto-correct situation that wants to capitalize the first letter of every other freaking word, rearrange my sentences and change all of the commas to periods in my numbers. (Note the previous section that I fixed results about seven times before giving up). Come on Google, get your head out of your ass.

Email the Fantasy Golf Report at fgr@fantasygolfreport.com.

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