After a fairly dismal 2014 season, the Fantasy Golf Report is back to prove that a little research, the application of sketchy logic and pictures of hot women (included solely for the purpose of increasing website traffic - particularly in Eastern Europe) can yield success in a game where you are generally trying to find a needle in a 150 player haystack. Fortunately, we get to ease into it this week with a much more manageable 33 player haystack, however, it's made somewhat more complicated by the fact that 30 of those 33 are probably capable of winning and could therefore be the needle at which point this analogy completely falls apart leading to the start of a new somewhat non-sequitorial* paragraph.
There are a couple of problems with trying to pick the winner of the Hyunadai Tournament of Champions.** First and foremost is that it's the first and foremost tournament of the year and most of the players haven't played a meaningful round in over a month so we don't know who's feeling it and who's hitting it sideways. Secondly, there does not appear to be a player type for the course as the last five winners were Zach Johnson (straight hitter), Dustin Johnson (bomber), Steve Stricker (straight hitter), Jonathan Byrd (random winner) and Geoff Ogilvy (all around solid player). So for the purpose of the FGR Rankings, I'm copping-out a little by putting Mr. Reliable Matt Kuchar at the top and backing him up with four studs. I'm going to be a little more creative with my one and done pick (see below). As always, the odds are brought to you by our good friends at www.paddypower.com.
The Hyundai Favorites
1. Bubba Watson - 13/2
2. Jason Day - 15/2
3. Matt Kuchar - 9/1
4. Hidki Matsuyama - 14/1
5. Jimmy Walker - 16/1
5. Chris Kirk - 16/1
5. Zach Johnson - 16/1
The FGR Rankings
1. Matt Kuchar
2. Bubba Watson
3. Chris Kirk
4. Jimmy Walker
5. Billy Horschel
The FGR One and Done Pick: Kevin Streelman
In the past, the FGR would provide full one and done rankings with a different player at the top every week and then four more players based on some unscientific subjective formula made-up in my head based on the caliber of the event and which players you might want to use versus which you might want to save for another day. This year I'm going to simplify the process by just picking one guy and then defending him. That one guy for the Hyundai is Kevin Streelman for these reasons: (1) He finished tied for 3rd here last year so at least we know he can play the course; (2) He played four times in the fall including a 2nd place finish at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open so he shouldn't be rusty; and (3) At no point later this season are you going to say to yourself, "man, I really wish I hadn't burned Kevin Streelman so I could pick him this week." Sorry Kevin . . . it's true but hey, give 'em heck this weekend.
Footnotes
* "Non-sequitorial" appears to fall into that category of words and phrases that may not be real but may sound just clever enough to pass themselves off as being real.
** You can expect my writing style to echo the narrative style from Serial for at least the next few weeks until I get Sarah Koenig's voice and that hypnotic freakin' theme song out of my head. Clink clink clink clink clink clink clink clink . . . AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! I can't recommend it enough.
Email the Fantasy Golf Report at fgr@fantasygolfreport.com.
There are a couple of problems with trying to pick the winner of the Hyunadai Tournament of Champions.** First and foremost is that it's the first and foremost tournament of the year and most of the players haven't played a meaningful round in over a month so we don't know who's feeling it and who's hitting it sideways. Secondly, there does not appear to be a player type for the course as the last five winners were Zach Johnson (straight hitter), Dustin Johnson (bomber), Steve Stricker (straight hitter), Jonathan Byrd (random winner) and Geoff Ogilvy (all around solid player). So for the purpose of the FGR Rankings, I'm copping-out a little by putting Mr. Reliable Matt Kuchar at the top and backing him up with four studs. I'm going to be a little more creative with my one and done pick (see below). As always, the odds are brought to you by our good friends at www.paddypower.com.
 |
| In this case, "Aloha" means "you're welcome." |
1. Bubba Watson - 13/2
2. Jason Day - 15/2
3. Matt Kuchar - 9/1
4. Hidki Matsuyama - 14/1
5. Jimmy Walker - 16/1
5. Chris Kirk - 16/1
5. Zach Johnson - 16/1
The FGR Rankings
1. Matt Kuchar
2. Bubba Watson
3. Chris Kirk
4. Jimmy Walker
5. Billy Horschel
The FGR One and Done Pick: Kevin Streelman
In the past, the FGR would provide full one and done rankings with a different player at the top every week and then four more players based on some unscientific subjective formula made-up in my head based on the caliber of the event and which players you might want to use versus which you might want to save for another day. This year I'm going to simplify the process by just picking one guy and then defending him. That one guy for the Hyundai is Kevin Streelman for these reasons: (1) He finished tied for 3rd here last year so at least we know he can play the course; (2) He played four times in the fall including a 2nd place finish at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open so he shouldn't be rusty; and (3) At no point later this season are you going to say to yourself, "man, I really wish I hadn't burned Kevin Streelman so I could pick him this week." Sorry Kevin . . . it's true but hey, give 'em heck this weekend.
Footnotes
* "Non-sequitorial" appears to fall into that category of words and phrases that may not be real but may sound just clever enough to pass themselves off as being real.
** You can expect my writing style to echo the narrative style from Serial for at least the next few weeks until I get Sarah Koenig's voice and that hypnotic freakin' theme song out of my head. Clink clink clink clink clink clink clink clink . . . AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! I can't recommend it enough.
Email the Fantasy Golf Report at fgr@fantasygolfreport.com.
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