LATE WITHDRAWALS/INJURIES (as of Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET): Ryuji Imada, Scott Verplank, Steve Lowery
Look, all I do is provide you with the news in the little section above this paragraph, OK?
When I read that Padraig Harrington was considering withdrawing from last week’s Open Championship with a wrist injury, I just put it at the top of my Fantasy column as strictly information.
I didn't say avoid him, did I?
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| Richard S. Johnson brings his first PGA Tour title north of the border. (Getty Images) | |
Luckily, 1,129 of you stuck with the Irishman last week and were richly rewarded as Harrington took home his second straight Open Championship title and earned you $1,498,875 in the process. On the other hand, only 45 folks picked the champ in Milwaukee,
Richard S. Johnson.
Other stories from Wisconsin included Kenny Perry, who almost won again; Dean Wilson, who has two T3s in his last three events, and Chad Campbell, who now has back-to-back top-10s.
Back across the pond at Royal Birkdale, Harrington played 70 holes of pretty steady golf and then turned up the heat late Sunday with two unbelievable approaches on the 17th and 18th holes. While I was obviously cheering for Ian Poulter, you just can't help but be a Paddy fan with his infectious smile and thick brogue.
If I had known the wind was going to blow 30 mph instead of the predicted 16-18 mph, I would definitely have picked a few of my fellow countrymen instead of people like Scott Verplank and Geoff Ogilvy.
Ernie Els, who finished T7 despite an opening-round 80, and Graeme McDowell (T19) did give me something to smile about last week, but I always have high expectations in my home major, and I failed to deliver last week.
This week, I promise to try and do better as the tour heads north of the border (no, not Scotland) for our second national championship in as many weeks -- The Canadian Open.
Obviously, the field isn't anywhere close to as good as it was at Birkdale, but two-time defending champ Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Stephen Ames, Mike Weir and Retief Goosen are scheduled to appear in Oakville, Ontario. Not to worry though, as this is the last week you’ll have to worry about a lack of big names for the rest of the Fantasy Golf season.
While the Canadian Open has been played on a rotation since 2001, this week’s host course, Glen Abbey, hosted the event from 1977-2000 with only two exceptions (1980 and 1997). Therefore, I do have four years of historical stats to look at, rather than none.
Four years ('04, '00, '99 and '98) isn't much of a sample size, but it's clear that success on par 5s and maybe a bit of power off the tee will help you at Glen Abbey, as Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods were the last two winners on the layout, and the four winners at the course have averaged going 9.75 under on the par 5s.
The Toonies ($200,000 and up)
Mike Weir ($290,250) -- While Furyk and Kim appear to be the no-brainer picks this week, and I wouldn't blame you if picked either of those two, I'm going with Wee Weir in this spot. The Canadian finished second at Glen Abbey in 2004, and although he doesn't hit the ball a long way, he is playing some decent golf of late and will be dying to erase the memories of three straight sub-par outings in his national championship.
Camilo Villegas ($277,750) -- I'm putting the Colombian here because a) he's good, and b) because I left him out of the salary list at last week's Open Championship. Luckily, he didn't win the thing, because that would have made me look very stupid. Instead, I'm hoping he wins this week and makes me look like a genius. He does well on the par 5s and hits the ball plenty far, and has two top-10s in this event in the last two years. Let's just hope he gets over the jet lag.
Ben Curtis ($251,250) -- Curtis makes his second visit to the Canadian Open after finishing T20 in 2006. He played very well at Royal Birkdale (T7), and was T13 in his last event Stateside, the Travelers. He's a little inconsistent for my liking, but I just have a feeling he'll contend this week. The big question is, will he be wearing Toronto Argonauts or Hamilton Tiger Cats stuff this week? (Just kidding, his clothing deal is with the NFL, not the CFL).
Also consider: Retief Goosen, Mark Calcavecchia, Dean Wilson
The Loonies ($75,001-$199,999)
Ken Duke ($186,250) -- Duke has two missed cuts and a T58 in three trips to the Canadian Open, but the veteran is playing well recently with a T4, T18 and T2 among his last four tournaments. A streaky player in the last few years on tour, Duke appears to be heating up right now, and this could be one of his last chances for victory in a while.
Bo Van Pelt ($176,500) -- I picked Van Pelt earlier this season and he let me down, so I'm giving him a shot at redemption here. BVP has finished T17, T12 and T28 in his last three events and has three top-20s in four trips to Canada. His putting has been brutal this season, but he's getting a little better over the last couple of weeks.
Alex Cejka ($166,750) -- I originally had the Swedish Richard Johnson here, but I had my Dick Johnsons mixed up and so I moved him down to the correct $75k category below. Cejka has alternated great finishes with awful ones over his last four tournaments, so he's due for a fifth top-10 of the season this week in Ontario. He finished T10 at this event last year, so he should have some fond memories of maple leaves.
Also consider: Fred Couples, Michael Letzig, Jason Day
The Pennies ($75,000)
Jeff Overton -- The $75k category is packed this week, but a few names really stand out, with Overton being one of them. He didn't embarrass himself at the Open Championship and had a T9 and T24 in his last two U.S. tournaments.
Bob Tway -- Tway moved into first place in putting average with his T28 last week in Milwaukee, and won this event in 2003 (on a different course). He's 10th in the all around category, but his lack of distance might hurt him a little this week. Still, you can't ignore a guy who has his flat stick going like Tway does this season.
Richard S. Johnson -- OK, this is the Swedish Richard Johnson, not the Welsh one, OK? The Swedish one is still this cheap because he's 272nd in the world rankings, compared to the Welsh one, who is at No.199. Make sense? OK, good. Johnson picked up his first PGA Tour win after missing eight of his first 11 cuts this season. He obviously figured something out in Milwaukee, and I'm going to hope he can bring his A-game north of the border again this weekend. Now, if he would just change his name to Dick to help us out...
Also consider: Jon Mills, Gavin Coles, Eric Axley, and of course Craig Kanada (even if it pronounced kan-AH-da)
My Fantasy Golf Challenge lineup
Weir, Villegas, Duke, Cejka, Tway
Last Week
My team from the Open Championship isn't even worth talking about this week ... it was that ugly.
Congrats to 'ScreaminPain', whose lineup of Harrington (won), Poulter (second), Paul Casey (T7), David Howell (T7) and Sergio Garcia (T51) made me proud to be English and was worth $2,809,240. That was good enough for a win by $42,097 over 'FORE FATHERS'.
With two weeks (three tournaments) to go in Segment Three, 'Zamboni King' has a $152,202 lead over 'Blue Heron', but two weeks is enough time for plenty to change there. The overall leader remains 'KRAMERICA INDUSTRIES', who now has a lead of $350,619 over 'Who ARE those guys.'
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