Fantasy News - Teeing Off: This Deere is pretty weak : FantasyNews.CBSSports.com
LATE WITHDRAWALS (as of Wednesday at 12 p.m ET): Jonathan Byrd
Before I get into the John Deere, I want to apologize for the late arrival of this column.
My schedule changed a little (it happens when you work in sports and your wife works at a zoo!), so things got temporarily pushed back this week. It was only a one-time thing though, and we should be back on track next week for the Open Championship, especially as I wouldn't dare desecrate the world's greatest tournament by being tardy.
But, we have one tournament to get through before we can enjoy live golf on TV in the morning instead of the evening.
Yup, we're off to Illinois this week for the John Deere Classic, which is held on the 7,257-yard, par-71 TPC Deere Run in Silvis, which is just outside Moline, the home of those green agricultural machines that are so beloved in this country.
The course, which ranked 39th out of 54 in difficulty last season, features Bentgrass tees, fairways and greens, and is a D.A. Weibring design that opened in 1999. While Weibring isn't playing this week, his son, Matt, is. More on him later.
I'll let you decide if you think these guys will have their focus elsewhere this week.
This is the first year we can look back at a 10-year history, as TPC Deere Run first hosted this event in 2000. Looking back through such esteemed winners as Michael Clark II, David Gossett and J.P. Hayes (sorry, guys), it's clear that hitting greens and dominating the par-4s will be keys to victory. Seven of the last 10 winners have finished inside the top-10 in greens, while six of 10 finished 9 under or better on the par 4s.
$200,000 and up
Kenny Perry ($300,000) -- I could give four major reasons NOT to pick Perry this week: a) he won last week; b) he's the defending champ; c) his mom is dying of blood cancer, and d) he's playing in the Open next week. But this field is so weak, I just can't look past Perry, not even at this lofty price.
David Toms ($287,000) -- While I also like Stricker and Glover above him on the salary list a lot, I think Toms is just better value at this price. He is playing superb golf this season, and although he's only played once here since the event moved to TPC Deere Run in 2000, he played very well in this event from between 1996 and 1999 at Oakwood Country Club, where he won his first PGA Tour event in 1997.
Jerry Kelly ($251,250) -- Coming down the list here to a guy I hope will power my Head-to-head team to victory this week. While Kelly's form has been spotty lately, he has always played well on this course with a T12, T18 and T18 last year in three trips. He'll need to hit some more greens, and I have faith his putter will carry him to at least a top-10 if he does.
$100,000-$199,999
Bryce Molder ($196,000) -- All of the guys in this category seem a little overpriced in an event like this, but Molder is clearly the hottest of the bunch with his T23, T2, T19 and T4 form coming in. He is hitting enough greens (48th) and doing well on the par-4s (22nd), so hopefully he'll be able to keep his hot run up here.
Jason Dufner ($153,750) -- Dufner has missed just three cuts this season, finished T7 in Memphis and was T6 here a couple of years ago, so I really like him at this price. He's also 23rd in greens and 10th in par 4 performance. Sounds too good to be true, right? If he can get his short irons going, watch out.
Cameron Beckman ($137,500) -- Beckman is coming off his best finish of the season at the AT&T National (T7) and has finished T22 and T12 in his last two trips to the Deere. He's horrible at hitting greens (127th) and awful on the par 4s (132nd), but sometimes you just have to go with your hunches, and his erratic play hasn't hurt him too much here in the past.
$75,000-$99,999
Matt Bettencourt ($75,000) -- I'm riding this train until the wheels start to come off. Three top-11 finishes in his last four events, and his superb run late last year on the Nationwide Tour shows that he can stay hot for a couple of months at a time.
Matt Weibring ($75,000) -- His dad designed this course, so you have to think he's got a little bit of inside information tucked away somewhere. Weibring is also having a pretty decent rookie season on the PGA Tour with four top-25s in 12 events, including a T8 at the Verizon and a T19 last month in Memphis. Might be worth a shot if you think this event can produce another winner from nowhere like it has in the past.
Scott Sterling ($75,000) -- Like most of my $75k picks this year, Sterling has been hit or miss so far. He has three top-25s and three MCs in his 10 events, but finished T12 here last year, hits a ton of greens (11th) and also plays the par 4s pretty well (29th).
My Fantasy Golf Challenge lineup
Perry, Toms, Kelly, Bettencourt, Sterling
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