02-08-17
It’s the final event of the season with multiple courses!
Hooray!
Here are the course rotations:
Yahoo! Fantasy Golf
Last Week: 178
Winter Points: 789
Winter Rank: 5,689
Season Points: 5,689
Last Week:
I decided that saving Hideki Matsuyama for later was a bit silly and when I’m out of starts on him, I’m out of starts on him. Every gamer on the planet this week should have started and used him in all four rounds. Brendan Steele did exactly what I needed and four rounds of Jon Rahm were solid but not good enough to make up for a combined 16 points from Patrick Reed and Ryan Moore on the weekend.
The biggest loss on the week was burning a start on Reed and collecting six TOTAL POINTS. His collapse on Sunday killed gamers across every format but Steele finishing at +1 wasn’t going to save my week. I also burned a start on Justin Thomas but his 12 points look like heaven compared to Reed’s six. #Losing.
It’s always nice to claim the win bonus and I’ve jumped up 10,000 or so places in the last two weeks. Remember, the only way you can do that is being completely awful to start the season! #GuiltyAsCharged.
This Week:
Remember, Yahoo! is a SCORING GAME ONLY.
Nothing else matters.
With three courses in play, I’m looking to avoid Pebble Beach until the weekend. If you follow me on Twitter, you can see what happens when the wind howls and the rain pelts down as plenty of guys have been shooting video all week. With the smallest greens on Tour and exposed shots, avoid it if you can. MPCC has huge greens and that will help in wind and rain. Spyglass Hill has tough fairways to hit but the rain will make them play larger.
I’m all for experienced players who have handled a bit of weather in their career and who have persevered on this track prior. There’s nothing wrong with finding a couple of grinders to add to the big boys who have won or contended here recently.
This is always a difficult week when weather is involved plus the pro-am element plus the multiple course rotation.
More details in my preview here:
Group A
Starts remaining in parentheses
Dustin Johnson (9) — One of his two titles here was in a 54-hole tournament that was shortened due to weather.
Jason Day (9) — I struggled with this pick but I decided to ride the chalk. Plus Day has never MC in seven tries so that’s decent insurance policy.
SUPER SUBS
Vaughn Taylor: He’s on a streak of eight rounds in a row here under par. He’s making start No. 10 in this event.
Roberto Castro: He’s only MC twice in his last 19 starts on Tour. T-8 here last year in nice weather and T-19 in 2014 in less than great weather.
Group B
Phil Mickelson (10) — He’s been a force in the elements and a little wind might straighten him out a bit this week!
Justin Rose (10) — Banging start to the season with a pair of top 10’s plus T-6 last year in his debut.
Jordan Spieth (9) — His form is too good to pass on here and he excelled in the wet, windy 2014 edition (T-4).
Brandt Snedeker (9) — Another two-time winner who can get it around these parts; Co 54-hole leader last time out at Torrey.
SUPER SUBS
It was hard to leave off grinder extraordinaire Jim Furyk but it is his first start of the season in less-than-ideal conditions. Matt Kuchar hasn’t played here since 2010 but his top 10 last week in Scottsdale shouldn’t be ignored as that wasn’t one of his favorite tracks. Webb Simpson and William McGirt make an excellent back end of this foursome. Sung Kang set the course record (60) at MPCC last year for you out-of-control chance takers.
Group C
Jon Rahm (9) — I’m gaming angry after his win at Torrey. He beat a deeper field than he’ll face this week and quiet greens will also help him.
J.B. Holmes (10) — T-11 last year and T-10 in 2015 were under nice conditions but he’s made nine of 10 cuts here. He’s playing his 11th Pro-Am in a row. #ExperiencePairedWithTalent
SUPER SUBS
I’ve often referred to Group C as the Rummage Sale of fantasy golf as there is something in here for any theory or style.
Pat Perez would definitely be in the lineup if he didn’t WD with a bad back last week. Matt Jones makes a lovely sleeper but do NOT look at his final rounds at Pebble Beach. Leave him on the bench Sunday! Cameron Smith and Greg Owen make lovely sleepers.
“Ned says…”
Ned Brown returns to drop his knowledge in Yahoo! as he did here last year. Ned is a legend in the gaming world and has cleaned up in Yahoo while most of you were in diapers! He’ll share his thoughts and picks here when he wants!
@ESoxGolf
Last Week: 182
Winter Points: 836
Winter Rank: 1,138
Season Points: 836
” Last week was one of those weeks that I would start a player and the player I would sit would go off.”
–Ned
Group A
Dustin Johnson (10) — Yes he missed the cut last time out with the rest of his group of Tiger Woods and Jason Day but this is a event that Johnson loves. He has nine career starts at the AT&T Pebble Beach and six top 10’s, including championships in ’09 and ’10.
Shane Lowry (9) — Normally, I would be looking at Jason Day but with the wet weather forecast for the first couple of days I’m going to try to save a start on him. The rain isn’t going to bother Lowry and he was in the hunt last week until a final round of 71 eased him into a tie for 16th place.
SUPER SUBS
Jason Day, Patrick Reed
Group B
Justin Rose (10) — I’ve been very impressed with the way Rose has started this season. He played great at the Sony and would have won most years except he ran into Justin Thomas who was setting all-time scoring records that week. He took a week off and again impressed with a T-4 at the Farmers. Rose played in his first AT&T Pebble Beach last year and tied for sixth place.
Jordan Spieth (7) — I would really like to pass on using Spieth, but he has played well despite being a bit off with his putting. He has a T-3 at the TOC, a solo third at the Sony and a T-9 last week at the WMPO. His record here is pretty good with two top 10s (T-4 in ’14, T-7 in ’15) in four career starts with an average finish of 13.5.
Phil Mickelson (10) — I’ve taken a cautious approach to Mickelson this year after he had double hernia surgery in the off season. In his first three starts of the season he has a T-21 at the CareerBuilder, a T-14 at the Farmers and a T-16 last week at the WMPO. Mickelson has a strong record here of nine top 10’s in 20 career starts plus he had a solo second place last year.
Brandt Snedeker (9) — He missed the cut at the Sony but bounced back at the Farmers where he tied for ninth place. His recent record here is either feast or famine with the good stuff being championships in ’13 and ’15.
Super Subs
Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson, Jonas Blixt, Jim Furyk
Group C
Jon Rahm (9) — Normally I don’t go with a first-timer at the Pebble Beach but Rahm has been playing great in here with a championship at the Farmers and a T-16 last week at the WMPO.
J.B. Holmes (9) — Pat Perez or Tony Finau are both tempting here. Perez withdrew last week and Finau is a first-timer at the event plus I already have one of those (Rahm). Instead I’ll go with J.B. Holmes as has been steady this year with a T-33 at the Farmers and a T-24 last week at the WMPO. His recent record at the AT&T Pebble Beach is very nice with a T-11 in ’15 and a T-10 last year.
Super Subs
Pat Perez, Tony Finau, Martin Laird, J.J. Spaun
FORE!
Shoot any questions and follow along at @MikeGlasscott and mikeglasscott.com to stay in tune.
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