04-19-17
It gets progressively more difficult this week moving down the list from Group A.
The wind on the weekend is going to shape this event into a pair of tournaments: One Thursday and Friday with decent conditions and Saturday and Sunday cool and windy.
Please plan accordingly!
RBC: 166
Spring Points: 471
Spring Rank: 2,665
Winter Points: 1,768
Winter Rank: 2,587
Season Points: 2,239
Season Rank: 1,234
Last Week:
The biggest let down of the week was fading Donald and I have nobody but me to blame for that.
I collected on Kisner’s big Friday-Saturday and Kuchar’s Sunday but left a couple large ones out there from Hadwin in Henley (Group C) that I didn’t time right. It’s never easy taking zeroes in this game and I had to eat one with Kisner on Sunday.
I continue a steady climb in the regular season standings and have NOT dug a hole to climb out of in the spring segment.
So I have that going for me.
Which is nice.
This Week:
Remember, Yahoo! is a SCORING GAME ONLY.
Nothing else matters.
Valero is big, long and mean and that’s with prevailing wind. Throw in a day or two with IN YOUR FACE and this course is a monster.
There’s hardly a surprise why it’s ranked in the upper half of most difficult courses annually.
Guys who can take advantage of the par fives and par the place to death will stand out in this game.
The short game experts will have a better chance to hit GIR this week as we jump from 3,700 square feet to 6,400 so their putters can factor. The more greens hit, the more chances at two-putt pars.
The average winning score here is around 10-under-par and nobody has gone deeper than 14-under.
If you don’t see your guy listed below check out my preview to find out why or why not.
Group A
Starts remaining in parentheses
Branden Grace (9) — He flipped the switch at the Masters on the weekend and carried it over last week on Hilton Head. This will be his fourth year in a row in San Antonio and his T-9 last year included 69-67 on the weekend. #Scoring.
Brendan Steele (9) — Brendan meet Branden…Steele missed tying the course record by a shot last year to open the event and his career stroke average is under par.
SUPER SUBS
Luke Donald: In a vacuum, he’s in the lineup. In reality he got up-and-down from everywhere last week. My tiebreaker this week on a 7,435 yard course was ball-striking. TRY AND DO ME DURRTY AGAIN LUKE!
Jhonattan Vegas: Everyone that’s well behind needs a player that nobody else is going to roster. Vegas’ only recent blemish is MC at Augusta. #OverThat.
Group B
Charley Hoffman (9) — He’s 43-under-par here. The next best is in the teens.
Adam Hadwin (9) — I’m late to the party here. Error corrected week two and counting.
Kevin Chappell (10) — His T-7 at Augusta was impressive and adds to his top 10 haul in majors. It doesn’t hurt he has two top four finishes at this event either.
Daniel Summerhays (10) — After MC in his first trip in 2011 he’s posted five rounds over par total in the last five years.
SUPER SUBS
Your next four should include, in no order, Matt Kuchar, Jimmy Walker, Ryan Moore and Sung Kang. Kang seems to set a new course record every four weeks or so!
Group C
Zach Johnson (8) — In 12 rounds at TPC San Antonio 10 have been par or better with eight being in red figures. He’s won this event twice and Colonial twice so he’ll be fine in the wind.
Brooks Koepka (10) — He found something at WGC-Match Play and parlayed that into T-11 at Augusta. He hits it a mile and can get hot with the putter and should be in the fight this week.
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.
Billy Horschel is the course horse from this group.
Luke List fits the bomber profile this week as does Ollie Schniederjans and J.J. Spaun can knock it and hole putts.
Ryan Palmer is starting to warm and Martin Laird has won here and shares the course record.
Bud Cauley might not be the man in this format but he’s going to make some noise this spring and summer.
“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
RBC: 158
Spring Points: 443
Spring Rank: 7,966
Winter Points: 1,871
Winter Rank: 140
Season Points: 2,314
Season Rank: 148
“Ned says…
Last week was another one of those week’s where I left massive points on the bench. I had Kisner on the bench when he went low in the second round with a 7-under-par, which cost me 16 points. I then had Kuchar on the bench on Sunday as he shot a round of 7-under-par, while Kisner fell apart costing me 20 points.
Just goes to show how tough fantasy golf is.”
Group A
Brendan Steele (9) — Again Group A is a bit on the thin side. One of the safer picks out of the group is Steele. He was playing a bit better at the start of the season but he has made every cut. His record here is very good with a championship in ’11, a T-4 in ’12 and a T-8 in ’15.
Branden Grace (10) — I think it’s a coin flip between Luke Donald and Grace. Donald is coming off a second place at the RBC Heritage but he is a true horse for the course there. Grace is also a horse for a course there but overall he has played a little better so I am giving him the nod.
SUPER SUBS
Luke Donald, Patrick Reed
Group B
Matt Kuchar (8) — For the second week in a row Kuchar went low in his final round to shoot himself up the leaderboard and, of course, I didn’t use him on either Sunday. His recent record at the VTO is solid with four top 22s in his last five starts with the highlight being a T-4 in ’14.
Charley Hoffman (9) — After leading the first two rounds of the Masters and fading on the weekend, I guess it’s not shocking that he missed the cut at the RBC Heritage. He is the defending champion here and his overall record is six consecutive top 13 finishes before that. The big question is if Hoffman is still suffering a hangover effect from the Masters? My guess is he will be fine to use this week.
Ryan Moore (9) — The Masters got my attention where he finished tied for ninth place. He has only played this course once before back in ’12 when he finished tied for eighth place.
Jimmy Walker (9) — The Texan has been very tough to coach for fantasy since his championship last year at the PGA. He did have an OK Masters where he tied for 18th place. His record at the VTO is either feast or famine. Since the move to TPC San Antonio he has a championship (’15) and T-3 in ’10, but he also has three missed cuts.
SUPER SUBS
Adam Hadwin, Sung Kang, Kevin Chappell
Group C
Ryan Palmer (10)– Ryan who? Yes Ryan Palmer, who missed five cuts on the season, but he looked good last week at the Heritage where he tied for 11th place. His recent record here is strong with a T-6 in ’15 and a T-4 last year.
Brooks Koepka (10) — Like Palmer he is buried on the endless list of Group C players. Like Palmer he is just starting to play well recently. He tied for ninth place in the WGC-Match Play and he then follow it up with a T-11 at the Masters. He has a limited record at the VTO so he is all about trying play the hot hand.
SUPER SUBS
Ian Poulter, Ollie Schniederjans, Billy Horschel, Martin Laird.
FORE!
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