Tour News
Fantasy Cheat Sheet: Northern Trust Open
I miss Steve Stricker.
And while I’m antsy for the grizzled veteran to bring his polished game to the PGA Tour in whatever limited schedule he plays, that would just be one more accomplished name in this week’s Northern Trust Open field.
Folks, this one is a doozy, not only for actual competition which will be fierce, but also in the fantasy golf world where many rosters will differ this week thanks to the sheer volume of talent.
In evaluation of pristine Riviera Country Club, one thing is certain: This is a thinking man’s golf course. That means placing a premium on iron play, capitalizing on scoring opportunities and gaging a golfer’s mental fortitude during the selection process. That doesn’t necessarily add up to the prerequisite of major championship-winning stuff, but it definitely doesn’t exclude it. There are a lot of excellent golfers this week even without Stricker, Tiger or Phil. Sifting through the field and picking winners and losers is as challenging as being on Justin Bieber’s public relations team. It’s not ideal, but we’ve got to do it anyway. Welcome to Risk, Reward, Ruin.
RISK
The key to judging when to pull the trigger on a risky selection assessing what you stand to gain with someone in versus what you stand to lose. Last week, I made mention of Charlie Wi being a risk and really an all-or-nothing choice because of a successful course history. As time wound down towards the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, I found myself wondering why I’d roster a guy and use him for just Monterrey. So at the last minute, I pulled Wi in favor of Brendon Todd and paired him in Yahoo Group C with Jimmy Walker. Turns out, it was a solid move. The risk of keeping Wi outweighed the cost of removing him for someone with bigger potential upside four the four days. And since Walker won, well it was a good week to say the least.
Justin Rose
As a U.S. Open champion, Rose’s upside is big. You can’t diminish winning under tough course conditions and its mentally-draining grind. Rose has a T9 in 2011 to his credit here, but he is making his first start of the year on American soil and hasn’t played for two months due to tendinitis. He may be several weeks off from really challenging, but he has the makeup you’re looking for to be in the top 10. He finished fifth back in November in the WGC-HSBC Champions, and Rose’s last two starts at the NTO are T13 (’12) and T9 (’11).
Matt Kuchar
Kuchar has yet to get over the hump and win his first major, which really comes down to weekend troubles. But he’s as consistent a golfer as you’ll find and does have a win, albeit in the non-sanctioned Franklin Templeton Shootout, to boast of this season. He hasn’t played since Hawaii, but all six of his starts this year on Tour are top 10’s. He’s all but a lock to roll with in Yahoo leagues even though he’s never finished inside the top 10 at the NTO and has mostly been outside the top 20.
Jordan Spieth
I don’t doubt Spieth could win this, not for a second. But he’s probably been used quite a few times already this season. So check your starts because guys like Rose or Kuchar likely have nine or 10 still available and it could just be the week to use one of them instead since the drop off isn’t severe, if completely non-existent. But I get the desire to use the second-year phenom who’s coming of a T4 finish at Pebble Beach. But with a record of having played this as an amateur in 2012 and missing the cut, I’m likely to save a start for later in the year.
Bill Haas
Yet another who has probably been used several times already, Haas has had enormous success at the Northern Trust Open, including a win in 2012, but he’s also missed the cut a twice. Will he win again? If the bet is Haas or the field, you take the field. But you can’t discount how he’s 6 for 6 this year in cuts made with two top-10 finishes. He also followed up his win with a T3 result last year where he held the lead late before fading. With a T12 in 2011, the former FedEx Cup champion is mentally strong, just not the flashy choice.
J.B. Holmes
Little test. Print out the top 20 names from the last seven years at this tournament, guess whose name will jump out at you? Holmes has been tried on Riviera time and time again and come through. He’s extremely intriguing, but this is a lot like the Wi argument. Is he good enough to use in lieu of Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen or Harris English? That is a Yahoo group C dilemma, especially since Walker (see below) is also in that group. Ouch. Maybe one safe pick, one flyer is an option, but I’m leaning towards a safe pick and a proven South African with a Green Jacket. Holmes is 3 for 3 in return from multiple surgeries last year, which allows you to throw out last year’s MC. Before that: ’12, T8; ’11, T12; ’09, T6; ’08, T7. That track record is hard to ignore, especially in some fantasy money or FedEx Cup points games where you could be splitting hairs with a lesser-tiered golfer.
REWARD
This isn’t one of those weeks where the top five just jump out at you. In fact, the ones I’ve selected have flaws, it just helps that everyone else will also be unwilling to avoid rostering them for fear they’ll dominate the Pacific Palisades’ course. Rightfully so since this grouping has the two hottest golfers going these days and another three with championship pedigrees.
Jimmy Walker
Three wins in eight starts, that’s Tiger-esque. But that is exactly what Walker has done this year to get his only three PGA Tour victories. I say only like it’s easy. In reality, it’s quite difficult, which is why once you win, you know how to win. Walker isn’t walking out on Riviera hoping to play well— which is a course he’s played supremely well on in the past— he’s expecting to win. That was what Zach Johnson was doing a month ago. That’s what Tiger and Phil have done for over a decade. You can’t put it past Walker now, especially at this venue. He was T16 last year and T4 the two years before that.
Graham DeLaet
It’s only a matter of “when” for DeLaet. He’s as confident as anyone on the course, and that mental aspect will be important this week as he attempts conquering the NTO to secure his first Tour win. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if it comes on the confluence of his previous upward-trending play, where he’s been the runner-up his last two tournaments at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Before that was three top-10’s. He’s made the cut in both starts at the NTO.
Dustin Johnson
I’m not sure I’d want to play a pro-am with my future father-in-law, especially if he was a celebrity as is the case with Johnson and his relationship to former hockey great Wayne Gretzky. That is a lot of pressure to play well. But Johnson proved he could navigate any discomfort and still play exceptional. Pebble Beach yielded yet another fine tournament from Johnson, who finished tied for second. In fact, every start this year has put him in contention and he posted a win in his first Tour start of the season. At Riviera, Johnson seems to do well in even-numbered years, so you’re in luck. In 2010, he was T3, then MC’d the next year. In 2012, he ended T4, then missed the cut the next year. That trend bodes well for 2014.
Hunter Mahan
Steady as can be, both of Mahan’s February starts have tallied fourth and sixth-place finishes. Can he grab a signature win early in this season? Signs point to yes as his iron play is always steady and he finished T8 last year. Mahan lost the Accenture Match Play Championships last year to Kuchar, which will be played next week, so this right about the time when he first strikes. Riviera requires precision on its par-4’s, and Mahan’s best strength this season lies in strokes-gained putting. That could be enough to create separation for a win.
Webb Simpson
Don’t sleep on the former U.S. Open champion. He navigated a brutally tough Olympic Club golf course in 2012 for his first major, which shows his make-up. With five top-10s this season and a T6 result last year, the Wake Forest product is hopeful to snap the winless streak he’s had since that successful June 20 day over a year and half ago. Simpson finished T15 in his only other start here, while he leads the Tour in birdie average and scoring average and ranks third in all-around. He’s a strong bet to finish in the top 10.
RUIN
In such a deep field of talent, I’m not going take the easy way out and say “Don’t take former two-time champion Mike Weir,” although, seriously, don’t. I hope you know that well enough by now. Rather, I’d like to approach where you could slip up and make a mistake simply because the name is enticing enough to warrant a pick, even the final result resembles something like a T40 versus a missed cut.
Lee Westwood
What’s the opposite of mental fortitude? That would be Westwood playing the back nine of a major. The Englishman just puts too much pressure on himself to win, and as a result makes himself worse in the process. If I’m looking for a guy who can navigate four days of treacherous golf over a series of tough par-4s, I can do much better than Westwood. Is there upside? Potentially. But doesn’t it feel like you’re trying to hit a homerun by hitting a moving baseball in total darkness? I don’t want to ever have to try to get lucky in that fashion, especially just to be Mr. I-Told-You-So. He missed the cut at the WMPO, which is significant because he didn’t miss a cut at all last year. What did Phoenix require? Focus in front of large throngs of screaming people. Westwood finished T21 last year, shooting lower the first two days to avoid a missed cut but proceeding to go over-par on the weekend. It’s a familiar trend.
Chris Kirk
For much of this new season, Kirk has been a great selection, especially in light of his win at the McGladrey Classic. I think I’ve used him two or three times already and it has worked out. But Riviera hasn’t been kind to Kirk and with so many good golfers, someone equally good but less seasoned will miss the cut. I fear it’s Kirk, but also wouldn’t be surprised to be wrong. He was T33 last year and the previous two times missed the cut. Maybe his game has just gotten that much better to where he will play well, but I’m not using this week to find out firsthand. It’s wait-and-see for me.
Will Mackenzie
This is sort of a rebuttal to other rankings out there that believe Mackenzie’s game is strong enough to be considered for selection. Over Jason Dufner? Holmes, Oosthuizen, English or Schwartzel? Rickie Fowler? Bubba Watson? For some inexplicable reason he’s listed ahead of those guys, despite one made cut in five tries. Hell, Aaron Baddeley won this tourney once (2011), has played well here and seems to have shaken the horrible season he had last year. Mackenzie has been in the top 15 in five of the seven cuts he’s made this year. But he also missed the NTO cut from 2009-11 and had to spend 2012-13 on the Web.com Tour. I’m not hitching my ride to Mackenzie’s horse.
Rory Sabbatini
There’s always someone looking to catch lightning in a bottle and buck conventional wisdom. I thought we’d covered this already. Stop! Yes, Sabbatini’s resume says 2006 Nissan Open champion, the previous namesake of this tournament. His gravestone will probably say it too. And yes he has a T9 and T6 to his credit in the years following, but how can you ignore the T76 and three MC’s he has since then? Mix in four missed cuts this year and you may as well begin digging six feet down into the cold earth.
Padraig Harrington
The three-time major champion from Ireland looked solid last week at Pebble Beach following a missed cut at the WMPO. He is by definition a grinder, which fits well when scoring is tough. But he played very poorly last year and missed the cut at the NTO. But he has more than a few MC’s since then and sub-par finishes when he does make one.
As always, you can find me on Twitter @bricmiller if you want to talk about the tournament or if you have any fantasy lineup inquiries. Good luck!
This week’s picks:
Yahoo!
A: M. Kuchar (S), R. Moore
B: H. Mahan (S), D. Johnson (S), B. Haas, G. DeLaet
C: J. Walker (S), C. Schwartzel
(Last week: 226 points; Winter segment: 1,088 points; Rank: 837)
PGATour.com
J. Walker, G. DeLaet, W. Simpson, M. Kuchar
(Last week: 471 points; Season: 2,380; Rank: 3,972)
Golf Channel
Group 1: M. Kuchar
Group 2: G. DeLaet
Group 3: J. Kokrak
Group 4: A. Baddeley
(Last week: $697,400; Season: $3,135,639; Mulligan: $63,115; Rank: 11,421)
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship
GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.
While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.
Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Michael Block – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Patrick Reed – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cam Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Josh Speight – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Takumi Kanaya – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kyle Mendoza – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Adrian Meronk – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jordan Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jeremy Wells – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jared Jones – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Somers – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Larkin Gross – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tracy Phillips – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Keita Nakajima – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kazuma Kobori – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- David Puig – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Ryan Van Velzen – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brad Marek – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rich Beem WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Phil Mickelson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Matt Dobyns – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Lucas Herbert – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jason Dufner – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Daly – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Taylor Gooch – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dean Burmester – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dustin Johnson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
Pullout Albums
- Ping putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Bettinardi covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cameron putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Max Homa – Titleist 2 wood – 2024 PGA Championship
- Scotty Cameron experimental putter shaft by UST – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – new Ping putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka’s new Cameron putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s Cobra bag and Aerojet driver – 2024 PGA Championship
- Super Stroke grip – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tiger Woods – 2024 PGA Championship
- Michael Block’s new TaylorMade “Proto” 7-iron, from address – 2024 PGA Championship
- Odyssey putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
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News
Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.
From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.
General Albums
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Monday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Keegan Bradley – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Webb Simpson – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Emiliano Grillo – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Taylor Pendrith – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Kevin Tway – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Eric Cole’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matt Kuchar’s custom Bettinardi – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Justin Thomas – driver change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler – putter change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s new custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Tommy Fleetwood testing a TaylorMade Spider Tour X (with custom neck) – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Cobra Darkspeed Volition driver – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).
Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.
We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Pierceson Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kris Kim – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- David Nyfjall – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Jarred Jetter – North Texas PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Richy Werenski – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Wesley Bryan – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Parker Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Peter Kuest – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Blaine Hale, Jr. – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kelly Kraft – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Rico Hoey – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- Adam Scott’s 2 new custom L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Scotty Cameron putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Ben Griffin playing Maxfli golf ball
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Syrin
Feb 12, 2014 at 3:35 pm
I’m surprised you didn’t Matsuyama. The guy looks to be the next superstar along the lines of Tiger and Rory. He;s in the mix in EVERY tournament he enters including the majors. I guarantee you he’s on the front page of the leader board come Sunday.
Brian Miller
Feb 12, 2014 at 10:05 pm
I’ll take that bet. He definitely has huge potential, but he also has a small body of work. He’s never played the NTO before and this course favors accuracy, especially on the par-4s. So far, his driving accuracy and GIR is not good enough to win on Tour in a tough environment. That’s why Phoenix (WMPO) worked out so well for him; you can make mistakes but still scramble and get up and down. Scoring average is good but I’d like to see a more mature game before I crown him.
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PJ
Feb 11, 2014 at 2:34 pm
Webb won this year… So he has a win since his us open
Brian Miller
Feb 11, 2014 at 4:38 pm
Good call and I totally knew that, but in the haze of an early morning ride with no coffee I missed that “1” in the review of his 2013-14 season where I pointed out five top-10s. Devil is in the details. Thanks for paying attention!