Tour News
Fantasy Cheat Sheet: Quicken Loans National
It’s astounding to think that a player can sit at 8-under par after three and a half rounds, and nine holes later they’re at 15-under with a trophy on the way. Kevin Streelman earned his second PGA Tour victory by dialing in his irons and sinking putts when it mattered most at last week’s Travelers Championship.
Since there are no pressing storylines for this week’s Quicken Loans National, let’s break down Streelman’s efficiency in … Oh, you want to talk about Tiger? Yeah, I guess that’s happening this week. Fine, let’s dish. After 87 days off from back surgery, Tiger Woods returns to competition not-so-ironically at his foundation’s tournament at Congressional Country Club just north of the nation’s capital.
Woods brings star power to the Blue Course, which is lacking a bit from the rest of the field. A par-71 at the long length of 7,569 yards, it plays hard but Congressional will yield birdies, but only if the driver can puncture the longer holes. That said, you can’t win a tournament without hitting greens in regulation or making putts, so someone longer off the tee who can also do the latter will have success. Let’s take a look now at those that might be best suited for the challenge, including the aforementioned Woods. It’s Risk, Reward, Ruin.
RISK
Ten tournaments is all that remains before the close of the season. It feels like more, so it’s important to note what the remaining PGA Tour stops are. Including this week, there are three tournaments before the British Open, then there are two tournaments before the PGA Championship. Following that is the final Tour venue, the Wyndham Championship, before four weeks of FedEx Cup playoffs. Starts are still at a premium and Yahoo leagues are just opening up the summer segment. This is a reminder to be wise, since at this point many players starts will have been used up and you’d hate to be the guy at the Tour Championship using the bottom part of the final 30. Below are some riskier selections that likely have several available starts and may be smart additions to your lineup this week.
Robert Garrigus
There are two really good results from Garrigus in his last three trips to Congressional. He tied for fourth at the U.S. Open and tied for fourth at the 2012 AT&T National, but a T64 last year leaves something to be desired, plus he missed the cut at the St. Jude Classic, his last tournament. Still, with two top-5s on the year and the ability to post two low rounds, he’s a nice addition to a Yahoo B lineup. In particular, his only real struggle has been hitting fairways, but Garrigus’ distance off the tee sets him up well to score low on the par-5s.
Bo Van Pelt
A true risk this week, BVP has missed eight cuts in 19 tournaments thus far this season. The good news is Van Pelt has made five in a row. The bad is that he’s still a little inconsistent. We know he can post low rounds, but he’s been giving up strokes in the other rounds. He opened with 69-68 at the Travelers, but BVP finished with 73-70, good for a T67. That inconsistency was evidenced with an MC last year where he shot 79-70. But he’s also capable of the solo second he put up in ’12, in which he shot 67-73-67-71. He also posted a T14 at the ’11 U.S. Open (76-67-68-71), again jumping around on the scoreboard. So if he can avoid the big number, or you can avoid it in daily leagues, Van Pelt isn’t a bad sleeper.
Brendon Todd
Todd should be in most Yahoo C lineups this week following his strong run of play even since his first Tour victory at the Byron Nelson. He put up a T5 at Colonial, a T8 at the Memorial and navigated Pinehurst No. 2 for a T17. Currently, he’s a shoe-in for the Ryder Cup and continuing his fine golfing won’t be a problem of focus. Todd finished T13 last year and 72nd the year before in his debut. The former Georgia star is seventh in strokes gained putting this year and is measuring well in all the areas except driving distance. That’s not much of a deterrent.
Charley Hoffman
I like Hoffman again this week coming off a Travelers tournament where he posted three rounds in the 60s to snag a T26. Ever a scorer, Hoffman has four top-10s this year and isn’t prone to big rounds. He posted a T28 last year, a T22 in 2012, a T42 at the U.S. Open of ’11, and a T19 in ’07. Ranking seventh in greens in regulation and 43rd in Strokes Gained-Putting, plus 23rd in driving distance, Hoffman’s fourth-ranked birdie average should factor in this week and that’s good news in Yahoo C. You can also feel safe since he has just one missed cut on the year and that was way back in February.
Brian Harman
With a 4-under final day in 2012, Harman earned himself a T11 at the AT&T National. He’s enjoying a strong third season on Tour, already with five top-10s, including a T6 in Memphis. Three rounds in the 60s netted him a T42 last week. Harman missed the cut last year in a similar setup to the previous year, meaning it just comes down to execution. So far, he’s been confident and nailing putts. No reason to think it won’t continue, but the sample size for him is still small.
Reward
In a field light on elite talent, there’s a handful of names that you can’t go wrong with. Fortunately, several should have starts available due to injuries that kept them out for several weeks this year. Now back in form, unlike Tiger, it’s time to jump on their bandwagon to get you to Hoylake in good condition. Here’s the best of the best this week and one or two should be mixed in on daily leagues. As another reminder, I always ask myself who is the most likely winner, and I don’t leave them out of my lineup unless I’m completely handcuffed. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong, but I’d rather not fall behind because of bonus points I could have collected just by benching for three days and watching the leaderboard. Here’s my top rewards for this week.
Brandt Snedeker
Please don’t forget how good Snedeker is. There were several points last year where you’d have selected him week after week and for good reason. He tied for eighth at Congressional in that stretch and he has two other top-10s on the Blue Course, plus he posted a T11 at the ’11 U.S. Open. Now healthy again, Snedeker is warming up just in time for the stretch run. A T9 at this year’s U.S. Open preceded last week’s T11. I’d say he’s trending up and he’ll be my pick to win this week. His only issue this year has been on approach shots, but that wasn’t a problem last week in ranking 25th in GIR and sealing the deal by making 18 birdies.
Jason Day
Day is recovered from a thumb injury incurred during his Accenture Match Play win in February, and has been steadily displaying his quality the last four tournaments. Best of all, the Aussie tied for fourth at Pinehurst, then followed with a T18 last week, which included a final-round 65. Remember how good Day is at the U.S. Open? 2011 at Congressional was no different, resulting in one of his two runner-ups. He’s also finished T8 and T21 at the AT&T National the last two years and this course won’t contain him as he bombs away on the Tour’s second longest course.
Jordan Spieth
Spieth was halfway to a win last year but ultimately finished sixth. Is there any course he doesn’t like? It’s hard to find one at this point as he’s racked up six top-10s this year. Honestly, he’s way overdue for another win given how good he is. Ideally, his statistical profile would look a lot better, but he knows how to read greens, which sounds a lot like someone playing this week who recently had back surgery. I’m not sure how you leave him out of your lineup other than he should have approximately four starts left this year and you’ve got to use him in two weeks when he defends his John Deere Classic title.
Gary Woodland
With nine top-25s to his credit, Woodland has yet to miss a cut this season, which can never be discounted. His biggest struggle is with the putter, but his full swing is looking great after the swing changes he made in 2012. So throw out that bad year (73rd, 72-74-75-80) and look at the ’11 U.S. Open when he finished T23 and the ’13 AT&T National when he ended T16. That’s a good resume for a guy who should find his length off the tee a big advantage this week. Woodland has the capability to go low and is a nice pick in Yahoo A.
Webb Simpson
While Pinehurst did a number on him, Simpson still began to show form at the St. Jude Classic with a T3. It was really encouraging to see him put up three rounds in the 60s in Memphis considering he hadn’t done so since a top-10 in Phoenix in February. Simpson tied for 14th at the ’11 U.S. Open in his only Congressional appearance. The best thing that can be said about the former Wake Forest star is he’s now hitting greens in regulation, which sets up his already stellar putting stroke and birdies.
Ruin
The field is smaller than your normal Tour event and you should see a good bit of shifting on the leaderboard over several days. Given that you may be reaching deeper into the field for a few different selections, whether that’s Yahoo or Golf Channel lineups, it’s important to know exactly who won’t score you anything at all. That’s why I cover the low-hanging fruit, which may look good on the outside but is rotten on the core. That sentence also doubles for D.C.’s many politicians, but I digress. Here’s your Ruin picks.
Tiger Woods
This is a case where the buyer needs to be aware of what he’s purchasing. By selecting Woods, yes you are picking a two-time winner at Congressional, but you’re also owning a golfer who will be working on fine tuning his game in advance of the British Open. A top-25 isn’t out of the question, but a low round likely is. He could play the par-5s well and still fall back of the leaders. That said, I can see him appearing in many Yahoo A lineups and you can’t fault it. But why waste a Woods’ start with so many upcoming tournaments where you could plug him in. Let him work off the rust and burn him down the road.
Camilo Villegas
After a stretch of four missed cuts in a row, Villegas’ last three tournaments have been a T37, T11 and T67. As always, he has the capability to shoot a low round, and, as always, he rarely strings together multiple rounds in the 60s. You don’t necessarily have to do that to play well at Congressional, where Villegas posted a T16 last year without shooting in the 60s. But the Colombian is scary because he’ll shoot 65, then 75 and MC. In ’12, he missed the cut with rounds of 78-75, and he missed the ’11 Open cut by tossing out rounds of 77-72. In the world of fantasy golf, especially daily leagues, sporadic equals danger.
Hunter Mahan
I wrote off his missed cut at the U.S. Open to a mistake, but it’s hard to ignore the MC he had in Cromwell in light of all his past success there. That makes this week somewhat uneasy in using Mahan since he missed the cut at Congressional last year. He did have a T8 in ’12, but also missed the cut at the ’11 U.S. Open. Mahan finished T12 in ’08, shooting 69-72-64-68, and T8 in ’07, shooting 70-74-70-65. But each of those extremely good results was preceded by a run of quality play, including wins and a runner-up at the Travelers. Judging his current results, it may be accurate to say he won’t enter with the same confidence. And that makes me wary.
Chad Campbell
Campbell has been doing moderately well this season, and is of very similar discussion to Bo Van Pelt. He’ll post a below-par round and then post something above it and give strokes back. Last week’s T7 was a good sign in the right direction with three rounds in the 60s, including an opening 64. Campbell finished T16 a year ago, ending at 2-under. He also had rounds of 75-79 in ’12 and 76-71 in ’11, 72-74 in ’07 in missing the cut all three years, but did have a T13 in the ’05 Booz Allen Classic. That was a long time ago. Campbell is second on Tour in hitting GIR, but his Strokes Gained-Putting is near last. If he finds the line and gets it rolling, good, but that’s not the tale for this golfer.
Brian Gay
Gay enters Congressional with only one top-10 this year and two top-20s, while on the heels of three missed cuts in six events and results no better than T57 when he got through to the weekend. He missed the cut at the ’12 AT&T National, finished T63 at the ’11 U.S. Open, and MC’d in ’08, ’05 and ’04. With limited success either this season or in season’s past, there’s better options available, including Tiger at less than 100 percent.
If you’d like to further discuss fantasy selections for the Quicken Loans National, you can comment below or find me on Twitter @bricmiller. Best of luck on your week and thanks for reading!
This week’s picks
Yahoo!
Group A: B. Snedeker (S), G. Woodland
Group B: J. Day (S), J. Spieth (S), W. Simpson, R. Garrigus
Group C: C. Hoffman (S), B. Todd
(Last week: 134 points; Spring segment: 1,733; Spring rank: 2,620; Season points: 3,766; Full Season rank: 1,109 – 98th percentile)
PGATour.com
B. Snedeker, J. Day, R. Garrigus, B. Todd
(Last week: 147 points; Season: 6,056; Rank: 4,042)
Golf Channel
Quicken Loans National
Group 1: J. Day
Group 2: B. Snedeker
Group 3: R. Garrigus
Group 4: R.H. Lee
(Last week: $106,522/$794,983; Season: $11,882,795; Mulligan: $78,287; Rank: 8,223 of 40,092)
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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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Pingback: Fantasy Cheat Sheet: Quicken Loans National | Spacetimeandi.com
cb
Jun 24, 2014 at 6:42 pm
Love Spieth but how could you not put Tiger as the feature photograph for this post. He might not break 80 but still.
Brian Miller
Jun 24, 2014 at 6:44 pm
I asked for Paulina Gretzky all the time but it never happens, so I guess we both have to live with disappointment.
cb
Jun 24, 2014 at 8:10 pm
haha touche sir
Jadon
Jun 24, 2014 at 4:02 pm
Hey Brian, so you think Tiger will being playing just to shake off the rust? What’s your prediction on where he will finish? I’m not going to pick him this week, I have a feeling he will have a rougher start than anticipated but I would love for him to just come out and kill it. Also, what’s the timeframe on him having another injury? knee ankle wrist back
Brian Miller
Jun 24, 2014 at 6:54 pm
I root for Tiger every time he’s out there. I caught the tail end of Jack and Arnie, more remember Lee Trevino and Payne Stewart, but catching Tiger from start to finish makes me want to see history with him. As for this week, it’s so hard to say. Part of me thinks he’s playing possum, but Golf Channel’s Tim Rosaforte, who lives in the same area as Tiger, says he hasn’t logged much of any full rounds. It’s hard to see him putting together better than a top-25, and that’s based on his touch around the greens. Remember, the surgery was on a pinched nerve, not vertebrae, so he’s swinging pain free. It really is about getting back in the groove. My guess is he’ll grind as he always does and finish in the top 50. But all that guessing is why he winds up as a Ruin.
MHendon
Jun 25, 2014 at 12:29 pm
You caught the tail end of Jack and Arnie, really how old are you? Because I assumed that was a picture of you.
Brian Miller
Jun 25, 2014 at 10:56 pm
Haha I’m a young 34. I was 7 when Jack won the ’86 Masters. I remember that. Arnie is a little bit of stretch, because I more remember watching him and Jack on the Senior PGA Tour.