Welcome to Playing the Tips!
Each week this will be the one-stop resource to soak in all the picks from our group of fantasy staffers from Rotoworld.com. We’ll have all of our selections from the GolfChannel.com, Yahoo! Fantasy Golf (coming January of 2015) plus my new expanded feature on my weekly selection for One-and-Done players.
EDITOR’S NOTE: As the PGA TOUR begins its holiday break, we’re putting a bow on the final event of the fall in the last Playing the Tips until 2015. Included are our GolfChannel.com totals and Glass’ one-and-done, which will continue in January. Please continue to visit our pages over the next several weeks as we’ll be bringing to you special features and the usual stream of player news blurbs, including notable winner recaps. Finally, if you’re not already following us on Twitter, you’ll find us at @RotoworldGolf.
GolfChannel.com Fantasy Golf
OHL Classic at Mayakoba Recap
Glass
Final 2013-14
Season: $24,502,217
Rank: 1,194
2014-15
Season: $1,691,253
Rank: 11,412
This is what happens when you can’t find a guy to hit a podium in SIX EVENTS. The OHL mercifully ended this segment of the Golf Channel game. As I dreamed out loud last week, I hope they TRASH THESE RESULTS similarly to the way they did last year and let us all start over in calendar 2015. Knowing my luck, there is NO WAY this will happen. #CrossesFingers
Group 1: Ben Martin
Group 2: Chris Stroud
Group 3: Robert Streb
Group 4: Hudson Swafford
ANALYSIS: Harris English wouldn’t have helped in Group 1 this week over MC Martin as he finished T37 for $26,230. Stroud’s three-year run of T5 or better crashed and burned but his T23 was respectable. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to have Streb in Group 3 but we were all frustrated as he had one bad hole on the week, a quad, to finishT37. Swafford opened with 65; he finished T61. That sums up my first six events…
Rob Bolton
Final 2013-14
Season: $21,107,825
Rank: 5,802
2014-15
Season: $2,002,588
Rank: 8,495
Group 1: Harris English
Group 2: Charles Howell III
Group 3: Rory Sabbatini
Group 4: Mark Wilson
ANALYSIS: English was the defending champ so I completely understand the play. CH3 laid a MC egg as did Group 4’s Mark Wilson. Sabbatini cashed just over $13k at T56 and I still finished almost $400k behind Bolton.
Ryan O’ Sullivan
Final 2013-14
Season: $24,613,036
Rank: 1,108
2014-15
Season: $2,151,297
Rank: 6,263
Group 1: Harris English
Group 2: Charles Howell III
Group 3: Robert Streb
Group 4: Spencer Levin
ANALYSIS: Levin also was T56 so O didn’t exactly pull away with this line up; he just beat me up each week. Rope-a-dope. I’m the dope.
Ned Brown
Final 2013-14
Season: $26,869,991
Rank: 244
2014-15
Season: $1,797,485
Rank: 8,094
Group 1: Harris English
Group 2: Jason Bohn
Group 3: Robert Streb
Group 4: Mark Wilson
ANALYSIS: Jason Bohn paid off as his T7 was by far the best finish from our 16 picks. Gamers all love when current form (T2 the week before) meets course form (T3 2013 OHL) and the result plays out!
Yahoo! Fantasy Golf
Yahoo! Fantasy Golf will return in the winter of 2015 starting with the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Take a look below to see how our boys fared during the 2014 season.
Ned Brown is a long-time contributor for Rotoworld Golf. He’s had documented success in Yahoo!’s game for years. Even if you’re confident in your selections for that game, give his insight a read. He’ll lead us off each week in the Yahoo! game.
“Pure Spin”
Final 2014 Season Rankings
Summer Segment Points: 2,080
Summer Ranking: 13,369
Season Points: 5,775
Season Ranking: 3,515
Ryan O’Sullivan (O)
“The Golf Aficionado”
Summer Segment Points: 2,188
Summer Ranking: 1,859
Season Points: 6,022
Season Ranking: 132
Rob Bolton
“@RobBoltonGolf”
Summer Segment Points: 2,168
Summer Ranking: 3,121
Season Points: 5,811
Season Ranking: 2,557
Glass
“@MikeGlasscott”
Summer Segment Points: 2,157
Summer Ranking: 3,985
Season Points: 5,868
Season Ranking: 1,353
One-and-Done
Each week I painfully writhe and wretch trying to figure out the proper strategy to find a player that will hit the top 10. Wins are great but aren’t likely so I’m satisfied with having a CHANCE to hit the big money. Missed cuts are absolutely the death in this game but even the surest of things don’t always happen in the reality world of fantasy golf. Remember, fade or follow, it’s up to you! I’m going to leave my 2013-14 results up for a few weeks so if you have any questions “mapping” your season, you can learn from my plays from last year.
Those who don’t recall history are condemned to repeat it.
2013-2014
Glass OAD
Results
SEASON TOTAL: $6,283,986; 45 events
Wins: 1; Jimmy Walker (AT&T Pebble)
Seconds: 1; Dustin Johnson (NTO)
Thirds: 1; Sergio Garcia (PLAYERS)
Top 5s: 9
Top 10s: 13
Top 25s: 24
MC: Gary Woodland (Frys.com), Rickie Fowler (FIO), Lee Westwood (WFC), John Senden (FESJC) and Marc Leishman (Greenbrier)
Thermometer: awful, just awful
2014-15 Glass OAD
Frys.com: Brooks Koepka. Let’s get this started off on the right foot. Koepka, playing without any status last year, led on Sunday by three shots at the turn. He finished T3 and learned a valuable lesson. His recent form has been scintillating as he has four top 15s in his last four worldwide starts, including the PGA at Valhalla (T15). He was T9 last week at the Dunhill. Koepka did what was expected and racked up a top 10 for $168,000.
Shriners Open: It came down to Moore, Watney and Piercy for the OAD place this week. Laird was also in the conversation but I’m going with the best putter of the group mentioned above and there’s not a place that Moore HAS TO BE USED later. Sure, he beat Gary Woodland in a playoff last year at CIMB but I don’t use defending champions. #WeakSauce. He shares the tournament record has three top 10s in his last four. More Moore please! ANY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE THREE OTHER THAN MOORE would have been just fine. Moore has wiped me twice in eight events. The good news is I don’t even have to CONSIDER his presence again until October of 2015.
McGladrey Classic: This is the CLASSIC HEDGE MOVE for gamers. I’m going with Kuchar above but Simpson down here to cover my ASSet. Look, save Simpson for Greenbrier, Sedgefield or TPC Boston, but I’m going with a guy who is hot NOW and will find someone else later. HOW COULD THIS GO WRONG, RYAN MOORE??? Nothing like a T41 to back up a MC.
CIMB Classic: I’m loading up on Charl Schwartzel since I can’t play him on the Sunshine TOUR at the Dunhill or Joburg. His course form is overwhelming and in a limited field with limited views of this track, his experience and successes here are huge. He’ll probably WD. He couldn’t catch up after his opening round 74; T19, $94,500.
WGC-HSBC Champions: I’ll go with the guy who holds the course record, the 2011 title plus two other top eight finishes in four starts, Martin Kaymer. Did I mention he made 29 birdies here last year? Ok, good. If I was a casual golf fan and just picked up the newspaper on Monday morning to see that Kaymer finished T6 I would have been thrilled…$216,337
Sanderson Farms: It came down to Tony Finau or Hudson Swafford and I went with the Georgia ‘Dawg. Both are hot so I’ll go with the local-er of the two and the better ball-striker. I should be required to take the “Silly Season” off. BOTH missed the cut. I’m ready for 2015…
OHL Classic: Can I just pass? Since I couldn’t pull the trigger on Jason Bohn in the Golf Channel game, I’ll hedge him here with Stroud and Sabbatini right behind him. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? I need a vacation. It feels worse than it looks, but not by much. Bohn did what gamers needed, a top 10, but don’t remind us that he held the 54-hole lead by a shot before he finished T7 for $196,725.
Results
SEASON TOTAL: $695,172; 7 events
Wins: 0.0
Seconds: Maybe on Thanksgiving
Thirds: Pumpkin Pie, yes…
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 3
Top 25s: 4
MC: 1, Ryan Moore (Shriners), Hudson Swafford (SFC)
Thermometer: I finished the end of 2014 with top 10s in two of the final three so there is hope moving forward.
Coming on Wednesdays in 2015
And the analysis doesn't end here. Rotoworld's Rob Bolton and I will be co-hosting our live chat Wednesday at 10 AM ET the first week of JANUARY in 2015 so please stay tuned. We will be breaking down the field at the HTOC and answering your questions. Simply return to the golf home page to join in on the chatter.