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, my weekly selection for One-and-Done players plus DFS love from Josh Culp and European Tour insight from Dave Tindall.
GolfChannel.com Fantasy Golf
WGC-Cadillac Championship
Glass
2015 Earnings: $5,464,879
2015 Rank: 3,058
Oh. Wow.
Well, that was interesting! I’ll blame bad picking instead of bad weather but in my wildest dreams I never thought that greenhorn Patrick Rodgers would have been my highest earner with $18k as McIlroy, Bradley and the Junkman all MC. Thankfully in the GC game there are unlimited selections so the McIlroy pain won’t sting as much as it did in Yahoo!
We usually see one or two of these bloodbaths a season so this is hardly a rule but rather the exception. I can’t live life on what’s going to happen in the five percent of the time so I’ve squashed and moved on. It’s another week of breezes on a tough, tough layout with Bermudagrass greens.
Group 1: Bubba Watson
Group 2: Patrick Reed
Group 3: Jamie Donaldson
Group 4: Jason Dufner
ANALYSIS: I’ll ride the role of contrarian this week as I’ll take course horse Bubba Watson instead of the world No. 1. I won’t argue Day as a choice here either. Group 2 is interesting because it’s absolutely loaded with Johnson, Garcia, Kuchar and Spieth as all legit replacements. The angry man in the red shirt won’t be pleased how he played the final four holes last week at Honda. I’ll gladly watch him get after Doral again this week. Group 3 came down to Donaldson or Casey for me and I went with the guy who played this track last year and finished T2. Group 4 I could have also used Noren, a simmering Todd or even long-bombing Ross Fisher if I needed a longer shot.
Rob Bolton
2015 Earnings: $5,700,760
2015 Rank: 2,265
Group 1: Rory McIlroy
Group 2: Dustin Johnson
Group 3: Jamie Donaldson
Group 4: Jason Dufner
ANALYSIS: It’s right back on the Rory train for Rob and he’s not afraid to throw DJ out there as well. I can hardly blame him. His picks in Groups 3 and 4 are magnificent…He won’t get the 1-4 this week like we did last week because it’s a no-cut event!
Ryan O’ Sullivan
2015 Earnings: $8,839,498
2015 Rank: 8
Group 1: Bubba Watson
Group 2: Dustin Johnson
Group 3: Paul Casey
Group 4: Sangmoon Bae
ANALYSIS: Let’s all have a moment of silence for O as he had his worst team of the year because Paul Casey shot 37 coming home for T3. He had won five of the first seven events and been second in the other two. Wow. I’m happy to see he’s leading off with Watson, like me. He might have the exact opposite feeling…Casey goes right back in Group 3 after P2-T3. #BowDown
Ned Brown
2015 Earnings: $6,922,897
2015 Rank: 360
Group 1: Rory McIlroy
Group 2: Jordan Spieth
Group 3: Jamie Donaldson
Group 4: Luke Donald
ANALYSIS: Ned, like O, had Casey in Group 3 last week so he racked up another $400k to move up some more! He’s going with the underrated Donald-Donaldson daily double to back McIlroy and Spieth.
Event No. 2
Puerto Rico Open
Glass
Group 1: Brendon de Jonge
Group 2: Peter Uihlein
Group 3: Jeff Overton
Group 4: Whee Kim
Rob
Group 1: Jerry Kelly
Group 2: Boo Weekley
Group 3: Vaughn Taylor
Group 4: Jarrod Lyle
O
Group 1: Brendon de Jonge
Group 2: Peter Uihlein
Group 3: Vaughn Taylor
Group 4: D.J. Trahan
Ned
Group 1: Brendon de Jonge
Group 2: Boo Weekley
Group 3: Vaughn Taylor
Group 4: Whee Kim
Yahoo! Fantasy Golf
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”
Honda Points: 103
WINTER Segment Points: 1,393
WINTER Segment Rank: 704
Group A
Bubba Watson: He’s off to a flying start to the year with a 10th at the TOC, a T2 at the WMPO and a T14 at the NTO. His recent record at Doral is strong with a pair of second place finishes in his last three starts.
Rory McIlroy: So much for that no-brainer pick last week as the late/early pairings caught the worst of the weather and he missed the cut. It is tempting to fade him in a no-cut event but I have a feeling that he going to revert to the form prior to the Honda.
SUPER SUBS
Sergio Garcia, J.B. Holmes, Henrik Stenson
Group B
Dustin Johnson: He missed the cut last week at PGA National but that isn't a course he has enjoyed in the past. Johnson has played well recently at Doral, with a second place in '11, a T12 in '13 and a T4 last year.
Jordan Spieth: I've used Spieth more than I would have preferred at this point in the season, but he has finished in the top seven in five of his last six worldwide starts, so I'm going to continue to roll with him.
Hideki Matsuyama: Like Spieth he is another player that has been on fire this year with top four results in three of his last five starts. This is only his second start at the WGC-Cadillac so I am really about trying to play the hot hand.
Paul Casey: Here is another player that is red hot, with a T2 at the NTO and T3 last week at the Honda Classic. As I write this I have Paul Casey picked in Group B but the game has not recognized that he is in the field. If he isn't recognized before the tournament starts, I'll use one of the players on the super subs list.
SUPER SUBS
Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar
Group C
Patrick Reed: He played well last week and was in the hunt for the title, however mistakes in the final round dropped him down to a tie for seventh place. He is the defending champion, so I'm looking for him to continue to play well this week.
Jamie Donaldson: He looked good last week with a solo sixth at PGA National. This week he returns to a course where he was T2 last year. Bang.
SUPER SUBS
Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowery, Brendon Todd
Ryan O’Sullivan (O)
“The Golf Aficionado”
Honda Points: 147
WINTER Segment Points: 1,482
WINTER Segment Rank: 21
Group A:
Group B:
Group C:
Rob Bolton
“@RobBoltonGolf”
Honda Points: 80
WINTER Segment Points: 1,319
WINTER Segment Rank: 4,453
Group A:
Group B:
Group C:
Glass
“@MikeGlasscott”
Honda Points: 80
WINTER Segment Points: 1,305
WINTER Segment Rank: 5,762
Only three of my dudes made the cut. I don’t deserve to type any more than that.
Group A
Er, they’re ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the world. Stop it. Palmer is the off-the-beaten path selection here.
Group B:
A couple of short-game artists + a couple of proper bombers = disappointment come Monday morning but I’m confident with the balance in my lineup. As is always the case with Group B, there are plenty of angles and arguments that can be made.
Group C:
The two above are the clear favorites as Schwartzel-fatigue has set in. I love Todd as a sleeper here as he went quietly about his business out West.
Daily Fantasy Sports [DFS]
Josh Culp is our resident DFS guru. Every week, he’ll publish his lineup and alternatives for DraftKings.com.
Josh has put together this roster below and provided some insights, as well.
He will enter this team into the $2 Micro Millions contest on DraftKings that pays out $5K to the winner.
Compete against his team and draft your entry now: http://partners.draftkings.com/aff_c?offer_id=832&aff_id=26
WGC-CC
Bubba Watson ($12,400) ... The correlation between Blue Monster and Augusta National cannot be ignored. That makes this lefty a prime candidate to win this week. He owns runner-up finishes in two of his last three starts here. Fire him back up.
Patrick Reed ($10,700) ... I don't like to back defending champions but he's just too hot to ignore. He's started the season with 25-of-28 rounds at par-or-better. As odd as it sounds, he has become a safe play on weekly rosters.
Graeme McDowell ($7,800) ... You can't keep the Ulsterman down for long so I like him to bounce back from a missed cut at last week's Honda Classic. His track record at the WGC-Cadillac Championship includes five top 15s in nine starts.
Luke Donald ($7,400) ... He's always thrived in Florida and that held true last week. He owns finishes of 26th or better in 10 of his 11 starts at this event. Ride the hot hand and throw the Englishman into your lineups this week.
John Senden ($5,900) ... Top 30s in all three visit to Trump National Doral but he's yet to see the new renovations. His tee-to-green game is always in play and his salary this week is appetizing.
Joost Luiten ($5,700) ... Has posted top 30s in nine of his last 11 international stroke-play events. Coming off a T11 finish at the difficult Honda Classic, this salary is way too low to avoid.
Other Picks to Consider
Alternate for Senden: Anirban Lahiri ($5,700) ... If you don't trust Senden after last year's course changes or relatively weak form entering the week, Lahiri is your man. With three wins on the Asian Tour in his last 10 international starts, he may be the flavor of the week, and for a good reason.
Alternate for Donald: Charl Schwartzel ($6,800) ... The South African missed the cut last week, but can be given a hall pass with the weather conditions the way they were. Top 25s in six of his eight WGC-Cadillac starts and the price is certainly right this week.
Alternate for Reed: Jason Day ($10,900) ... If there is anyone playing better golf than Reed on the PGA TOUR this year, it's Day. His only round over-par on the season came in round one of the Farmers which he went on to win.
2015 Fantasy Race to Dubai
Dave Tindall is our newest contributor, but he’s been a fixture in Europe. In addition to his weekly previews of European Tour events on Mondays, he’ll share his selections and analysis for the Fantasy Race to Dubai at EuropeanTour.com.
Format:
Pick 10 golfers. Players accumulate points based on Race to Dubai (R2D) points earned. Star player’s points are doubled. Unlimited team changes and unlimited star player changes are available each week.
Last Week
A strong collective effort from our Joburg 10, highlighted by Andy Sullivan’s win, saw us finish a fairly pleasing 912th on the week. It led to another decent rise of 504 spots.
Current Position: 1,745 (up from 2,249 the previous week)
This Week
Players from both European Tour events are available. But with the WGC-Cadillac having a purse of $9.25m ($1.57m to the winner) compared to the Africa Open’s $1.2m, it’s a bit of a no-brainer. You’d have to select the winner in Africa to justify picking someone from that field but that’s a tough ask even if you used, say, 3 of your 10 picks (why would you even do that?!) in the South African event.
Team Tindall
(Team name: YESSIR!)
Star Player: Jamie Donaldson
The Welshman continues to flourish; runner-up in this event last year and T6 in the Honda Classic last time.
The Rest
• Luke Donald: Says return to Bermuda grass changed his fortunes (T7 Honda). A pair T6s here in the past doesn’t hurt.
• Sergio Garcia: Owns a pair of top 3s in this event. Seems a little down on himself again but can’t be left out.
• Martin Kaymer: Winner of the Players in Florida last year. Should kick on again after modest Honda T44.
• Brooks Koepka: Florida boy is available in this game of course. Don’t pass the opportunity to use him.
• Joost Luiten: Shot 67-69 to take T11 at Honda; T13 on debut in this event last year.
• Graeme McDowell: Three top 10s in last 5 starts here, inc T9 on new course last year.
• Rory McIlroy: Not on it last week but 1-2 before that and three top 10s in last four at Doral.
• Justin Rose: Another surprise MC last week but expect a rebound. Won here 2012, T8 2013.
• Charl Schwartzel: Form has dipped again but gets in on course record: 9-16-4-24-2
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.
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, T8, 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; $19,600.
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. I was gun-shy but the hedge paid off with T7 and $196,275
HTOC: This is a good news/bad news event. The good news is that there are only 34 players and this is a track that requires previous experience. The bad news is if the guy you pick doesn’t finish in the top five it’s a complete waste of time. For the conservative/saver this is THE ONLY WEEK TO PICK Ogilvy since he’s won here twice. For the throw-caution-to-the-wind player, Kuchar, Day or Watson should lead the line. I’ll find myself right in the middle with Chris Kirk. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? Kirk needed to tie the course record on Monday to hit six figures. Yeah, that’s all I needed to pocket $110,000, 11 birdies and 62. Day pulled the same trick but he finished T3.
Sony Open: I’m going with the man who has eight top 10s in 13 career starts, Charles Howell III. He’s hit the top five in five of the last six years and I’m not going to find that anywhere else on TOUR. #EasyChoice. Make it top five in five of the last SEVEN years. T26 paid $42,280.
Humana Challenge: Ryan Palmer gets the nod this week as he’s shown form on these tracks and has no problem getting low, yo! He’s a member at Colonial, FYI. The pain. The suffering. The life of a fantasy gamer. If reading from top to bottom it’s easy to see why my pain is prevalent. Shut up. T10 isn’t great but isn’t terrible, $136,000.
WMPO: This week, Hunter Mahan takes the wheel. With his wife due shortly, he knows his time, for the moment, is limited and it’s time to make hay. It doesn’t hurt that his game sets up for most layouts and it doesn’t hurt he won here in 2010 and was T4 last year. I’m not confident pulling the trigger on Watson, Spieth, Fowler or Mickelson just yet. THERE’S NOTHING WORSE than playing defense but these gentlemen are more valuable in majors/WGC than here in the desert. Brendan Steele was the backup plan. Mahan = T30 $36,729 but cashed more $$$ than Phil or Rickie! NOBODY CARES!!!
FIO: I’ve ridden Fowler here the last two years and he responded with T6 and MC so let’s hold off on the ticker tape parade. I’m throwing caution to the wind this week and sending the No. 1 player in the FedExCup to do work. With T2 and WIN in his last two Jimmy Walker is the play this week. I can’t use him next week at Pebble Beach where he is the defending champion (and I had him in OAD!) and his record at Riviera isn’t as strong as it is here. DO WORK, SON! One shot out of the lead entering Sunday resulted in a, for him (and me) a disappointing T7 and $189,787. Yep, that’s how high the bar is now set with him on the California coast.]
Pebble Beach: Day is tempting but if he keeps playing like this he’ll have chances in bigger paydays so he’s out. I’m saving Johnson for his redemption song next week at Riviera so he’s out. Walker was played last week plus he’s the defending champ so that leaves Patrick Reed. Hit it a mile. Find it. Make everything. Win. Kevin Na, Aaron Baddeley or would be a nice fill for a TOAD. Imagine if Reed didn’t close with 67 to finish T29 and pocket $44,200? Wait, it could have been WORSE? Blimey…
NTO: I’m a romantic so Dustin Johnson gets the call this week. His six months on the sideline were spent playing and practicing in his adopted home town and his form at Riviera is better than most. He lost in a playoff to James Hahn. That sums up my career in OAD. P2 $589,600. I liked when he was solo second last year when I had him…#MOARMONEY
Honda: I’m going to keep the big hitter motif going this week as I sent Keegan Bradley to bat. I’m looking to grab a guy who’s hot and has course form and he checks both boxes. Dead-beat MC. Wow. #NaeDollars
PRO: I'm going to try and catch lightning in a bottle with Jeff Overton. He's shown over the years to play hot in bunches over quick burts and after his T7 last week at Honda, I'm not going to let him cool. He has three top 10s in five stars here.
WGC-CC: There’s no point for me to start “saving” anybody for anything as this season is slowly slipping away. Plus, this is a WGC and the prize pool is only bigger in a couple events (PLAYERS/Open Championship). Bubba Watson is being sent out to stop the bleeding. Go on son! Bring the General Lee if necessary! HELP ME BUBBA! Other considerations would include Day (any event) or McIlroy (any event) and for TOADYS, I’m not sure how I’d talk anyone out of Jamie Donaldson.
Results
SEASON TOTAL: $1,253,838; 15 events
Wins:
Seconds: Johnson, P2, NTO
Thirds:
Top 10s: 6
Top 25s: 8
MC: 3, Ryan Moore (Shriners), Hudson Swafford (SFC) & Bradley (Honda)
Thermometer: All-or-nothing. At least I don’t live in Boston and am buried in snow for the last two months. I think.
Coming Wednesday
And the analysis doesn't end here. Rotoworld's Rob Bolton and I will be co-hosting a live chat Wednesday at 12 ET. We will be breaking down the field at the WGC-CC and PRO and answering your questions. Simply return to the golf home page to join in on the chatter.