Week #11 - Fantasy Golf - Valspar Open - March 13 - 16, 2014

Top Picks
Drew's Picks: Harris English, Jason Dufner, Graham DeLaet
Jeremy's Picks:  Luke Donald, Jordan Spieth, Matt Kuchar
Chuck's Picks:  Luke Donald, Jordan Spieth, Jim Furyk
Matt's Picks:  Luke Donald, Harris English, Jim Furyk
Cathy's Picks: Bill Haas, Scott Stallings, Webb Simpson

Dark
Horses (dark horse criteria= outside top 50 on OWGR as of 2/24/14)
Drew's Picks:  Gary Woodland, Russell Knox, Stewart Cink
Jeremy's Picks: Cameron Tringale, Gary Woodland, Boo Weekley
Chuck's Picks:  Boo Weekley, Aaron Baddeley, Russell Knox
Matt's Picks: Jonathan Byrd, Russell Knox, Cameron Tringale
Cathy's Picks: Brendon de Jonge, Freddie Jacobsen, Robert Garrigus

Read here to see why we picked who we did!

Jeremy's Picks:
Luke Donald - I suspect Donald will be a popular pick this week.  He has
multiple top 10 finishes here including a win in 2012.  Coming off back to
back top 25 finishes I have no reason not to believe his excellent record
in Tampa will continue.
 
Jordan Spieth - Spieth continues to impress
in his sophomore campaign on the PGA Tour.  Innisbrook is where it all
started last year when he notched a T7th finish.  If he has that good of a
showing without seeing  a course, how good is he going to be the 2nd time
around?
 
Matt Kuchar - Besides a MC after taking a month off his
worst finish this year was last weeks T13.  He is the definition of
consistency and you can expect him to be towards the top of the leaderboard at
the end of the week.
 
 
Dark Horse
Picks
 
Cameron Tringale - Tringale finished strongly here with a top
10 finish last year.  He faultered in the final round of the Honda but
prior to that he had 3 straight top 15 finishes.
 
Gary Woodland - A
former champion he has the ability to win and has been playing well enough to
expect a top 25 finish out of him.
 
Boo Weekley - Weekley has made
the cut in every tournament he has played in this season with the exception of a
WD at the Humana.  He has a good history here and is a very good option as
a dark horse.

Chuck's Picks:
Luke Donald – The recipe to win this week includes
accurate drives, fairway placement and good putting. In other words this is a
thinking man’s course. Who better than Luke Donald to fit that bill?


Jordan Speith – Placed 7th in his debut here
last year and has come a very long way since then. Should be a lock for a top
ten finish and a victory wouldn’t surprise anyone.


Jim Furyk – Last four finishes at this event are Win,
13th, 2nd, 7th. The epitome of a “horse for the
course” so ignore current form and go with Mr. Accuracy this week at Copperhead. 
   
Dark Horses:
Boo Weekly – Tends to do well on courses where accuracy
is a premium. Look no further than he’s success at Harbour Town as proof. Boo’s
game suits this course very well and he should be in contention.


Aaron Baddley – Similar to Weekley, Baddley excels on
short and narrow courses. Consistently one of the best putters on tour which
will come in very handy this week. 2014 form may be a little off but don’t count
him out.


Russell Knox – His last six starts in Florida have
resulted MC, 41, 21, 9, 6, 2. There’s only one number left to continue this
progressive sequence. This Florida resident has the current form and accuracy
off the tee to contend.  

Drew's Picks:
Harris English:
Harris English sits at top 10 in GIR and par 3 and 4 scoring,
and is able to work the ball in both directions off the tee, all which should
help him this week.  He's also 11th in Total Driving and 3rd in Ball
Striking.  He has scored top 10's in 6 of his 11 last events.  All
this adds up to a good week for him in my book.

Jason Dufner:
Jason Dufner has only shot a round over par three times in his last 5 starts at
Innisbrook.  That stat hasn't yielded stellar results, but his recent T9 in
the WGC Match Play and T9 at the WGC Cadillac show  that his game is back
on track.  Jason's weakness lately has been his putting, and we all know
that putting can come back to a golfer at any time.  A lesser field this
week might yield a better result for him.

Grahm DeLaet:
My third pick
for Innisbrook is Grahm DeLaet.  He started the year on fire, and has
fallen back to average the last three tournaments.  I just have a hunch
that this great ball striker will make a comeback to at least a top
10.

DH's:

Gary Woodland:
I'm going with Gary Woodland again
this week, for the same reason as last--length and accuracy.  His miserable
156th stat (last week) for Strokes Gained Putting actually regressed to 161st,
despite his T16 at the WGC Doral.  He must be doing other things
right!  Plus, he did win here in 2011.

Russell Knox:
Russell Knox
is a Scotsman that has transplanted himself to Florida.  His last 5
finishes have included a T13, T10, and a T2nd, losing in a playoff at the
Honda.  Ranks 1st in Par 3 performance, and 30th in Par 5's, 5 of each of
those on the course this week.

Stewart Cink:  Stewart Cink had a T3
here in 2005,  T2 in 2008, and a T11 in 2011.  He's been hitting the
ball long and with accuracy lately, just not able to put four rounds
together.  A hunch that this might be a good week for Stewart.

Matt's Picks:
Luke Donald
In his last three starts in this event, Donald finished T4 last season, won in 2012, and ended in a tie for 6th in 2010. Donald has two top twenty-five finishes in his previous two starts on Tour. He finished T25 at the WGC Cadillac event and T8 at the Honda Classic.

Harris English
In eleven starts on Tour this season, English has six top tens and two other top twenty-fives. He currently ranks 13th in driving distance, 6th in greens hit, 4th in birdie average, and 4th in scoring average. English has two starts at Innisbrook, missing the cut in 2012 but finishing T7 last season.

Jim Furyk
Furyk always seems to play well at this event. He has top fifteen finishes in his last four appearances here. He finished runner-up in 2012 and was victorious in 2010. In four official starts this season, Furyk has one top ten and another top twenty-five.

Dark Horses:

Jonathan Byrd
Jonathan Byrd is coming off his first top twenty-five of the season, earning a T12 in the Puerto Rico Open. In eight starts this season, Byrd has six made cuts and looks to be getting back to form. In ten total starts at Innisbrook, Byrd has three top tens and three other top twenty-fives.

Russell Knox
Knox has three top-13's in his past five starts. In his most recent start, Knox lost in a playoff to Russell Henley at the Honda Classic. Knox, the 119th ranked player in the world, missed the cut in his only appearance at Copperhead.

Cameron Tringale
The 166th ranked player in the world currently ranks 61st in FedEx Cup Points. Tringale had a three week stretch in February of T12 at Waste Management, T13 at Pebble, and T12 at Northern Trust. He started the Florida Swing with a T41 at Honda. Tringale will be rested after not playing last week. He had made the cut at Innisbrook the past two years. In 2012 he finished T46. Last year Tringale finished solo 3rd.