Week #7 - Fantasy Golf - Northern Trust Open -Riviera CC, February 13-16, 2014

Field for the Northern Trust Open - PGA Tour

Top Picks
Matt's Picks:  Dustin Johnson, Graham Delaet, Hunter Mahan
Cathy's Picks: Matt Kuchar, Bill Haas, Keegan Bradley
Chuck's Picks:  Jimmy Walker, Bill Haas, Dustin Johnson
Drew's Picks:  Jimmy Walker, Dustin Johnson, Graham Delaet
Jeremy's Picks: Bill Haas, Keegan Bradley, Jimmy Walker

Dark Horses (dark horse criteria= outside top 50 on OWGR as of 12/1/13)
Matt's Picks: Kevin Na, Thorbjorn Olesen, Aaron Baddeley
Cathy's Picks: John Merrick, Harris English, Bryce Molder
Chuck's Picks: Charles Howell III, Fred Couples, Thorbjorn Olesen
Drew's Picks:  Kevin Na, Tim Wilkinson, Pat Perez
Jeremy's Picks:  Harris English, KJ Choi, Aaron Baddeley

Read below for why our Pro's picked who they did!!

Matt's Picks:
Dustin Johnson  
Johnson shot a round of 66 last Sunday to propel him into the runner-up position at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. In three official events on the season, Johnson has a victory, a T6 finish, and a runner-up finish. He has made the trip to Riviera CC six times, earning three top ten finishes. In 2012, Johnson finished T4. 


Graham DeLaet  
DeLaet has four straight top ten finishes coming into this week. His previous two starts have both resulted in runner-up finishes. He currently ranks 5th in strokes gained putting, 6th in greens hit, 4th in driving distance, and 2nd in scoring average. DeLaet has played at Riviera CC the last two seasons, earning a T44 finish in 2012 and a T21 last season. 

Hunter Mahan  
Mahan has earned paychecks in five of his previous six trips to the Northern Trust Open. He finished 2012 in a tie for 24th and ended in a tie for 8th last season. Mahan currently ranks 2nd in strokes gained putting and 7th in scoring average. Last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he finished in 6th and finished tied for 4th the week prior. 

Dark Horses:
Kevin Na  
Before missing the cut at this event last season, Na made six consecutive cuts before that. He finished tied for 25th in 2009, tied for 10th in 2010, and ended 2011 with a solo 3rd place finish. Na has already secured his spot on Tour this season, earning the necessary amount from his medical exemption. He has a streak of five consecutive cuts coming into the Northern Trust Open, and finished the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 4th place. He has three top tens on the season, and another top twenty. 

Thorbjorn Olesen
Olesen recently finished the Commercialbank Qatar Masters with a 3rd place finish, and followed that up with a 5th place finish in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.  Olesen currently ranks 60th in the world and will be making his first start on the 2013-2014 PGA Tour season.  On the European Tour, Olesen ranks in the top thirty in stroke average, driving distance, and greens in regulation.

Aaron Baddeley
Baddeley's results haven't been overly impressive this season, but he does have three straight made cuts coming into this week.  His best finish this season was 5th at the CIMB Classic, which is higher than any finish last season.  Baddeley currently ranks 4th in strokes gained putting.  If he can improve on his ball striking this week, I could see him in the mix on the weekend.  Baddeley has only missed on cut at Riviera in his last six trips, which includes a victory and a T11.

Cathy's Picks:
Matt Kuchar
It's Valentine's week, so I might as well start with a HEART PICK.  And if you know me, you know Kuch is close to my heart all the time.  I'm putting a little faith in Matt since he hasn't had great finishes here in the past, but he did have a 64 in the first round last year, so there's hope!  And he's had 3 top 10's in his last 3 starts.

Bill Haas
I could call Haas a Heart Pick, too, but there are all kinds of reasons to pick him this week: T3 in '13, Playoff win in '12 and a T12 in '11.  Riviera is a track fit for Haas.

Keegan Bradley
My first instinct was to go with Jimmy Walker, but instead I'm going with the OTHER GUY who knocked me out of the Make the Cut Challenge over at Buzz Fantasy Leagues.  I forgive you Keegan, now go out and win!!  Need a better reason to pick Bradley?  All finishes execpt for the ugly 80 at the WMO (MC) have been T18 or better and in '12 he was in the playoff that Haas won.

Dark Horses:
John Merrick - since I'm in the basement of the Dark Horse stats, I'm going all out to get some points, so why not pick the Defending champion?  Hopefully he'll be inspired coming back to Riviera.


Harris English - English took some time off after a 9th place finish at the WMO,   Doesn't have a lot of history here, but I think this could be his 2nd win of the 2013-14 season.


Bryce Molder - coming off of a T10 at the AT&T and having 2 top 25 finishes here in the past few starts gives me hope that Molder can get me some points this week!

Chuck's Picks:Jimmy Walker – I can’t resist riding Walker back to back weeks. I mean why not ….He’s only won three times already this year and now gets to tee it up at his favorite golf course.

Bill Haas – Former champ is definitely fond of Riviera. No missed cuts this year but really hasn’t hit his stride yet. I wouldn’t bet against him this week and expect him to be atop the leaderboard come Sunday.


Dustin Johnson – DJ seems to be getting along pretty well with his future father in law, Wayne Gretsky. That made for a relaxed stroll around Pebble Beach on Sunday where he finished 2nd. Has had success at Riviera.

Dark Horses:
Fred Couples – I guess this is somewhat of a heart pick as Cathy would call it. The first time Freddie teed it up here Ronald Reagan was President. Now he’ll be playing for his 32nd  time at this event. Here’s hoping Boom Boom can catch lightning in a bottle one more time.

Charles Howell III – No missed cuts, five top tens this year, and a former champ at Riviera. That’s all I need to see to put Chucky in my lineup this week. Expect good things!

Thorbjorn Olesen – Don’t ask. Call it a hunch. Playing for the first time on the PGA tour this year and playing Riviera for the first time as well. He plays well on tough courses and could be getting psyched to return to Augusta where he finished 6th last year.

Jeremy's Picks:
Bill Haas - Haas is an annual contender here and also a past champion. This course definitely seems to suit his game.

Keegan Bradley - Bradley has had two strong finishes here over the past two years including a T-2 in 2012.

Jimmy Walker - He is on fire and has to be one of your D choices in a yahoo league.

Dark Horse
Harris English -He has the type of presence that I can see winning at a course with such great history.

KJ Choi - He has had a decent start to the year carding a T2 in San Diego. Choi has placed in the top 10 at Riviera 3 times since 2008.

Aaron Baddeley - Although he missed the cut here last year his to prior starts at the Northern Trust earned him an 11th place finish and a victory.

Drew's Picks:
Jimmy Walker:
I missed getting on Jimmy's bus last week, but now I'm on board 'till the wheels fall off, which may be when the Tour leaves CA for the Florida swing next week.  Jimmy says the NTO is his favorite tournament of the year, good enough for me.

Dustin Johnson:
Dustin seems to run hot and cold at the NTO.  In his last four starts, he's finished 3rd, MC, 4th, MC.  I see a pattern here.  Dustin leads the Tour in GIR, Eagles, Birdie Avg, Par 4 Birdie or better, and 3rd in Par 5 birdie or better.  His accuracy off the tee could be better, he'll need to drop back to his 290 yard 3-wood now and then to keep the ball in the fairway maybe.

Graham DeLaet:
Graham DeLaet is having a great start to his 2014 season, 7th, 6th, 2nd and 2nd in the first four events he's played.  His GIR, Strokes Gained Putting and Birdie Avg are all in the top 10.  His ball striking might get him a win this week, surely a top 10.


Dark Horses:
Kevin Na:
Kevin confirmed he's back from his injury with a T4 last week at Pebble Beach.  He has done well here, a T10 in 2010 and a 3rd in 2011.

Tim Wilkinson:
Tim Wilkinson finished 7th last week at Pebble Beach.  He does have two top 10's in his last eight starts, but also has 4 MC's!  This is a hunch, a true DH!

Pat Perez:
Pat Perez has improved his, let's say, attitude on the course recently, and it's shown in his results.  He has finished 2nd, 11th, T7, 58th-oops-and 8th this season.  Pat is playing in his home state, under conditions he's used to.  That should get him at least a top 15 in my book, which isn't bad against a very good field.