Week #9 - Fantasy Golf - Honda Classic - Feb. 27-March 2

Field for Honda Classic ~PGA Tour

Top Picks
Jeremy's Picks: Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia
Chuck's Picks:  Zach Johnson, Adam Scott, Charl Schwarzel
Drew's Picks:  Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Charl Schwarzel
Matt's Picks:  Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Charl Schwarzel
Cathy's Picks: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott

Dark Horses (dark horse criteria= outside top 50 on OWGR as of 2/24/14)
Jeremy's Picks:  Jerry Kelly, Cameron Tringale, Camilo Villegas
Chuck's Picks: Paul Casey, Boo Weekley, Charles Howell III
Drew's Picks:  Will McKenzie, Freddie Jacobsen, Chris Stroud
Matt's Picks: Will McKenzie, Luke Guthrie, David Lynn
Cathy's Picks: Brendon deJonge, Robert Garrigus, John Rollins

Jeremy's Picks:
Rory McIlroy - I really like where McIlroy is heading, not to mention that he won here 2 years ago.
 
Rickie Fowler - Fowler's swing change has really started to come together as shown by his surprising run in the WGC Match Play.  That combined with his excellent play last year at this venue should mean this could be a very good week for him.

Sergio Garcia - This was my spot for Justin Rose, since he wd'd I'm going with Sergio.  He made a little run at the WGC before taking himself out with kindness.
 
Dark Horse
 
Jerry Kelly - Kelly has been playing some pretty solid golf this year.  He has also had a few top 20's here including a 3rd place finish in 2011.
 
Cameron Tringale - He is on the cusp of really breaking through.  Look for a solid week out of him following his excellent play at Riviera.
 
Camilo Villegas - He has an interesting track record here.  Cut-cut-cut-win-cut...you get the point.  He has only missed one cut this year on the PGA Tour, hopefully that is a sign he is going to win here...or miss the cut.

Chuck's Picks:
Zach Johnson – Not the highest ranked player in the field but certainly the hottest. 3 starts this year and all top tens with a 2nd and 1st included.

Adam Scott – This was a tough pick. But I choose Scott over Woods, McIlroy and Mickelson due to his superb wind play. Don’t be surprised when Adam Scott has the lead come Sunday.

Charl Schwartzel – Great track record at this venue. Last three results were 14th, 5th, 9th. Has played well this year and has no problem in windy conditions. Oh yeah he also plays well before the Masters.            

Dark Horse
 
Paul Casey – Should be eager to get his career back on track after an injury plagued couple of years. Good wind player and finished 6th the last time he played here.

Boo Weekley – Has been playing very good golf as of late. One of the best scramblers on tour which will come in handy this week.

Charles Howell III – Likes this course and has been ever so close this year. I’m banking on at least a top 20 this week and think he gets a win this year at some point.

Drew's Picks:
Rory McIlroy
Rory won the Honda two years ago, WD's last year with a toothache, so can't hold that against him.  He's in fine form, 9th, 2nd, 5th, and 6th in his last four stroke play events.  

Graeme McDowell
Graeme is due  for a win, and this could be his week.  3 top 10's in his last three starts at the Honda, his exciting play last week at the WGC shows that his game is in fine shape.

Charl Schwartzel
Charl's record at The Honda is trending upwards, from a T14 to a T9 to a T5.  I like that.  Last stroke play result was a T5 at Riviera two weeks ago.  Looking good to me.

Dark Horse
 
Will McKenzie
Will McKenzie seems to like Nickalus courses.  He has 6 top 15 finishes in his last 10 starts.. He T5 here in 2009, and T12 in 2010.  A good ball striker and plays par 3's well, both good at the Honda.  He, like many others this week, is a local, and gets to sleep in his own bed, which is nice.  

Freddie Jacobson
Freddie "The Junkman" Jacobson has 6 top 30's here, including a 4th, 5th, and a 6th.  His scrambling skills will be key to his success this week.

Chris Stroud
Chris Stroud has never had a MC at the Honda.  His results have included a T9 and a T 13 (2012 and 2013).  So far this season he has two T3's, at Mayakoba and the CIMB Classic, along with 3 MC's a T19 and a 20th.  Nothing jumps out at me in his stats, just a hunch this week.

Matt's Picks:
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy is the 2012 champion of this event and finished 2009 in a tie for 13th. In his last seven starts worldwide, McIlroy has finished 17th or better. He captured a win at the Emirates Australian Open at the end of 2013 and finished 2nd at the Abu Dhabi HSBC event in January. Last week in the Match Play, McIlroy won his opening match, but lost his second round match to a tough opponent in Harris English. 

Graeme McDowell
The 15th ranked golfer in the world is finding early success on the PGA Tour this season. He has played in four events on Tour this season, earning T7 or better in each of those starts. He made the round of eight last week and tied for 7th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. In his previous three starts at PGA National, McDowell has finished T9, T9, and T6. 

Charl Schwartzel
Schwartzel has visited PGA National the previous three years, earning top fifteen finishes each start. Last season he placed T9 and finished T5 in 2012. Schwartzel has two official starts on the PGA Tour this season. He finished with a solo 5th at the Northern Trust Open, and made it to the second round in the Match Play last week. 

Dark Horses:

Will MacKenzie
Will MacKenzie has entered this event five times since 2006, making the cut in all but his first start. He finished 2007 with a top twenty-five, 2009 with a top five, and 2010 with a top fifteen. He comes into this week with a streak of four consecutive cuts made and has six top fifteens on the season. He ranks 13th in scoring average, 2nd in eagles, and 2nd in all-around. 

Luke Guthrie
In eight starts this season, Luke Guthrie owns three top twenty-fives, including a T5 at the Shriners event.  He currently ranks 32 on Tour in scoring average and ranks 7th in strokes gained putting.  Guthrie made his first start in this event last season, earning a solo 3rd and shooting a 63 on Friday's round.  

David Lynn
Although he hasn't finished better than T48 all season long, he has yet to miss a cut this season.  If Lynn can improve on his ball striking this week, his solid putting stroke could place him at the top of the leaderboard this weekend.  Lynn also made his first start at PGA National last season, placing T4 and shooting sub-par rounds in the final three days.

Cathy's Picks:
Tiger Woods - I'm not usually on the Tiger fan bus, especially when he's been on what some people are calling a slump, but I don't know, I guess.   He's got to turn it around sooner or later, right?


Phil Mickelson - definitely a heart pick this week, and again, not a popular choice based on his recent putting struggles.  But maybe we're going to see a turnaround for Lefty, too, this week. (and it is officially Left-Handers Day today!)


Adam Scott - I had several players in this slot but I kept coming back to Scott and so he's gets it.  He's played some great golf so far in 2014 and I feel like this A-List field is going to inspire him to rise to the top.


Dark Horses:


Brendon deJonge - INSANITY!  I feel like most of my picks are based on hope that they will bounce back from whatever has been ailing them lately, and de Jonge need to break out of his ho-hum play as of late.  


Robert Garrigus - I like his passion and it doesn't hurt that he can hit it a mile.  If his streaky putter can get hot and he can hold his emotions together, I've got a feeling Garrigus is going to have a high finish.

John Rollins - this rounds out my heart picks of this week - we've seen some glimses of good play from Rollins, and I'm thinking first out might mean something!