...yes, I know it's ridiculous.
Course: Silverado Resort & Spa, 7,200 yards. This course played host to a PGA Tour event back in the 70's, but it hasn't been seen at that level since, so every player will be seeing it for the first time. The course is supposed to play well to bombers and ball strikers. Wayward shots will not be penalized that much, and there won't be a huge premium on putting. Expect scores in the upper teens.
Strength Of Field: D. Go ahead and take a nap until we get to WGC event in China. Matt Kuchar and Hideki Matsuyama are the big hitters. Patrick Reed withdrew early in the week.
Extra Tidbits: Johnny Miller joins the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as host of a PGA Tour event. One of his invites was his son, former PGA Tour pro Andy Miller...38 out of possible 50 graduates of the Web.com Tour are playing this week, including 16 rookies who begin their season...Jarrod Lyle's comeback from leukemia begins this week as he Monday qualified for the event. Lyle hasn't played on the PGA Tour since his diagnosis in 2012, but did play well in his rehab stints in Australia at the end of 2012 and on the Web.com Tour last year. Also Monday qualifying were Matthew Goggin, T.J. Vogel, and recent Web.com Tour graduate Eric Axley...Last year, Jimmy Walker won the Frys.com Open for his first PGA Tour title. He parlayed that into two more victories that season, the lead in the FedEx Cup for a majority of the season, and a spot on the US Ryder Cup team.
Fantasy Four:
Hideki Matsuyama - One of the top ranked pros in the field, made it all the way to the Tour Championship last year, and should be well rested as all the American and European pros played the Ryder Cup. He finished T3 here last year, albeit on a different course, but he showed last year that he has the skills to perform anywhere at during any week.
Brooks Koepka - Full fledged PGA Tour pro will be looking to get off to a great start, such as he did last year when he finished T3. Finished in the top 10 last week on the European Tour. He is playing in end-of-season mode, since he is still competing on the European Tour, so he should be able to bring that intensity over. All eyes will be on him this season.
Adam Hadwin - Sleeper pick. Finished in first place in the combined regular and post season money lists for the Web.com Tour. Has some experience playing in PGA Tour events, so he's not coming in completely blind, but he is still classified as a rookie. This could be the first of many big weeks for the future superstar.
Jimmy Walker - I'm getting sucked into this one, as all the experts are predicting Walker to be a part of the conversation at the end. While I think Walker is a great player, very rarely do things go as expected. Still, Walker is coming off a strong Ryder Cup performance and will be feeling comfortable returning to a tournament where he won his first tournament. I don't have him as my winner, but he will have a strong defense.
Note: I'm not going to be doing full fledged 2015 PGA Tour predictions until January, since I don't think these early events really effect much at the end of the season. So, prior to the Tournament of Champions, I will give my predictions for FedEx Cup Champion, as well as for all four majors and the Players Championship; however, a common point of conversation is who will lead the FedEx Cup at the end of 2014. Players will have six tournaments to rack up as many points as possible. Seeing as he's playing well and will likely play in at least three of the six, I suspect Hideki Matsuyama to be leading the race by year's end.
No comments:
Post a Comment