Course: Sea Island Resort, measuring at just over 7,000 yards. It's one of the shortest courses in the PGA Tour rotation. This course is pretty easy when the wind is calm, and incredibly difficult when the wind is blowing, so it will all depend on the weather. If the weather is perfect, expect another birdie fest.
Strength Of Field: D. I could fake excitement about the first two events of the season, but this one I am going to sleepwalk through. Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson are the stars, and would be an even bigger draw if either were playing well entering the event. Last week's winner Ben Martin is also in the field.
Extra Tidbits: Several members of the PGA Tour are members at Sea Island, but Chris Kirk, last years winner, is the only one to have ever won this tournament. Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson, the biggest names in the field, hope to continue that trend...Davis Love III is the tournament host and will play this event for the fourth straight year. The 50 year old Love missed the cut at the Frys.com Open in a warm up to this event...Web.com Tour graduate and Japan Tour winner Sung-Joon Park will be playing in his first PGA Tour event of his rookie season. Park is coming off a T16 at the Japan Open...this event is the last full points event in the United States in 2014, so those who do not wish to travel to Asia will either have to make their points here or wait until the season picks up in January...Every McGladery Classic played since its inception has been won by a shot or less.
Fantasy Four:
Tony Finau - I'm a believer. While he won't be able to bomb this course like he did last week, he has showed me in his two starts that he is someone who is ready to contend right away. Finau has been wanting to be on this stage for several years, and now that he's here, he is taking advantage of every opportunity he has.
Adam Hadwin - I was always a believer in Hadwin, who comes in off the heels of a terrific final round in Vegas. Course familiarity hasn't been a concern for the rookies so far this season, and they head to Sea Island, which is an easy course to adjust to. Hadwin has too much game to not be a part of the conversation.
Alex Cejka - Sleeper pick. I have a feeling Cejka is going to be the kind of guy who flips between missing cuts and notching top 25s, but he showed be enough last week to give him a chance here. The 43 year old is coming off one of his best seasons ever on the Web.com Tour, and now seems to have renewed energy. He is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory, and his time may be running out, so he needs to make the best of these opportunities.
Chris Kirk - The defending champion is coming off a good playoff run where he won the Deutsche Bank Championship and finished T4 at the Tour Championship. In fact, Kirk's season last year was a monster one - he had more top 10's (5) then he did missed cuts (2). Starts this season at the site of his second PGA Tour victory, so he should be feeling pretty comfortable. Will be on quite a few lists for the Presidents Cup team the closer we get to that event.
Last Weeks Team:
Hideki Matsuyama: T10
Kevin Na: WD
Stuart Appleby: MDF
Ryo Ishikawa: T28
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