The Mulligan: To Sawgrass

I think everyone looks forward to the Players' Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, except possibly some of the players themselves. The 17th hole has been criticized for being too "gimmicky" or "luck-driven." Quit your belly-aching! Anyone who makes over 6 figures in a year playing golf loses the right to whine about things like this. Especially since the players know that how much we fans love to watch them hit their ball into the lake. It makes us feel better to see the best players in the world take a drop and it is very exciting to watch that hole. This tournament is great because of number 17, and the great field that shows up every year to play it.

A great side story this week is Phil Mickelson's bid to become the number one ranked player in the world. With a win from Lefty, and a finish outside the Top-5 from Tiger, we have a new king of golf. Look for Phil to play well this week at Sawgrass.

First, I look for Henrik Stenson to play well here again. He won here last year and he has always played well at Sawgrass. He has been playing well overseas this season, so his success has been a little under the radar. Don't sleep on the Swede.

Ian Poulter might turn some heads this week as well. He finished 2nd here last year and we all know what he is capable of. Look for a ridiculous outfit and low scores from one of the Tour's more colorful players. A lot of people are concerned about a knee injury that he is recovering from, but Poulter says he is fine, and that is good enough for me.

This week I am torn on Paul Casey, one of my favorite players. Sometimes he plays this

course masterfully, while other times he looks like Van de Velde trying to close a British Open. I think he will play well, but I qualify this pick by explaining that Casey has missed three cuts here.

Sleeper: Jason Dufner has been putting together a banner year, but he has done so quietly. If he plays well on this big stage, he will become the talk of the Tour.

The Mulligan: Fantasy Golf Picks for The Byron Nelson

If you have been following The Mulligan's fantasy golf picks, you are likely moving up your fantasy golf leaderboard very quickly. Last week was about as good as it gets, with Zach Johnson bringing home the win, Justin Leonard finishing T-5, and Charlie Hoffman coming in T-9. I scored 176 points in my fantasy golf league, which was good enough for first out of nearly 3,000 players in my Yahoo league. Hopefully we can keep the ball rolling this week as the tour heads to Dallas for the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

I recommend starting Phil Mickelson this week. Phil is a previous winner here and he finished T-3 in his last start here in 2007. He is ranked in the top 25 in driving distance, putting average and birdie conversion percentage in 2009, which has led to success thus far. I think Phil will have a good week in Dallas.

Ian Poulter is another player who should be in your fantasy golf lineup. He tied Lefty for 3rd here in 2007 and he has been on fire lately. He finished 2nd at The Players, T-5 at Quail Hollow, T-9 at The Accenture Match Play Championship, and T-13 at both the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the WGC CA Championship. His putter has been on fire, and Poulter has been on the leaderboard a lot recently. Look for him to have a good week at the Byron Nelson.

Finally, I recommend starting Charlie Hoffman this week. Hoffman posted a strong finish last week (T-9) and he has not missed a cut in his past 21 starts. He has played this tournament 3 times, finishing in the top-10 twice. He has three top-10s on tour this year, and he is playing well right now. I think he could have a good week.

If you want a sleeper pick, look at the 2007 Byron Nelson Champion, Scott Verplank. Verplank has eight top-25 finishes this year, and we know he can play well at the Byron Nelson. He might suprise this week and finish near the top.

Good luck this week and lets keep moving to the top of the fantasy golf rankings!

The Mulligan: Quail Hollow Championship

This week, the Tour heads to Charlotte for the Quail Hollow Championship. Measuring 7442 yards, Quail Hollow is a longer course so the heavy hitters should play well this week. So, as you can imagine I am going to put some guys who hit the long ball in my fantasy golf picks list this week.

Tiger is back in the field this week, and he is a previous winner of this tournament. I am not saying anything surprising or original when I say that Tiger Woods is the best player in golf. He has won here before, but he has won everywhere else too. The question is whether to start Tiger this week or save him for a later tournament. There is really no good way of determining this, except that I recommend starting him in as many majors as possible since he tends to play his best golf under pressure. If you feel good about starting Tiger this week, I say go for it. If not, there will be plenty more opportunities down the road. Of course, if you play in a league that does not limit how many times you can start a particular player, Tiger should be in your lineup.

Phil Mickelson has finished in the top 10 in three of five starts at Quail Hollow. After an inconsistent start to the season, I am sold that Phil is worthy of a start in most tournaments from here on out. The most convincing evidence of this came on the front nine of Augusta where he tied Johnny Miller's front nine record of 30. I think Phil is a great play this week, and he will be in my starting lineup.

Brian Gay is a good momentum play this week coming off his 10 shot slaughtering of the rest of the field. While a repeat of his performance two weeks ago is unlikely, a good showing wont surprise anyone. Consider him the new Rory McIlroy and hop on his bandwagon before the wheels fall off.

Ian Poulter is my final pick this week. His putter is on fire (averaging approximately 28 putts per round) and he has played well this year as a result. Although his showing at Quail Hollow has been lackluster in the past (2 missed cuts and 25th), he did finish in the top 25 here last year. I think this is the perfect time to start him.

Good luck this week and lets keep moving to the top of the fantasy golf rankings!