The Mulligan: The Arnold Palmer

This week the Tour is headed to the Arnold Palmer Invitational which is played on beautiful Bay Hill. It is back to playing at a Par 72 this year (not a Par 70 as it was last year) and, naturally, it packs some extra distance for those two strokes. I have some common names for you this week as well as an EXTRA SPECIAL sleeper pick based on nothing other than my gut feeling.

Here is what I said last week about Jim Furyk: "I didn't pick Jim Furyk for this event because I picked him last year and he let us down. This is his type of course, so I would not be surprised to see him play well this week. However, I am not making him one of my picks because he has let me down virtually every time I have picked him. So I am sort of giving you a cocktail made up of 2 parts support and 1 part skepticism with Furyk." He won last week, so I don't want to jinx anything by picking him, but I think he will play well again.

Can you tell me who is number one this season in both earnings and FedEx Cup points? Lucky for you, you don't have to. That is my job. It is the new big force on Tour, Steve Stricker. I am taking Stricker this week because he has picked up in 2010 right where he left off in 2009. I honestly don't think it matters what course he is playing right now. I am picking Stricker until he shows some sign of slowing down.

I also look for Nick Watney to have a good week at Bay Hill. He finished tied for 4th here last season and he is playing well right now. He is coming off a 4th place finish last week where is putter was on fire. Those are two reasons to pick Nick.

Since I didn't give you faithful Mulligan readers a sleeper pick last week, I am going to give you an extra special sleeper pick this week. Charles Schwartzel has two non-PGA victories this season and he finished 2nd at the WGC-CA Championship this year. I think Bay Hill shapes up nicely for the 25 year old and the confidence of early success in 2010 is the icing on the cake.

The Mulligan: The Tour Championship

We are down to the Final 30 as the Tour Championship is upon us. This week the Tour’s Top 30 players (based on FedEx Cup points) head to Atlanta, Georgia and East Lake Golf Club. The Par 70, 7,154 yard course was the home course of legendary Bobby Jones before recently being named the permanent home course of the Tour Championship. Let’s take a look at the 30 players who made the final cut and now seek the Championship. Next to each players name you will find the total amount of FedEx Cup points each player has.

Tiger Woods 2500
Steve Stricker 2250
Jim Furyk 2000
Zach Johnson 1800
Heath Slocum 1600
Padraig Harrington 1400
Sean O’Hair 1200
Scott Verplank 1000
Kenny Perry 800
Jason Dufner 00
Dustin Johnson 480
Nick Watney 460
Geoff Ogilvy 440
Phil Mickelson 420
Retief Goosen 400
Marc Leishman 380
Brian Gay 360
Kevin Na 340
David Toms 320
Lucas Glover 310
Y.E. Yang 300
Ernie Els 290
Hunter Mahan 280
Angel Cabrera 270
Steve Marino 260
Stewart Cink 250
Mike Weir 240
Luke Donald 230
Jerry Kelly 220
John Senden 210


All of the numbers involved in this scoring system bring up a common question. How does the scoring work for The Tour Championship? It is actually pretty straightforward. You simply take the point total of the players to this point in the season after the reset and add this total to the number of points earned this week at the championship. In other words, you take the number listed next to the player’s name above, and add that number to the amount of points earned this week, as listed below.

If you finish... Then you get...

1st 2,500 points

2nd 1,500 points

3rd 950 points

4th 675 points

5th 550 points

6th 500 points

7th 450 points

8th 425 points

9th 400 points
10th 375 points

11th 350 points

12th 325 points

13th 300 points

14th 285 points

15th 280 points

16th 275 points

17th 270 points

18th 265 points

19th 260 points

20th 255 points

21st 250 points

22nd 245 points

23rd 240 points

24th 235 points

25th 230 points

26th 225 points

27th 220 points

28th 215 points

29th 210 points

30th 205 points

This point structure results in some players controlling their own destiny while others need help. Basically, if Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson or Heath Slocum win this week, that player will be the Champion. These 5 players are the only players controlling their own destiny this week. Anyone else must have help in the form of Tiger Woods and the rest of the top seeds playing poorly. Obviously, the odds of winning decrease as you move down the rankings. If you want to check out the exact scenario’s of what must happen for your favorite player to win, click here.

Obviously the Top 5 players have a distinct advantage in terms of winning it all this week. Others are looking to challenge and move up the rankings even if it is highly unlikely for them to take home the main prize. Here are a few players that I expect to play well this week at East Lake.

Jim Furyk finished 2nd place two weeks ago at the BMW after a 5 under final round. He looked very sharp coming down the stretch with a 67 in round 3 and a 66 in round 4. and I think he is firing on all cylinders right now. He finished T-15 at the Barclays and T8 at the Deutsche Bank so his past three showings are impressive. Furyk ranks 3rd on Tour in scoring average, 17th in driving accuracy percentage and 20th in putting average. A well-rounded game and momentum make him a favorite this week.

Dustin Johnson has put on a good showing for his last four starts. Going way back to Early August at the WGC Bridgestone, Johnson finished T-22. He followed that up with a T-10 at the PGA, a T-15 at the Barclays a T-4 at the Deutsche Bank, and a T30 at the BMW. Johnson is a long hitter, ranking 3rd in driving distance on tour. He is also ranked 12th is putting average and 9th in eagles per hole. I like his chances this week to continue his hot streak.

Steve Stricker shot a 77 on Sunday at the BMW to finish T-53, but I still expect him to play well this week. Prior to this performance, he was the hottest player on Tour, finishing T-2 at the Barclays and winning the Deutsche Bank. I think the BMW was the result of an off day rather than anything that should raise a red flag. Stricker is still feeling it and he should play well again this week.

Padraig Harrington’s new swing looks better every day. Don’t take my word for it, look at his tournament performance. In his first 14 starts, Harrington failed to finish in the Top-10. In his last 5 starts, Harrington has finished in the Top-10 every time including two second place finishes. I expect his recent success to continue this week in Atlanta.

I hope you all have the opportunity to watch this weekend as the playoff season comes to an end. It should be an exciting week in golf.

The Mulligan: The Buick Open

The Buick Open is played at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Kenny Perry took home the trophy last year, edging out Woody Austin and Bubba Watson by a stroke at 19 under for the tournament. Warwick Hills is a Par 72, 7127 yard course that is relatively easy so don't be surprised if you see more birdies than a Hitchcock movie this week. On easy courses like these, I always like to pick players who are hot, and players who have played well on the course in the past. The Buick Open is one tournament where players that have played well in the past really seem to repeat that performance. For this reason, I am placing a premium on consistent performance in the Buick for my picks this week, while also taking into account momentum in 2009.

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First, I want to say that I think Tiger Woods is going to win this week. In fantasy golf, this is the tournament that everyone, EVERYONE, should start Tiger. He has 2 victories here, 5 straight finishes of 3rd or better and only one finish outside the Top-10 in 8 starts here. Don't let his poor performance at the Open bother you. Tiger felt that his ball striking was there, but that he got a few bad breaks on a couple of bad shots. For example, if Tiger didn't lose that ball in the tall grass coming down the stretch, he would have finished Friday 2 shots ahead of the cut line. Tiger did make mistakes but they were compounded by the difficulty of Turnberry. This week, Tiger will make up for his Open performance on a course that he thrives on.

I think Jim Furyk will play well this week. Jim won here in 2003 and he consistently plays well on Warwick. In fact he has played the Buick 14 times and finished in the Top-10 in 8 of those starts. I think his precise shot-making will help him again this week and he will contend again at Warwick.


Brian Gay has two victories already this season, and he has been on the top of several leaderboards. Last year at Warwick he finished in the Top-10. He also has 4 other Top-25 finishes as the Buick, so this could be a great week for him.


My sleeper pick for this week is Michael Letzig. After his T-8th finish last week at the Canadian Open, Letzig hopes to see his momentum carry over this week at Warwick. He has only played here once, but he finished T-12th last year. He has a well rounded game, ranking 48th in putting average, 47th in sand save percentage and 44th in driving distance. Look for Letzig to compete in some tournaments the rest of the year, possibly starting this week.


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

The Mulligan: Masters Recap and The Verizon Heritage

Sunday at Augusta was an impressive day of golf all around. Tiger and Phil were paired together and, although they were not the final pairing, they both made a run at the leaders. Mickelson started his round off by going out in 30, tying Johnny Miller’s front 9 record. This put him in position to win, but he faltered late, hitting a ball in the water and missing 2 makeable putts on the back 9. Tiger made his run a little later, getting himself in the mix before bogeying both 17 and 18 to finish in 6th place overall. Both Tiger and Phil played well on Sunday, but not quite well enough to win the tournament.

48 year old Kenny Perry appeared to have the tournament in hand through 16 holes. He had a 2 shot lead before bogeying both 17 and 18 allowing both Chad Campbell and Angel Cabrera to catch up, forcing a three person playoff. Cabrera outlasted both Campbell and Perry in the playoff and he was the only player who really went out and played to win the title on Sunday. He earns his second PGA Tour title and his second Major victory.

This has been a very competitive season so far. After the 1st Major Championship of the year, the race for the Fed Ex Cup is tight:
1. Geoff Ogilvy 1,350
2. Phil Mickelson 1,273
3. Kenny Perry 1,218
4. Nick Watney 1,190
5. Paul Casey 900

Coming off the Masters, the Tour will head to Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina for the Verizon Heritage. Harbour Town is one of those courses that is known for its beauty. The finishing hole runs along the Atlantic Coast allowing players and spectators to enjoy the view of Calibogue Sound and its scenic lighthouse.

Harbour Town is a relatively short course and the precise shot makers should enjoy more success than the erratic bombers this week. For this reason, I am putting Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard in my fantasy golf lineup for this week.

Furyk is the king of precision (4th in Driving Accuracy, 5th in Scambling) and this course should fit his game well. He has four top-10’s in his last five starts here, and is coming off a strong week at the Masters. Leonard won this tournament in 2002, and his game also fits the short, precision-player course nicely.

The popular pick this week is obviously Boo Weekley who won this tournament the past two years. You can’t go wrong with starting him this week, even though his game really doesn’t seem to fit the course as well as some other players in the field.

Fantasy Sleeper: Brian Gay comes into this week ranked 4th in driving accuracy and I have a feeling that he could play well this week. If you want to go out on a limb, put him in your fantasy golf lineup.

The Mulligan: The Northern Trust Open

Last week, after the final round was rained out on both Sunday and Monday, my pick Jim Furyk didn’t get his chance to make a run for the cup at Pebble Beach. Instead, the rainout allowed Dustin Johnson to win after only 54 holes of golf. The win makes Johnson one of only two players under age 25 who have 2 PGA Tour wins (Anthony Kim is the other).

This is a very impressive win for Johnson. It marks his first win over a field this tough and it should give him a great deal of confidence going forward. He will need it. Thanks to his win, Johnson will be playing next week at the Accenture Match Play Championship, and has earned a Masters exemption. Don’t be surprised to see Johnson use last week’s performance as a springboard for a solid career. I think we will be hearing his name a lot in the future.

He will be in the field this week as the Tour heads to Riviera Country Club for the Northern Trust Open. Although he is a good momentum pick and I like Johnson’s game in general, his rank of 147th in driving accuracy could bite him at Riviera; a tight course.

This week, look for Mike Weir to play well. He finished in second place last week, waiting to get his opportunity to make a run on Sunday. That opportunity never presented itself, and Weir will be playing with extra desire this week. In addition, Weir has won here in the past, both in 2003 and 2004, and he has played very well in 2009.

If you are looking for a sleeper pick, I recommend Cliff Kresge this week. In four starts this year, Kresge has a top 10 and a top 25. With a couple of breaks, he could find himself right in the thick of things.

Make sure to stop back to SportsJudge.com every Wednesday at 1pm for more PGA Tour previews and fantasy golf picks.

The Mulligan: "An Octopus Falling Out of A Tree Shoots 66!"

When I think golf, I think Pebble Beach. That’s where the PGA Tour is heading this week and, to top it off, it’s a Pro Am. Bing Crosby first hosted this tournament in 1937 where Sam Snead won the $500 first prize. The check is a little bigger nowadays with the winner taking home just over a million dollars.

Playing for seven figures on Pebble Beach brings out the big guns. The field includes 4 of the top 10 players in the world in Padraig Harrington (3), Vijay Singh (4), Phil Mickelson (5) and Kenny Perry (10) so it should be a good tournament to watch.

Lefty has played well here in the past, but last year he teed off into the Pacific a few too many times, blowing up on the 14th. It should be interesting to watch him play Hole 14 this week to see if he has any hesitation trying to cut that corner again. In addition, he hasn’t been his usual self yet this year, so all you fantasy golfers out there may want to save him for later despite his past success at Pebble Beach.

My pick is Jim Furyk this week. This is his 2009 PGA debut and the course is short enough for him to use his precision to his advantage. Furyk will play well this week even though his swing is goofier than a pair of Ian Poulter’s pants. Exhibit “A”

Furyk’s goofy swing was once called “an octopus falling out of a tree” by David Feherty, but Furyk is just too good to let things as silly as “swing-plane” or “fundamentals” throw him off. Furyk goes out day in and day out, throwing darts at the flag stick. That is what you need to win at Pebble Beach, and if Furyk is on he will be very tough to beat this week.