Fantasy Golf: Hot Topics

September 30, 2008 11:07am CDT

- What could have been…
Tiger is the best in the game. No argument there.

The argument starts at #2. The general consensus puts Phil Mickelson in that spot. The desire to wager on potential may put Anthony Kim in the driver’s seat to compete with the top dog.

It might be more fair to suggest Sergio Garcia is worthy of such praise.

Consider the recent results and it is hard to deny he deserves a place in the conversation. In fact, include results not so recent and the case is made even stronger.

Since missing the cut at The Masters, Garcia has made 14 starts on both the PGA and European Tours.

- Garcia has not missed a cut throughout that run.
- He registered just four finishes outside of the top 20 in that run.
- He carded nine top-20 finishes in that span.
- He earned seven top-10 finishes in that run (all within the top five).
- He earned four 2nd-place finishes.
- He found one win (THE PLAYERS) in that run.

The most impressive feats have come in the FedEx Cup playoffs, earning three top-5 finishes (including two 2nd-place finishes) along the way, coming off a T2 finish at the PGA Championship.

No golfer on the Tour has matched those numbers this season… many have played well, but none have matched. Keep that in mind as you file your starting lineups through the rest of this season and for years to come. He may annoy you, he may not enjoy the outstanding respect others garner, but Garcia is as good as any player not named Eldrick in the world.

Turn one or two of those 2nd-place finishes into wins and you might agree.

~ Hot Hands ~

- Dudley Hart
Hart entered 2008 as a major medical exemption in need of performance to continue in 2009.

He’s leaving with a PGA Tour card and a fresh new bank account full of commodities anyone would appreciate.

There were first two finishes early in the season that led us to believe Hart, a veteran of 18 years, could be on the rise. He finished T7 at the Byron Nelson against a competitive field, then followed with a T5 finish at the always-stellar Wachovia Championship.

However, Hart hit the skids, missing four cuts over his next eight starts with a T9 at the Buick Open serving as the only spot of performance on the list. There was no reason to believe Hart would improve.

Then the FedEx Cup playoffs started… and Hart emerged. He finished T12 at The Barclays, earning an automatic spot through the next two stages (good thing as he missed the cut at the Deutsche Bank). He used that pass to earn a 2nd-place finish at the BMW Championship, just falling short of Camilo Villegas.

Hart topped it all with a T10 finish at the TOUR Championship, putting Hart dead on line for a strong finish to a much-needed surge this season.


~ Cold Feet ~

- Jeff Quinney
This will be an easy sale.

After missing The Masters, Quinney got hot and bothered, turning motivation into success on the course. He carded a 3rd-place finish at THE PLAYERS, followed with a T7 at the Crowne Plaza, and turned in a respectable T30 at Memorial. It appeared he was on the rise and worthy of fantasy starts.

Since then, in order: Missed cut, missed cut, missed cut, T63, missed cut, disqualified, missed cut, missed cut.

Don’t let the name fool you. He has skills, but he’s out of sorts.


- Final FedEx Cup Standings – 2008
RANK PLAYER POINTS
1 Vijay Singh 125,101
2 Camilo Villegas 124,550
3 Sergio Garcia 119,400
4 Anthony Kim 114,419
5 Jim Furyk 113,180
6 Mike Weir 113,118
7 Phil Mickelson 112,201
8 Justin Leonard 111,638
9 Ben Curtis 110,702
10 K.J. Choi 110,646


- PGA Money Leaders
PLAYER EVENTS EARNINGS
Vijay Singh 23 $6,601,094
Tiger Woods 6 $5,775,000
Phil Mickelson 21 $5,188,875
Sergio Garcia 19 $4,858,224
Kenny Perry 26 $4,663,794
Anthony Kim 22 $4,656,265
Camilo Villegas 22 $4,422,641
Padraig Harrington 15 $4,313,551
Stewart Cink 22 $3,963,661
Justin Leonard 23 $3,844,542


- Official World Golf Rankings
PLAYER EVENTS AVG PTS
Tiger Woods 40 16.00
Phil Mickelson 47 9.06
Vijay Singh 59 7.59
Padraig Harrington 53 7.47
Sergio Garcia 52 7.23
Anthony Kim 49 5.33
Camilo Villegas 51 5.31
Ernie Els 56 5.29
Henrik Stenson 48 5.25
Jim Furyk 53 5.12