LATE WITHDRAWALS: Daniel Chopra, Nathan Green, Kevin Na, Brett Quigley, Chris DiMarco, Aaron Baddeley (as of Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. ET)
Forget Tiger Woods; we have a new must-start guy in Fantasy Golf: Kenny Perry.
Perry made it two wins in his last four tourneys Sunday when he used a superb putting performance (and that eagle on the par-4 14th in the final round) to come from behind to capture the Buick Open by one shot over (cough, choker, cough) Woody Austin and one of my picks, Bubba Watson.
Perry now has two wins, a playoff loss, a T6, and a T15 in his last seven events. I guess Perry really, really, really wants to play in the Ryder Cup, huh? He has now practically locked up a spot for Valhalla and will be a huge factor if he can keep playing like this.
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Kenny Perry is on a mission, but he won't be at Congressional this week.
(Getty Images)
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There is a good chance Perry can keep his hot play up as this kind of streak isn't out of the ordinary for him, if you remember. In 2003, starting at the Colonial in the last week of May, he went win, win, T3, win, T8, T4 and T8.
Austin, despite his bogey-bogey finish, picked up his first top-10 since New Orleans back in March, and Watson is now starting to come on strong with two straight top-six finishes. What are things coming to in golf when we have a Woody and a Bubba in the top three of an event? Geez. Thank goodness Boo (Weekley) wasn't around.
Other interesting Fantasy finishers last week included Bob Tway, a $75k guy who finished T4; youngster Matt Jones, who ended a six-tournament missed cut streak with a T4; Kevin Streelman, a $75k pick of mine who now has back-to-back top-12s, and another pick of mine last week, Briny Baird, who continued his fine streak of play with a T12 and has nine top-20s in his last 11 events.
Baird, who withdrew on Monday, and Perry won't be at the AT&T National this week, so you'll have to look elsewhere in the top price range for the hot hand. However, do not panic as things will be a little easier with that task in Maryland as the likes of Aaron Baddeley, defending champion K.J. Choi, Anthony Kim and 2007 runner-up Steve Stricker are all back in action after a couple of weeks off.
This week's host course is the Blue layout at famous Congressional Country Club, which has hosted the PGA Championship and the Kemper Open. It will also host the U.S. Open for the third time in 2011.
A 7,255-yard, par-70 layout, Congressional is always ranked as one of the best courses in the country. Any course the USGA uses to host its national championship is going to be the kind of test that brings the best players to the forefront. That was certainly the case last year when Choi, Stricker, Stuart Appleby, Jim Furyk, Woods, Vijay Singh and Geoff Ogilvy all finished among the top 12.
With only one year of recent history to look at, I obviously can't give my usual in-depth look at what it takes to win at Congressional, but Choi put together a superb performance in 2007 in finishing T5 in driving distance, greens and total putts and T15 in driving accuracy.
So this week, I would suggest focusing on solid veterans who are playing reasonable golf right now and stay away from young guys or players who aren't on form lately.
By the way, this week's category names come courtesy of Chris Ninomiya, who is the owner of 'KRAMERICA INDUSTRIES', the team leading the overall Fantasy Golf Challenge standings. Poor guy is a Michigan State fan, so I figured I'd give him a small amount of fame before he falls out of first place and then has to watch later this year as my Florida Atlantic Owls deal the Spartans a massive blow in football on Sept. 13.
Dialed In ($200,000 and up)
Stuart Appleby ($267,000) -- The Aussie finished third here last year and has only missed two cuts in 15 events this season. He didn't fair too well in June with no top-20s, but it seems to be one poor round that's killing him right now, which tells me he isn't playing as poor as his results might suggest. He finished T36 in the 1997 U.S. Open at Congressional, which is also a good sign.
Hunter Mahan ($261,000) -- Mahan might not qualify as a veteran selection exactly, but his T8 finish here last year was the second of four straight top-10s and he comes into this week with back-to-back top-20s after really struggling in mid-to-late May (two MCs, one WD). Maybe July is just his month, and the way he's hitting greens this season (second on tour), you have to think he is primed to continue this nice run of play.
Pat Perez ($231,750) -- Like Appleby, Perez finished T3 at the 2007 AT&T National, and is playing great golf this season with six top-25s and only three missed cuts in 16 events. He is also fourth in the All Around ranking behind Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson and Stewart Cink, which tells you exactly how well he's been doing, in fact. The fact he's never won a PGA Tour title scares me a little, but he just missed out on Open Championship qualifying Monday, so that makes me feel better about his chances.
Also consider: Trevor Immelman, Camilo Villegas, Paul Goydos
On Hold ($75,001-$199,999)
John Rollins ($173,250) -- Rollins' form has been spotty this season so far, but he shot 64 on Friday and 65 on Sunday at last week's Buick Open and had a 64 at the Travelers, which leads me to think he might be ready to turn up and contend at Congressional. His stats are pretty average, but he's 19th in birdies. If he can avoid making too many bogeys this week and just take his chances when they are available on such a tough course, he should at least get a top 25. He did very well at Open Championship qualifying on Monday, shooting 67-69 to make it to Birkdale.
Lucas Glover ($137,500) -- As I can't go with Perry or Baird this week, I'm going to go with another guy whose picking up his play in a serious way this summer. Glover finished T12 here last year, so he knows his way around this track, and came through for me nicely last week with a T7. Glover still isn't hitting fairways, which might hurt him a little, but I'm hoping his hot putter makes up for that.
Corey Pavin ($75,750) -- I was cursing myself on Thursday when I saw Pavin's name at the top, one week after I'd picked him at the Travelers. Luckily, for my sanity, the wee man faded a little over the weekend, but I still think he's worthy of a selection at this nice price. He finished T25 here last year and hopefully the lack of par 5s at Congressional helps even out his lack of length a little.
Also consider: Kevin Sutherland, Brian Gay, Davis Love III
Hang Up On 'Em ($75,000)
Tim Herron -- Lumpy heads to Bethesda with back-to-back top-20s in his pocket, but who knows how he's done it as his stats are terrible this season. What he has been doing lately is making a ton of putts, as he finished T4 in total putts in Memphis and T1 at the Travelers. When you're putting well, everything seems to fall into place, so I'm hoping Herron can carry me in my final spot this week.
Bill Haas -- Congressional might be bit too much for Haas, but this category is pretty slim with an invitational like Tiger’s. Haas has three top-20s and a T30 in his last five events, and is starting to show he's more than just Jay's son. He hasn't hit many fairways or putts this season yet, and if he can put together one stellar week, watch out.
Jeff Overton -- Overton lit up TPC of Michigan on Monday at Open Championship qualifying, going 63-67 to take medalist honors by a whopping six shots over Rollins. Now he knows he's going to his major championship, Overton can relax in Maryland and has a great chance to turn his season around. He has missed six of his last seven cuts, however, so be warned.
Also consider: Kevin Streelman, Eric Axley, Brian Davis
My Fantasy Golf Challenge Lineup
Appleby, Mahan, Rollins, Glover, Herron. Total -- $914,250
Last Week (please avert your eyes)
Furyk (T36) $21,527.77; Leonard (T55) $11,350; Wilson (MC) $0; Day (MDF) $8,950; Streelman (T12) $98,000. Total -- $139,827 (17,182nd). Segment Three -- $3,359,575 (4,052nd). Overall -- $15,505,466 (4,753rd).
Congrats to 'teeithigh', whose lineup of Perry (won), Austin (T2), Watson (T2), Ken Duke (T4) and Streelman (T12) that included two of my picks was good enough for $2,084,666 and a win by $91,416 over 'hockeypucks'.
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