The Tour continues it’s stay in Hawaii this week at the Sony Open, so we’ll still be watching live golf at 9:00 pm here on the East Coast. This is the first full field event of the season, and we’ll be seeing a lot of Tour rookies like Jamie Lovemark and Jhonathan Vegas. In other news, Dustin Johnson had a late withdrawal from the event to tend to some “personal” matters back home in South Carolina. Speculation is swirling as to what those matters would be, a day after Natalie Gulbis told the world they were dating. Oh who cares, on to golf!
I also wanted to mention that outside of Yahoo! Fantasy Golf, I’m also now partaking in another league over at Pro Tour Fantasy Golf. It’s a $25 buy-in, but you can win some cash at different stages. Check it out >>
Palopoli vs. Emerson (steel cage match 2011)
Jeff Palopoli
Current Points: 171
Last Week: 171
Current Percentile: 97th
So I’m off to a good start so far, and I need to keep that momentum. But picking guys this early in the season is a bit of a crapshoot. Not much to go off of except prior history at the tournament/course. GMac was a huge pickup for me last week, but he’ll be M.I.A. for the next few weeks as he jet sets around the globe.
Ernie Els has a great track record at Waialae, and won in back to back years in 2003 and 2004. A so-so week last week has me hoping he’s ready to get back to that great form from last season.
You have to go with Steve Stricker as a B list starter. He holds a record 5 top 10 finishes at Waialae, and with his great play again last week, he should be poised for another high finish. Just have to be careful to reserve starts for him, as is also the case with Furyk.
I like defending champ Ryan Palmer for the C list, as there isn’t a heck of a lot else to choose from. But he obviously plays the course well. I toyed with going with Lovemark here, but I want to see the rookie do something against the big boys first. I’m going to start Garrigus here on the C list though, as I think he’s riding a hot hand and after a bit of redemption from last week. Here’s to hoping the kids putter he’s using makes some 4-footers.
My Thursday starting squad includes: Ernie Els, Steve Stricker, Robert Allenby, Robert Garrigus
Riding the pine at least until Friday is: Jim Furyk, Carl Petterson, Justin Rose, Ryan Palmer
Patrick Emerson
Current points: 98
Points last week: 98
Current percentile: 28th
OK, last week was not good. I’ll try to bounce back this week with the Sony Open.
On the A list I will go with Jim Furyk. He has a great history here and played well last week at the Hyundai. I’ll go with Ernie Els on the bench in spite of letting me down last week.
This week’s B list has some good choices. You have to pick Steve Stricker with his track record at Waialae and how good he looked last week. I’ll start Justin Rose, who I think will have a big year. The bench will include Robert Allenby and Tim Clark.
The C list is terrible. I’ll start Ryan Palmer who is the defending champ. I’ll hope for some rookie luck with Jamie Lovemark on the bench.
Starting foursome: Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Justin Rose, Ryan Palmer
Bench players: Ernie Els, Robert Allenby, Tim Clark, Jamie Lovemark