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Both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are making their first appearances since their dismal showings at the Masters a few weeks ago. Tiger says that he’s fixed his swing issues from then, but we’ve heard this before, so it will be interesting to watch. McIlroy won the event back in 2010 with an impressive final round 62. There are a lot of big name players in the field this week, as they seem to be getting tuned up for next week’s Players Championship.
The Picks
A Group - Jim Furyk’s game seems to be firing on all cylinders as of late. His last four starts go like this: T2, T11, 11, T8. Add to that, Furyk is a former champ at Quail Hollow (2006) and he’s also finished 2nd once, and 7th two other times. He also is currently leading the TOUR in GIR. Backing him up I like Wake Forest alum and Charlotte native Webb Simpson. Even though Simpson’s track record here hasn’t been great on this track (2 MCs and T21 in 2011) he had a strong showing in New Orleans last week.
B Group - The B group is absolutely stacked this week. It’s almost impossible to avoid Rory McIlroy. Yes, his Masters appearance wasn’t anything to write home about, but the 2010 Wells champ lit up Quail Hollow on Sunday that week with a 62, which was a course record that he still holds. He’s still the #1 player in the world and there’s a reason for that. Joining McIrloy to start will be Hunter Mahan. Mahan is the only multi-winner on TOUR this season and has notched top 25 finishes in each of his last four starts at Quail Hollow. I’m leaving Tiger off the roster this week, just don’t have any faith in his swing until I see some consistent positive results. He’s burned me a bunch this year.
C Group - Starting in the C group this week is Cameron Tringale. His game is very hot right now with top 10s in each of his last three starts. Despite a T59 at the Wells in 2011, he hit 14 greens in each of his rounds for the week, which tells me he had some putting woes on the week. Going off of his last three starts, it seems maybe he’s fixed that a bit.
Starting Foursome: Jim Furyk, Rory McIlroy, Hunter Mahan, Cameron Tringale
On the Bench: Webb Simpson, Bill Haas, Bo Van Pelt, John Huh
Terrible start so far. Hopefully it picks up tomorrow.