UPDATE: Ian Poulter withdrew from the tournament Wednesday. He says his next event will be the Players.
UPDATE UPDATE: Steve Stricker has withdrawn too. Wow, ugly day for the Zurich. I believe that makes Sergio (at 23) the top ranked player in the field this week, and he's playing terribly.
Not a lot of star power this week in New Orleans, where only two of the top ten players in the world will be teeing it up while the rest of the golf world waits for Quail Hollow and the Players the next two weeks, both events that Tiger and Phil are likely to play. Speaking of those two, did you know Mickelson has won each of the last three tourneys where both were in the field? I found that interesting.
The two names in the top ten this week are Stricker and Poulter, who are both good bets on this course (TPC Avondale) which has hosted this event four times (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009). Before that, other venues were in play, so you may just want to ignore past results besides those four years. I will be doing that here. Anyway, Poulter is playing well and tied for 13th here in 2009 and Stricker has a seventh and 11th in his last three tries.
Other favorites this week include Charles Howell, who has a GREAT record here including a second last year, BUT, three of his top tens in this event were at another course. He is playing well, but isn't the slam dunk he appears to be on paper. Jerry Kelly is the defender, but he lost his game after the ace at Hilton Head and didn't play well on the weekend. Choi is here, but he certainly ran out of steam after his opening 64 last week. It will be interesting to see if he gets it back. Justin Rose wouldn't surprise me this week...he's been playing well all year.
Among the lesser names with success on this course are last week's runner up Brian Davis (19, 13, 17, CUT), and the more impressive Tim Petrovic (WIN, 7, 11, 24). I also like Toms this week, as he's a Louisiana native and finished fifth last year. He also seems to be playing better than earlier in the year with a solid showing at Augusta under his belt.
Finally, three more guys I like this week are Steve Marino, Andres Romero and Rory Sabbatini. Marino finished fifth last year and is coming off three top 15 finishes in a row in 2010. Sabbs finished second last year and looked good over the weekend at the Verizon last week, and Romero is the 2008 winner who goes on both birdie and bogey binges. Hopefully, the good Romero shows this week.
Most Talent
Poulter
Sergio
Stricker
Choi
Rose
Course History
Petrovic
Kelly
Stricker
Austin
Romero
Who's Hot
Choi
Marino
Rose
Davis
Poulter
Who's Not?
Sergio
Imada
Mediate
Snedeker
Romero
My Picks
Marino
Poulter
Stricker
Rose
Petrovic
Cheers,
TFAM
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