Travelers Championship

If there's one thing I am figuring out about fantasy golf in 2010, it's that the wise play is to avoid the one guy that seems to be the sexy expert (sexpert) pick.  That label has fallen on many golfers this year from David Toms to Henrik Stenson to Robert Allenby to Sean O'Hair to, most recently, Phil Mickelson.  Now, I should qualify here.  First, I throw Phil mostly out of the equation, because he's never a bad pick when the lights are bright.  Two, I also recognize that Dustin Johnson came through from the very same position this year at Pebble (that seems funny in light of his 82 Sunday).  Still, it seems just when we think Bo Van Pelt or Ben Crane is the perfect pick for one week, that's exactly when they finally stop performing.  I think these golfers are very aware of public expectations from week-to-week...and some can't perform under the pressure of high expectations.

This week, the sexpert golfer is Hunter Mahan.  Mahan has four consecutive top four finishes at the Travelers including two seconds and a win in 2007.  Mahan is also the one who tied for 108th after going 78-74 at Pebble late last week, giving him three consecutive missed cuts on Tour.  I'm sure he'll make the cut this week, but I'm steering clear of the sexpert.

I do however still value course history in my formula of picking winners.  For those who have forgotten, I've got equal parts course history, talent, and current form bubbling in my cauldron.  The guys who have good history here include Kenny Perry, who is the defender and has four top 15 finishes here in his last five starts.  Perry has actually been playing good golf lately too.  Stew Cink has won on this course twice and has also seen his game come around of late.  Ryan Moore, Ben Curtis and Vijay also have played very well on this course in the past few years.  I actually think we may see a good one from Veej this week.

Of the hot players on Tour, I have a hard time picking against either Justin Rose or Rickie Fowler after the performance they put on at the Memorial...they're rested too.  Bo Van Pelt has also been stringing together top 10s recently to go along with the two he's recorded in his last three starts here at River Highlands.

As far as pure talent goes, Harrington, Goosen and Kuchar are the only three players in the top 30 here other than Mahan and Perry.

Most Talent
Harirngton
Goosen
Rose
Mahan
Fowler

Course History
Mahan
Cink
Curtis
V. Singh
Moore

Who's Hot?
Rose
Van Pelt
Kuchar
Fowler
Overton

Who's Not?
Mahan
Goosen
Baddeley
Garrigus (a shout out to his 18th in Memphis)
Faxon

My Picks
Rose
Cink
V. Singh
Van Pelt
Fowler

Cheers,
TFAM