Fantasy Golf Picks: Week 5
Bubba Watson captured last week's Farmers Insurance Open in impressive style by sinking a birdie putt on the final hole, edging out Phil Mickelson in his debut for the 2011 season. Both players are in this week's Waste Management Phoenix Open, along with red-hot Jhonattan Vegas and Bill Haas. One player who you won't be seeing this week, of course, is John Daly after making his feelings known earlier last week about sponsor exemptions (or lack there of). Last week's picks turned out to be pretty solid in my 3 leagues, with the glaring exception of that bum Tiger Woods. Here is what I am going with this week.
A List
Starter: Phil Mickelson; Bench: Nick Watney
Tending the flagstick from 71 yards out and sticking it to within 3 feet? Yeah; Mickelson's got game. The new World Golf Ranking #4 finished second last week in his first tournament of the season. Is Lefty feeling healthy despite his arthritic condition? Possibly. Was he likely inspired by the fact that his wife, Amy, was able to walk 18 holes at a tournament for the first time since being diagnosed with breast cancer? Absolutely. Nick Watney played out of his mind on Sunday, shooting a 28 on the front-nine before finishing with a 63. He's a solid player for the bench this week and will be used if Phil slides a little.
B List
Starters: Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler; Bench: Brendon de Jonge, Hunter Mahan
Bubba and Rickie are by the far the biggest two knuckleheads on Tour, especially when messing with each other via Twitter. Besides being great friends on and off the course, both players are playing extremely well thusfar in 2011. Bubba is this week's "no-brainer" following his win at Torrey Pines, and Rickie will likely show his true form this week despite a slow end to last week. Hunter Mahan is the defending champion in Phoenix, so he is a rather solid back-up in case of the the stooges falters. Brendon de Jonge is having a good start to his fantasy golf scoring season.
C List
Starter: Jhonattan Vegas; Bench: Anthony Kim
Ride. The Hot. Hand. Vegas is having an incredible 2011 to this point, and since I am unlikely to play him later in the year he is going to get as many starts as possible (assuming he stays on his roll). AK had a strong performance in La Jolla, finishing last week at 10-under par (68-67-71-72). Assuming Vegas' luck runs out this week, Kim will be a strong alternative.
