Fantasy Golf Picks: 2015 Northern Trust Open

The stars are out at the 2015 Northern Trust Open as many of the biggest names on the PGA TOUR return to Riviera Country Club. These are the weeks that make choosing your fantasy golf picks even more fun, so let's get right into it.  

This will be the first PGA TOUR start for Sergio Garcia in 2015, making him a tempting start this week. I highly anticipate Garcia to have a great season -- possibly to the tune of finally winning his first major championship -- so what better way to get started than at Riviera. Bubba Watson is the defending champion, having held off Dustin Johnson by two-shots in 2014. Bubba hasn't played especially well as of yet, but there are a limited number of courses like Riviera that suit his game this well (Augusta National and Kapalua being the others).

Brandt Snedeker was last week's winner at Pebble Beach, making him a solid "hot-hand" start at the Northern Trust. Nick Watney was also in the mix throughout the final two rounds last week, and Jordan Spieth is bound to break out of his slump at some point. Spieth showed flashes of good play at Pebble, earning himself about 10 minutes of television time during the final round. He'll also be part of a marquee group that includes Garcia and Fred Couples. Hunter Mahan is a decent sleeper pick as he's played relatively well at Riviera in the past.

Justin Thomas is going to be the surprise player of the year, plain and simple. He's got two top-10s in four starts this season (three since November 2014), and with the exception of missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open two weeks ago he has played well enough to accumulate more than $600,000 this year. Thomas is going to win a tournament this year, guaranteed.

Final Thoughts on 2011 Presidents Cup

As the 2011 Presidents Cup is now in the books (USA 19, Internationals 15), the world was treated to an exciting exhibition event that included most of the world's best players on quite possibly the toughest golf course on the planet. I have shared my thoughts on the first two days of the Cup over the past few days, so I figure I will wrap everything up with my final thoughts on the 2011 Presidents Cup from Royal Melbourne in Australia.  Just to get this out of the way, Tiger Woods was pretty much a disappointment throughout the week. While he would eventually sink the Cup-clinching putt for the Americans on Sunday, the former World #1 went through a nasty two-day stretch where he only won 1 hole in team play. In fact, his play was so irradic and inconsistent that the phrase "former World #1" just seems silly nowadays when referring to Woods. Still, it was somewhat nice to see him actually smiling at the end of a tournament.

Jim Furyk was by far the MVP of the Presidents Cup for the Americans. He went undefeated throughout the week (5-0) and made a ton of clutch putts and solid iron play to hold off any opponent(s) he faced. His pairing with Phil Mickelson turned out to be an ingenious move by American Captain Fred Couples, and is definitely one I would like to see again in a Ryder Cup.

Adam Scott played solid throughout the week even when his partners seemed to let him down on a regular basis. While I have no doubt that caddie Steve Williams offers Scott a new way to manage golf tournaments, the buck stops there as far as I am concerned with Stevie. Scott is a tremendous talent that is on another upswing in his career, which will hopefully yield a major win or two in the near future.

The team of Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa was simply fun to watch for most of the event. It honestly reminded me of a father playing golf with his son in the respect that Els was showing the young superstar 'the ropes' in front of the world. A trial by fire, so to speak; and the young Ryo responded. His clutch putts in days two and three were awesome to watch for the International team, and the reactions by Els was just as cool to watch.

Bill Haas and Charl Schwartzel. Well. Thanks for showing up, I guess?

Royal Melbourne was repeatedly compared to Augusta National throughout the week. This obviously did not bode well for Greg Norman. Oops.

A great event all around. The course showed its teeth often and in an array of different ways, often changing throughout the day and in-between morning and afternoon sessions. Play was exciting, and the prime time coverage was an awesome compliment for the weekend.

Early Years of Royal Melbourne Golf Club

(The following was originally published by the author on WaggleRoom.com) The 2011 President's Cup matches will be held November 17-20 at a course that also hosted the Cup in 1998, when it took place outside of the United States for the first time: Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia. A beautiful track of land, Royal Melbourne is considered to be the oldest remaining golf club in Australia with ties back to the late 19th century.

Golf has always played a major part in nobility recreation in Australia during the 1800's, with golf clubs sprouting up in Tasmania in the 1820s, Melbourne in 1847 and Sydney in 1882. However, the passage of time would eventually see many smaller golf clubs close due to poor funding, wartimes, and other factors. Nevertheless, plans had been laid out later that century to establish a club in Melbourne that would not only face the tests of time, but also serve as a championship course for area tournaments and royality.

According to Royal Melbourne's official website, there had been numerous attempts to establish such a golf club in Melbourne prior to 1891, however Royal Melbourne is the only club that survived the turn of the century and continues to this day. Various accounts suggest that the golf course and club were contrived by a small group of Scottish settlers via informal meetings - mainly at Scott's Hotel on Collins Street - of which no public records exist in present day. It is also suggested that these meetings formatted the early membership requirements for Royal Melbourne, which included a minimum membership requirement of 100 and a membership fee of 15 guineas. These original 100 members would ultimately be remembered as the Founders of Melbourne Golf Club.

The original course was located at Caulfield on a stretch of land that included the Caufield Railway Station and the grounds that would ultimately become Central Park in present-day Melbourne. The original course was laid out by Thomas Finlay and David Conacher - childhood friends from St. Andrews, Scotland - and totaled roughly 4700 yards for eighteen holes. The course officially opened on July 4, 1891 as a men's-only club (women were allowed to join as associates in September, 1892).

As membership grew at Royal Melbourne, club officials sought a new location for the club in response to membership overcrowding. In 1898, land was purchased in Sandringham and would eventually open as the club's second home in 1901. According to the website, the financing of the purchase "was achieved by members taking up shares, with a limited liability of £10, in The Royal Melbourne Golf Company Limited.  This company leased the land to the Club at five per cent per annum of the land's purchase price."

The years following would include further expansion on the club in terms of membership and acerage. Over time, however, plans were draw-up to move the course one more time to nearby Black Rock, where the rich soils east of the newly-designed clubhouse could be taken advantage of properly. On December 10, 1926, plans were finalized for Royal Melbourne's third and final location at Black Rock. In 1929 additional land was purchased by the membership to allow for a second course to be constructed, giving the golf club an East and West option.

Greg Norman Excited About Fellow Countrymen on Presidents Cup Team

As many players continue to stake their claim for inclusion on this year's President's Cup team, International team captain Greg Norman is excited that he will be joined by a few familiar faces when competition begins November 17th. Fellow Australians Adam Scott, Jason Day, and Geoff Ogilvy have already qualified to play in the event for the Internationals, according to a Sportal.com article earlier this morning. The three men will bring a great deal of expertise and familiarity to Royal Melbourne this November, hopefully giving their team an edge over what appears to be a strong American opponent. Norman has also had a great deal of success at this particular golf course, which he hopes to share with his team.

"You look at Jason Day, Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy, we have the three lynchpins of golfers carrying the Australian flag, so I think it is nice to have that in that department," Norman said.

"As for my experience of Royal Melbourne, I can just tell them (that) I remember every putt. I know where the pin position is going to be. I know how to play the golf course" (sportal.com, 2011).

Norman will also be tasked with choosing his captain picks - or "wildcards" - within the next few days. If he wishes, he can grab fellow countryman Robert Allenby who has also played Royal Melbourne numerous times in his professional career.