Golf Suicide Pool

[gps_3]

Hey guys, first time posting in this forum. Joined a golf pool this year in which you pick one golfer per week, total money earned determines placement in the pool. Once a golfer is used, can't use them again for the rest of the season. Season starts tomorrow with the Honda Classic, and ends with the Tour Championship at the conclusion of the FedEx playoffs.

I've never done this, so wanted to hear any strategies or experiences y'all may have had. I'm entering this looking to keep the big guns (Tiger, Rory, Phil, etc) available for the big tourneys with the bigger payouts. For these smaller tournaments, I'm taking the approach of choosing golfers who are playing well or have played well in the particular tournament before. With that in mind, here is my working list for this week:

Graeme McDowell
Freddie Jacobson
Justin Rose
Charl Schwartzel
Lee Westwood
Keegan Bradley

I think Westwood, Schwartzel, and Rose are primed for big years, so thinking about holding on to those guys for future tournaments. I'm worried about Keegan this week with all the controversy with the belly putter and fans and critics calling him a cheater. Read an article where he said it bothers him and he's tired of it. May wait a few weeks before taking him. That leaves Jacobson and McDowell. Freddie has been on fire, but has played several weeks in a row where he was gunning for a spot in the Match Play last week, so I think fatigue could set in and could see him missing the cut. McDowell played well in the Match Play and has played well at PGA National before. He's my pick so far, unless I can think of an argument for someone else.

I've already started thinking about who to take for the majors, and right now, I'm think Snedeker for Augusta, Tiger in the US Open, Westwood in the British, and Rory or Phil for the PGA. Obviously things can change, but that's my thinking so far.

Comments appreciated. Think I may keep this thread going all season as a record of sorts.

 

[gps_3]

Went with McDowell for the Honda Classic.

 

[crawdads]

GL

 

[B.A.R.]

GL, this will be fun to track.

 

[gps_3]

Will keep record here and add as season progresses:

Honda Classic - Graeme McDowell T9 $156,000
WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral - ​ Charl Schwartzel T16 $98,000
Tampa Bay Championship​ - Jim Furyk T7 $148,893
Bay Hill - Sergio Garcia WD
Shell Houston Open - Steve Stricker T38 $25,420
Valero Texas Open​ - Freddie Jacobson T15 $93,000
Masters - Tiger Woods T4 $352,000
RBC Heritage - Luke Donald T3 $336,400
Zurich - Billy Horschel 1 $1,188,000
Wells Fargo - Webb Simpson T32 $37,073
The Players: Lee Westwood T8 $237,500
Byron Nelson: Marc Leishman T12 $131,200
Colonial: Kevin Streelman MC
Memorial:​ Justin Rose T8 $167,400
FedEx St. Jude: Tim Clark MC
US Open: Matt Kuchar T28 $60,183
Traveler's: Rickie Fowler T13 $111,020
AT&T: Hunter Mahan MC
Greenbrier: Graham DeLaet T30 $36,619
John Deere: Zach Johnson T2 $404,800
British Open: Ernie Els T26 $56,873
Canadian Open: Dustin Johnson T2 $369,600
Bridgestone: Adam Scott T14 $102,667
PGA: Henrik Stenson 3 $545,000
Wyndham: Bill Haas T20 $57,417
Barclay's: Rory McIlroy


Total: $4,715,185


Golfers used:
Graeme McDowell
Charl Schwartzel
Jim Furyk
Sergio Garcia
Steve Stricker
Freddie Jacobson
Tiger Woods
Luke Donald
Billy Horschel
Webb Simpson
Lee Westwood
Marc Leishman
Kevin Streelman
Justin Rose
Tim Clark
Matt Kuchar
Rickie Fowler
Hunter Mahan
Graham DeLaet
Zach Johnson
Ernie Els
Dustin Johnson
Adam Scott

 

[gps_3]

Good start to the pool with a T9 finish and $156000 in earnings. Nobody had any of the top 3, so only behind those with Rose and Bradley, tied with those who chose Gmac, Schwartzel, and Westwood.

Onto the Cadillac Champ at Doral. Tough week because of the elite field. Important because of the big payout. I'm treating this like a major, so all the big guns are in play.

 

[crawdads]

Ogilvy has to be the favorite this week imo.

 

[gps_3]

Ogilvy has to be the favorite this week imo.

Definitely on my short list

 

[gps_3]

Cadillac Champ pick will likely come from this final 4:

Geoff Ogilvy - played well last week, has won at Doral before, won 3 WGC events plus the US Open, seems extremely motivated after dropping out of top 50 last year.

Peter Hanson - best golfer nobody seems to talk about. Finished 4th at Doral last year, plays well in big events (Masters last year)

Matt Kuchar - winner at matchplay WGC, last three starts at Doral are 8, 5, and 3

Steve Stricker - 8th last year at Doral, finished in top 18 last 5 at course; has minimal schedule this year so chances to take Strick are limited

I think I can manage to not pick any of these 4 for the rest of the season, so that makes them attractive. Leaning Ogilvy and Stricker at present

 

[gps_3]

Went against my initial pick of Ogilvy and went with Schwartzel instead. Since this is a tournament with a major-esque field and money, decided to go with someone I'm more confident in finishing top 10 with a chance to win. Ogilvy very well may win, but I could also see him middle of the pack. Don't see that as big of a possibility with CS.

 

[gps_3]

Thought I was in good shape coming into the final round at Doral, but Charl put up a dud round. Oh well, lots of tournaments left.

This week at Innisbrook, I have narrowed my list to Sergio, Dufner, and Jim Furyk. All 3 have good track records at the course, which rewards ball striking and short game prowess more so than dominating distance. In this regard, Sergio worries me with his shaky putting, but he has been playing well for basically 12 straight months. Might wait to use him for a tournament with a bigger payday.

 

[TheLaw4]

I like all three. My order would probably be furyk, sergio, dufner. Good luck

 

[crawdads]

havent started looking yet for this week. #Slacking

 

[gps_3]

Went with Furyk this week. Good history at the course, accurate of the tee, good putter, and always a grinder.

 

[gps_3]

Was feeling pretty good going into Sunday with Furyk T2, but he couldn't make a putt and finished T7. Still not a bad start. Not really that close to the leaders, but definitely not out of it. On to Bay Hill. Tiger is an obvious choice, but I think I'd like to hold on to him for a more lucrative payout, possibly Augusta or US Open. Or Memorial. My working list for this week is:

Poulter
Dufner
Els
Bubba
Charles Howell III
Zach Johnson

Like the first 4 most. Probably hold onto CHIII and ZJ for a couple of those tournaments in between majors with weaker fields that always seem to get won by guys like those 2

 

[crawdads]

I think Luke is peaking. Els was out last week because of an injury.

 

[crawdads]

ehh disregard my comment.

 

[gps_3]

Adding Sergio to my list of possibilities for Bay Hill. He is playing as consistent as anyone right now, and I'm not sure I trust him to continue that all season, so I might want to grab him while he's hot

 

[gps_3]

Rolling with Sergio.

 

[gps_3]

Well, Sergio came down with a sore vagina, so no money won at Bay Hill. Onto Houston. Looking at Mahan, Stricker, and Keegan. Have a lot of ground to make up since about a third of our pool had Tiger last week

 

[crawdads]

Good luck.

 

[gps_3]

Stricker for SHO

 

[gps_3]

Stricker never got it going in Houston, but at least he made the cut and finished the tournament. Valero doesn't have much in terms of star power, even with Rory playing. Looking at Horschel, Jimmy Walker, Freddie Jacobsen, Stenson, and John Huh right now.

 

[gps_3]

Went with Freddie Jacobson, which means that Walker and Horschel will light it up and FJ will struggle to make the cut

 

[gps_3]

Well, like I said, FJ will struggle some and Horschel will light it up. For the Masters, obviously have a limited and very strong field. Really only considering Tiger, Phil, Rose, and Rory.

 

[gps_3]

Got Tiger this week.

 

[gps_3]

Luke Donald for Heritage

 

[gps_3]

Not bad finishes the last two weeks with a T4 and T3. Main problem is that I am well behind the leaders at this point. Need to get a W soon. Difficult week to pick this week, as there are several big names in the field, but this is the kind of tournament that can be won by somebody out of nowhere or who hasn't won before (Dufner, Watney, Bubba, Romero).

Looking at Keegan, Dufner, Bubba, Rose, Horschel, Fowler, and Oleson right now

 

[gps_3]

Took Horschel for Zurich

 

[TheLaw4]

Good call

 

[gps_3]

Got a much needed win last week with Horschel. Quail Hollow is up next. Long course (over 7,400) so big hitters definitely have an advantage. Was leaning Dustin Johnson, but he WD today. Read or heard somewhere that the defending champ has missed the cut 3 years in a row, so that kind of turns me away from Fowler. Even though he's not a big hitter, this is Webb Simpson's home course. He lives in town and is a member. This combined with a good history there, not surprising that he's #1 in the PR on pgatour.com. Definitely will be a popular pick in our pool, but not sure where else I might use him. Also considering Bubba, Phil, DA Points, Lucas Glover, maybe Rory, but will probably save him for a bigger tournament

 

[crawdads]

This is my favorite event of the year.

 

[gps_3]

Webb Simpson

 

[gps_3]

Disappointing tournament with Webb last week. Picked Westwood for Sawgrass. He's had some success here, he's playing well right now, and is a great player tee to green, which is needed at the Stadium course. If he can make some putts, he should be there on Sunday

 

[Carolina Guy]

Really cool layout to gamble. Gonna have to use this next season. BOL.

 

[gps_3]

Picked Marc Leishman for the Byron Nelson. Great track record at this tournament, including a T3 last year and last 3 starts are: T8, T9, T4. Think he can win.

 

[gps_3]

Streelman at Colonial

 

[gps_3]

Suffered my first missed cut, and second non-cash of the season. Didn't watch any golf, but it appeared that Streelman just couldn't make birdies while everyone else was. Memorial obviously has a star studded field. Tiger is the obvious favorite, but since I (and about 80% of the pool) have already used him, I will look elsewhere. My top 2 are Kuchar and Rose, but am considering Rory, Adam Scott, Keegan and a few others

 

[gps_3]

Justin Rose for Memorial. Solid track record at tournament, including a win in 2010.

 

[gps_3]

Rose was a pretty decent pick, but Kuchar was the most popular pick in our pool, so even with a nice payday, I lost ground. Picked Tim Clark for Memphis. Premium on fairways and greens, and Clark is about as accurate off the tee as they come.

 

[gps_3]

Well, Mr. Long putter followed up an encouraging -1 round 1 with a stellar 79 and missed the weekend. Really stings because my second choice was Phil.

Merion is interesting because the weather has increased the number of players that can contend. Unfortunately, I have used some players like McDowell, Furyk and Donald that have games that are built for this event, but I still have some options available to me. Working from a list of Kuchar, Snedeker, Phil (yikes!) and Adam Scott. Scott and Rory have the high ball flight that can hold greens, and with the somewhat softer conditions, Phil should find success. Kuchar is on fire right now and should contend. Sneds has a US Open-type game, but has 2 straight MCs and still dealing with the rib injury. Gonna do some research and should have it narrowed by this evening

 

[gps_3]

Ended up not being home all weekend and forgot to post. Picked Kuchar, and of course he plodded along, barely making the cut. The most popular pick in our pool was McDowell, so with him getting a MC, and Tiger shooting +13, I didn't lose that much ground.

 

[gps_3]

Totally forgot to post last week. I was on a golf trip with some buddies up at Pinehurst. Phenomenal place. #2, 4 and 7 are fantastic tracks. I picked Rickie Fowler who farted around, nearly missed the cut, and then had a great round on Sunday to creep into the top 15. With AT&T, certainly lost some of it's luster with Tiger and Rose WD'ing, but still a solid field on a great course. Up for consideration are Jason Day, Mahan, Watney, Adam Scott, and Graham DeLaet. With the way he plays in majors, I think I'll hold onto Day until the PGA. Will have my final pick in the morning

 

[gps_3]

Mahan

 

[gps_3]

Haven't posted in a couple of weeks. Been slammed at work, and just never got around to posting. Been on a slow steady decline the last 6 weeks or so. Been pretty much kryptonite to whatever golfer I choose. For John Deere this week, went with defending champ Zach Johnson. Great track record here, hopefully get a top 5 and maybe a win.

 

[gps_3]

Took big Ernie Els this weekend. Sweet triple on 16, but if he can make the cut, he'll be near the top on Sunday I feel

 

[gps_3]

Dustin Johnson for Canadian Open. Nice to see him shoot a 40 on the front 9 while the rest of the field is going birdie crazy. Likely need -4 today to make the cut

 

[crawdads]

Ehh probably not a bad idea to miss cut since he would be playing at least 4 in a row

 

[crawdads]

Nice stretch

 

[gps_3]

DJ was right in it until a triple on the 71st hole, settling for a T2. Close but no cigar.

Obviously an elite field at Firestone. Not many golfers left and only 7 tournaments to go. If I'm going to get into the money, I need to get hustling. Went with Adam Scott this week. Playing really well in the elite events, has a win here.