Northern Trust Open Fantasy Golf Picks
Bill Haas (right) won last year’s Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club, but does he make a good fantasy golf pick for the coming week? Find all my 2013 Northern Trust Open fantasy golf picks right here. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
The PGA Tour continues its California Swing as they head to Pacific Palisades in LA to play the famed Riviera Country Club. The par 71 has a long history of hosting this event and brings in a nice field for us this week with many of golf’s best international players making the journey to sunny Los Angeles.
Last week at Pebble Beach, Brandt Snedeker finally got his first tour win after being on the leader board seemingly all season. My entry (click here for full post) did decent with 177 keeping me inside the top 1% and the top 1,000 entries overall. The winner of the week took over the overall lead in our Fantasy CPR group (for info to join click here). Eagle’s Next had an impressive 213 giving him two wins for the season and tying him with my entry for the most weeks won so far this year. He’s put up 1,046 points this season and leads me by 14 with Team Tiger also over 1,000 and just 28 points behind me. If you can handle the competition, come on over and join our group!
This week, there’s lots of very tantalizing options out there, but these are the players who will be on my roster.
A-List
Feb 19, 2012; Pacific Palisades, CA, USA; Phil Mickelson and caddie Jim Mackay celebrate after Mickelson made his birdie putt on the 18th hole during the final round of the Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club. Keegan Bradley (not pictured) would also birdie the hole and make it into the playoff with Mickelson and Bill Haas (not pictured). Haas would eventually win on the second playoff hole. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Bill Haas: Last year’s champion comes in playing good golf finishing t9 at Torrey Pines and t6 two weeks ago in the desert at the Phoenix Open. Haas won last year’s Northern Trust in a three way playoff over Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. Before his win his best finish was a t12 in 2011 which came after missing the cut the two previous years.
Phil Mickelson: Mickelson finished a distant t60 last week, but is a two-time champion at this event and the all-time money leader. He dominated two weeks ago in Phoenix, but I’ll start him on the bench to see if I can save a start depending on his early results.
B-List
Jimmy Walker: Walker got me a t3 last week and has a pair of top four finshes in his last three. He tied for fourth the last two years at the Northern Trust and could be in for a breakthrough win this week.
Feb 18, 2012; Pacific Palisades, CA, USA; Keegan Bradley tees off on the second hole during the third round of the Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Keegan Bradley: Bradley made the playoff last year at Riviera but settled for a t2 after losing to Haas. So far this season his best finish was a t4 at the limited-field Hyundai but he did bounce back from a missed cut at the Farmers with a solid week in Phoenix. He actually shot three good rounds on his way to a t24. His 73 in round three was his only tough round. If he can eliminate his bad round, he could finish the win he missed out on last year.
Luke Donald: Donald hasn’t played anywhere yet this season, but will make his debut at Riviera where he has a solid history with five top 15’s at this event including a pair of top three’s. Donald finished last year on a roll and will try to start his season off right this week.
Jim Furyk: Furyk is a bit of a sleeper play but last week he was able to work his way to a t30 in his first event of the season after a first round 75. He shot 69-68-69 to finish -5 on the week. Last year he finished t11 in this event which was his fourth consecutive made cut at Riviera. In his career he’s made 11 of 13 cuts with his best finish being a t3 in 2007.
C-List
Aug 12, 2011; Johns Creek, GA, USA; Charl Schwartzel (RSA) lines up his putt on the 17th green during the second round of the 2011 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports
Charl Schwartzel: Making his US debut, Schwartzel has been tearing it up across the Atlantic. He has six top 5’s in a row and has been either winner or runner-up in his last four. The only hesitation here is that he’s never played this event before, but I’ll take recent form over history and go with the South African.
Adam Scott: Scott won the unofficial version of this event in 2005. He finished t17 last year which was his third top-20 finish since his win. He also finished last year playing well with four top 15’s in his last four events.