Will Someone Keep up with Wilson?

By Brent, the Monday Morning Golf Guru

Well, well, well. The first unscheduled Monday finish in the PGA in more than 11 months produced a 3^rd (out of 4 tourney’s) unowned winner the league (although Wilson has now been picked up by Brycer).

While winning his second tournament of the young season allowed Mark Wilson to take the lead in the FedEx Cup Standings, the ever proud Spreadsheet Fantasy League of Golf also a changing of the guard atop the standings, and we might call it a ‘youth movement.’

Our enigmatic commissioner, James, who also happens to be the Junior member of the league, scored a pair of top 5 finishes to move past the elder statesman in the competition, Beast. Martin Laird turned a lot of heads by shooting a combined -13 during the final two rounds to for his best showing of the young season. Meantime, Nick Watney picked up his second top 10 in as many weeks, and looks to a man on the rise. The scary thing is that as good as 105 points is, James could have had more as both Phil Mickelson (not really a surprise given his history) and Bill Haas (as I boldly predicted) faded down the stretch, costing their proud owner potentially two more coveted top 10s. That being said, this team looks to be the class of the field right now.

Believe it or not, the second strongest showing in the desert this week came from Fuchs Almighty, as reeled off a solid 75 points (with a pair of top 10s), thanks to a spark from the rekindled Vijay Singh. The former world #1 shot in the 60’s the entire week, and you have to wonder if this old-timer is back to his old form. He manufactured a top 20 one week ago. The sad thing for Fuchs is that he left 35 big points on his bench in JB  Holmes. This should teach everyone a valuable lesson…Never play a Canadian (Andrew started Stephen Ames instead).

The international team, owned by Brent, was able to report some solid, but far from spectacular play this week, headlined by the return of the ‘Thunder from Down Under’, Geoff Ogivly. Making his first start of the season after a wrist injury, Ogilvy seemed destined to bring his proud owner his first top 10 of the season, perhaps even a top 5. However, 2 straight bogey’s to close the round put him out of the top 10, and put Brent into a deep world of hurt. Branden de Jonge is another surprising bright spot on the team, as he managed his 3^rd top 25 in his last 3 outings. Still, although everyone is getting positive totals, top ten’s are needed for this team to be a contender.

Our former leader was fourth this week, putting forth is first performance that did not include a top 10. The biggest disappointment for the Beast has to be Anthony Kim, who failed to make the cut. Rory Sabbatini may be in the dog house with the Beast, after the South African faultered down the stretch, after originally making it look like he was destined for a top 10. Beast will look to take back the lead this week at Pebble Beach.

The final two spreadsheeters to talk about had miserable weeks. First Bryce. After taking the lead into the clubhouse after round 1, Dustin Johnson was a disaster after that, scoring a measly 5 points for the team from the deep south (Morden). The rest of his team was just as bad, with 3 players missing the cut. Now Dave. After picking up the only win the fantasy league last week, Bubba Watson could only muster a tie for 29^th , equating to a poultry five points. Even highly acclaimed Johnny Vegas couldn’t make the cut in his maiden voyage on Dave’s team.

POWER RANKINGS

1 – James – With names like Fowler, Watney, Haas, and even Mickelson, both the future and the present look bright for this chap

2 – Beast – Down a spot from last week, but he didn’t have all-stars Kuchar or Stricker playing. He’s a man to look out for

3 – Bryce – Be interesting to see if Mark Wilson can keep up the good work now that he is owned. Bryce will be hoping Dustin Johnson can repeat this week at Pebble Beach

4 – Brent – He may have no top 10s, but the results have been getting better and better, and Geoff Ogilvy looks to be in fine form. He’s hanging around, so you never know

5 – Fuchs – Better play of late has put a smile on Mr. Starbuck’s face, but a lack of firepower after Els could hurt this team

6 – Dave – A strong team, but the fact so many of his players are in Europe is going to put some stress on the guy