Golf Talk

Cromwell (CT) is the site of the Traveler’s Championship, and as many other websites have pointed out, not many of the world’s best have “traveled” to this tournament following the US Open. Despite all that, there are a few big names that will be dropping by the TPC at River Highlands for the $6 million dollar purse including David Toms, Justin Rose, Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink to name a few. Still, the heavy hitters like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk are taking this week off. Anyways, lets get down and dirty with my Yahoo! fantasy picks.

A List

I have both David Toms and Vijay Singh this week. David Toms hasn’t won all year, but has a consecutive streak for top ten finishes so far this year. He’s just been solid all-around with his game but simply hasn’t been able to close the deal when it’s mattered. He’s ranked in almost all the important statistical categories of GIR, putting, and driving accuracy. The only stat he’s lacking in is wins.

Vijay Singh has been consistently above average all year, he’s even won twice this year. Had a decent US Open and will be refreshed to make some birdies here at the TPC River Highlands. Vij looked like he was a little hobbled with a sore ankle on Sunday in his final round so we’ll be watching that closely this week.

These two are the two best players in the field and I’m starting David Toms for Thursday and will switch up depending on how both do. Both are guaranteed to make the cut.

B List

For this week I went with Justin Rose, Jerry Kelly, John Rollins and Padraig Harrington.

Justin is a great young player and you have to think with all the good rounds he’s played that a win is due for him on the PGA this year. He’s a fantastic putter and he’s improving his accuracy off the tee. Closing out rounds still appears to be a problem though.

Jerry Kelly is quietly having a career year and having gone to school at University of Hartford, you’d think he has at least some home course advantage. Also no wins, but he has six top-ten finishes this year. That’s right, count ‘em, six. Like David Toms, he’s just a solid player and I fully expect him to not only make the cut, but get another top ten finish.

Padraig Harrington has really been an enigma all year. He’s had wins followed by really bad rounds. He’s a player from the B List though that has a realistic shot at winning the whole thing. But he could also miss the cut like he did at St. Jude and the US Open.

John Rollins has come really close to winning this year as well and he’s a safe pick to have on the bench because you never know what can happen.

I’m starting Justin Rose and Jerry Kelly for Thursday.

C List

I picked up a couple of real dark-horses this week in Carl Pettersson and Hunter Mahan.

I was watching Carl most of the week at the US Open and I thought he played really well there. He won the Memorial last year and I think he’s quite capable of possibly winning if not contending this week.

Hunter Mahan came second at the Traveler’s last year and I’m hoping that he can duplicate that this year. He’s had a couple of strong finishes this year to go along with some missed cuts. We’ll see which Hunter shows up this week.

I’m starting Carl Pettersson for Thursday.

Other Contenders

I can’t pick everyone I wanted, but if you’re still searching for some good players, Stewart Cink would be a good pick. Played very well at the US Open last week. I think he’ll play well here. JJ Henry, the defending champion from last year, and Woody Austin also look like popular picks this week.

Coverage for the Traveler’s is going to be back to the usual combo of the Golf Channel Thu/Fri and CBS Sat/Sun.

PGA Tour, Traveler’s Championship, David Toms, Vijay Singh