It has been a few weeks since we teed off on a new golf article, but we have spent a lot of time on the range, honing our craft and looking for the little tidbits that will prepare our fantasy golf brethren to dominate the 2010 season. It’s the off-season, but that doesn’t mean we can go into hibernation! While the competition concentrates on college football, baseball, and other sports, we are scanning for information that will give you a leg up as we look towards the New Year’s kickoff at the Mercedes Championship.

Things are looking up for Matt Kuchar who secured his 2010 PGA card. Photo Credit: bigfishgolf

Fall Finish Results

Since the Tour Championship, the PGA Tour has taken a backseat to the MLB playoffs, NFL regular season, and the start of the interminable NBA grind. A fan really has to search for TV coverage of any of the fall events, due to the lack of elite talent in the field. No need to search yourself, you can depend on RotoExperts.com. Learn about the winners of the previous four, well, actually three events since our last article. (To find out why just three, you’ll just have to keep reading). These wins might not make a career, but a victory in these no-name events are worth a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, just like the bigger events of the spring and summer:

Turning Stone Resort Classic
Previous flavor-of-the-month Matt Kuchar (remember him?) survived a six hole marathon sudden-death playoff over Vaughn Taylor to pick up his first title since the 2002 Honda Classic. Kuchar shot a 63 in the final round to vault up the leaderboard in timely fashion and claim the “W”. The “movie star” quality about Kuchar has faded away, and with this win Matt is hoping to settle in to mid-career with a bit more consistency.

Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open
The winner of the longest-named PGA Tour event was Martin Laird, who outlasted Chad Campbell and then George McNeil in sudden death to earn the right to pose with Justin on the victory stand. Look at the pictures – Timberlake appeared to not have slept during any of the four days of the event!

Frys.com Open
Tour veteran Troy Matteson outlasted two true journeymen (Richie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark) to claim his ticket for the 2010 and 2011 PGA seasons with … you guessed it … another sudden death finish. Matteson claimed his second career win at the Frys.com Open. His first win in 2006 was at……the Frys.com Open. I wonder where Troy buys his electronics?

Viking Classic
Maybe it was all of the extra holes of the previous three events, but nature did not cooperate with the hosts of the Viking Classic, and it became the first tournament cancelled with no make-up date announced in over 50 years. The Madison, Wisconsin area had over 20 inches of rain in six weeks, and a Thursday deluge put the organizers and grounds crew behind the eight-ball. It especially affects the players who are on the Top 125 bubble, as now all the marbles come down to the Children’s Miracle Network event, which takes place from November 12-15th. Players know they have to play well in this tourney or they will have a coach ticket back to Q-school and the Nationwide Tour. Our second fall recap article will detail who snuck in and who was left out of the Top 125 in 2009, as well as a review of the happenings at the dreaded six round Q-school.

2009 PGA Tour Winners and Losers –
The PGA Tour is a long winding road, and it is very common for players to have numerous highs and lows over the course of the season. However, each year certain players ranked high early fail, and journeyman turn into fantasy golf must-starts.  Here are three winners and three losers from the 2009 season:

Winners –

Y.E. Yang
One of the most impressive streaks in PGA history was Tiger Woods 14-0 record when leading after 54 holes of a major. Well, make that 14-1. Y.E. Yang’s laser beam five wood on the 72nd hole carved its way through the wind and nestled a short distance from the hole. That shot sealed the deal for Yang. He won his first major (PGA Championship) in the same year that he won his first event, the Honda Classic. Yang’s first three years on the PGA Tour netted him a solo second place finish in one event combined, but those lean days are over. Bring in the welcoming committee, because golfers that finish 10th on the PGA Money List, as Yang did, have officially arrived.

Nick Watney
Watney more than tripled his 2008 take in the 2009 campaign, earning $3.4 million dollars on the strength of his win at the Buick Open and a second place tie at the WGC – CA Championships. All of the rest of his Top 10 finishes took place in big events, adding further credentials to his growing resume. Watney’s success can be attributed to his 70.23 scoring average – almost a whole stroke lower than in 2008.  Watney just recently finished in a tie for fifth place at the WGC-HSBC Championship, a non-PGA event held in China that attracts the world’s best. He has arrived on the elite golf scene and should be viewed as an elite player moving forward.

Marc Leishman
Rotoexperts.com fantasy golfer fans will recognize this name from previous articles, where the Australian was frequently featured as a sleeper candidate. From Nationwide Tour graduate in 2008, Marc moved on to the PGA Tour and had some of the previously discussed peaks and valleys common to rookie play. However, he warmed up at just the right time, and found himself playing in the Tour Championship which is open to the Top 30 money winners of the season. We look for Marc to be on the front page of several events in 2010, so tuck that tidbit back deep in your brainpan.

Losers –

Adam Scott
No player disappointed more than Adam Scott this year. In fairness, Scott’s $780K in official earnings in 2009 was accumulated in only 15 starts, but that was down from $1.9 million in 2008 in the same number of events. Adam started the season with a handy tied-second at the Sony Open and then absolutely tanked the rest of the year. By the end of the summer Scott could not break par, and had several horrible streaks. After the Sony Open finish, his best finish over the rest of the season was a tied for 33rd at the WGC Accenture Match Play. He also fired numerous rounds in the low 80s.  He might have been hurt, but we didn’t hear a thing about that.  Crikey!!!

Colt Knost
I have to admit, I drank the Knost Kool-Aid at this point last year. He went to my alma mater (SMU); won a ton of events like the U.S. Amateur, Public Links and was a member of the Walker Cup; and breezed through his obligatory season on the Nationwide Tour. I had him pegged to be in the running for the PGA Rookie of the Year award. Whoops! Knost claimed no better than a few Top 25s on tour and has to win the last event of the year in order to avoid a trip back to Q-School. Knost still has PGA talent but he likely will not be playing on the PGA next year.

Ryuji Imada
Imada basically took the year off in 2009 after his dual-win 2008 breakout season. He went from claiming five Top 10s to zero, with his best finish being a tied-14th at the Memorial Tournament in May. He saw his World Golf Ranking slump from 66th all the way up to 136th, and his earnings decreased by 66 percent.  He will be back next year on tour, but only because of the two year exemption that he earned from his triumphs in 2008. Imada has the talent to re-emerge, but consider him off-limits until we see the 2008 Imada, not the 2009 version.

News and Notes:

Phil Mickelson ended a tough year in 2009 (both his wife and mother were diagnosed with breast cancer) and won the non-PGA WGC HSBC Open in China. He withstood a final round charge from Ernie Els to win by one stroke. Look for Lefty to build on that momentum in 2010….Anthony Kim is skipping the guaranteed bonus money at the Dubai World Championship in order to be prepared for the 2010 PGA season. This move comes after concern from followers that Kim fell victim to the grueling travel and lifestyle. Kim was winless in 2009 after a two-win 2008. Expect a bounceback….For those of you who like to get an early read on who to use for your “one and done” leagues, the Buick Open has passed on due to economic conditions, but West Virginia will host the new Greenbriar Classic.

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Greg Kinzer is mentally preparing for life without professional golf for the rest of the season.  Contact Greg at greg@rotoexperts.com if you want to chat about other fantasy golf topics while we wait for the beginning of the 2010 season.

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