There are two storylines this week as we move to Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California for the Northern Trust Open. First, can Phil Mickelson become the first person to win the Northern Trust three times in a row? And second, will Lefty file a lawsuit? Yes, one of the PGA Tour’s lightening rods has been struck once again, and this controversy doesn’t even involve his arch-nemesis, Tiger Woods.

Phil...Keep looking straight ahead. I got your back. After you win the Northern Trust, we'll both take care of McCarron.... Photo Credit: minds-eye

Remember Scott McCarron, the 40-something former solid player now counting down the days to his fiftieth birthday? Yep, that guy. Well, an “alleged” quote was uttered during last week’s event that declared Mickelson a “cheater” for using pre-1990 Ping wedges that were exempt from the new 2010 square grooves ban. When asked later, McCarron recanted a bit and backed his tone down to “bending the rules” but Mickelson officially has the red-ass, and is threatening legal action if the PGA Tour does not act. How lovely!

Lest we forget, a golf tournament is taking place! It is time to take a look at the movers and shakers as you try to put some distance between yourself and the rest of your fantasy golf competitors.

Northern Trust Open
Purse - $6,400,000
Winner Share - $1,134,000
FedEx Cup Points – 3500 (500 to winner)

Course – Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, California
From a personal standpoint this is one of my favorite courses to watch a pro event. The three– time host of a major, Riviera is also one of the few layouts where the aforementioned yet not-forgotten Woods has not won. Huge trees line the fairways that hold true penalties for those errant off of the tee box. The 200-yard par three sixth hole is the signature view of the club, with an enormous green with a bunker right in the middle of it. However, all of the other par three holes have tiny greens, making this 7,298 yard par-71 a challenge regardless of what normally are pristine weather conditions.

Weekly Picks –

Phil Mickelson
Despite the outside distractions (which probably could have been settled out of the limelight by just having both Phil and McCarron sit down and grab some beer) Mickelson is a prohibitive favorite this week. The two-time defending champion obviously has his work cut out for him and might not be firing on all cylinders (his final round 73 took him out of contention at the Farmers), but the course is basically in his backyard. Unless this back-and-forth with McCarron becomes really ugly we have to consider Mickelson a Top 10 no-brainer.

Ernie Els
We have been hesitant to sing Ernie’s praises over the last few years due to what appears to be some sort of a mid-life/end of career crisis. Els is the holder of three Major Championships, but has never 100 percent recovered from the blown-out ACL that happened shortly after his appearance in the 2005 British Open. He also has had the misfortune of playing in the Tiger era, but that is the case with Phil and other greats. So why is he on our list this week? Simple; Els has finished tied fifth and 12th in his previous two 2010 PGA events (Farmers Insurance Open and Sony Open, respectively) and tends to plays strong in the West Coast swing events. If you have doubts about Els, then pick Steve Stricker in this slot – the 2010 numbers are very comparable and he finished second last year at the Northern Trust.

Marc Leishman
The 2009 PGA Rookie of the Year proved himself worthy of the honor by “settling” for a tied second at the Farmers last week. The sky is the limit for the second-year Aussie as he plays a full schedule. Despite his 2009 success, Leishman is still considered off the radar due to the fact that he didn’t get a lot of TV time until the FedEx Playoff events (not that many people stay glued to the TV for those). Factor in the tied 20th Leishman earned at the Sony Open with this recent second place finish and Marc is halfway to renewing his PGA Tour card for 2011 – and that is assuming Marc doesn’t meet our expectations and haul off and win an event outright over the course of the season.

Charles Howell III
My fellow RotoExperts Golf Writer Nate Pigott busted my chops a bit about my pick of Howell a few weeks ago… and I am not sure why. Howell has started three events, and has two Top 10s to show for it (tied 5th at Sony Open, tied 9th at Farmers Insurance Open). Add those big-check weeks with a tied 26th at the Bob Hope Classic and Howell appears to be a guy riding the momentum train (while you’re still stuck at the station Nate!). Scoring average at this point is a bit overrated due to the low scores produced on easy courses, but Howell’s 68.31 is a still impressive.

Nick Watney
Nick came on strong in 2009 and established himself as a star with his 12th place finish in the FedEx Cup race, and that performance might make him a salary cap crusher as we look toward the Northern Trust. That being said, Watney has moved forward in 2010 just as expected, with a Top 10 and a Top 20 in his first two PGA events. Watney is nearly at 80 percent in GIR, which is extremely impressive even if the sample size is only eight rounds. If using Watney with the others on this list, consult our Salary Cap lower cost options if you are in a money crunch.

Robert Allenby
Another quick start from the 38-year-old Australian in the first month of the season makes him a viable starter candidate at the Northern Trust. The seven-time bridesmaid on tour has four wins to his credit (much earlier in his career) and is showing no decline in skills. He has earned two Top 10s (second at Sony Open, tied ninth at Farmers Insurance Open) in his first two starts based on the strength of his 68.00 scoring average. At current pace, Allenby is on track for a repeat of his 2008 season where he claimed $3.6 million in earnings.

Rickie Fowler
Many people are picking Fowler as an early 2010 Rookie of the Year candidate and he backed up the expectations with a tied fifth at the Farmers Insurance Open, good for $186,000. He missed the cut in his previous two starts but finished the 2009 Fall Finish season with a two Top 10s and $570,000 in prize money in just three events. Chock up the first two missed cuts to nerves – Fowler has a ton of talent and appears to be comfortable playing with the best players in the world on a weekly basis.

Tim Clark
You guessed it, another runner-up for Clark earlier this year at the Bob Hope Classic. Why is this newsworthy? It is his eighth second place finish (zero wins) over the course of a very successful career (absent of hardware). It has to be frustrating coming up short all these years but don’t shed any tears for Clark as he has made a nice nest egg for himself. Last year he earned a tied thirteen at the Northern Trust, and it is worth mentioning again that Clark fits the mold of players that excel in the Winter/Spring months.

Salary Cap Options –
Are you over your cap limits with the above selections? Here are some low-cost alternatives for your consideration:

Brandt Snedeker – Riding high after his tied-second (with Fowler and Michael Sim) at the Northern Trust Open.

D.A. Points – Quietly good player had four Top 10s in 2009, currently sits with $139,000 in earnings after Northern Trust.

K.J. Choi – Salary value down after rocky 2009, finished tied for third last year at Riviera.

Overheard on the Range –
 John Daly has reportedly backed off of comments of quitting the PGA tour that he made after the Farmers Insurance Open last week. Daly has confirmed he is still scheduled to play at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in two weeks. Robert Karlsson won the Qatar Masters, ending a16-month winless drought. Ben Crane, Farmers Insurance Champion, did not peek at the leaderboard once during his round on Sunday, and only learned he had won the event when playing partner Ryuji Imada broke the good news to him after he had two-putted for a par five on the 72nd hole.  

Greg Kinzer has a set of MacGregor irons (not blades) so don’t worry about nailing me with a “square groove” ruling in match play. Contact Greg at greg@rotoexperts.com if you want to discuss other fantasy golf topics.

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