The Loop

Fantasy Fix: Can Henrik Stenson shake the FedEx Cup champ jinx?

September 03, 2014

This week's BMW Championship will be played at Cherry Hills Country Club, a course golf historians are certainly familiar with (Think: 1960 U.S. Open), but today's players? Not so much. The Denver-area track last hosted the PGA Tour for the 1985 PGA Championship. Phil Mickelson won the 1990 U.S. Amateur here, but we're going to assume he doesn't have too many notes left over from that week since that was before Jim "Bones" Mackay was his caddie. In other words, making picks for the third leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs comes down to form. Who are the hot players that we're backing? A look at our weekly Yahoo! fantasy lineup:

Starters -- (A-List): Henrik Stenson. The defending FedEx Cup champ is only No. 55 in the standings so he needs a big week if he's going to make it back to Atlanta to defend his title at the Tour Championship. We think his Sunday 65 in Boston is a sign he'll get it done. However, history says he won't. Oddly, only one FedEx Cup champ (Brandt Snedeker in 2012) has made it back to the Tour Championship the following year.

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(B-List): Jason Day. The Aussie followed up his T-2 at the Barclays with a T-7 at the Deutsche Bank. No reason to not expect another strong performance this week.

(B-List): Rory McIlroy. The World No. 1 is officially in a two-tournament losing streak! We're not worried. Even with a rough Sunday at TPC Boston, McIlroy finished T-5. We look forward to watching him bomb it off the tee in the mile-high altitude.

(C-List): Jimmy Walker. A T-9 at the Deutsche Bank was his 10th top-10 finish of the season, which ties him for second with Rory McIlroy (Matt Kuchar leads with 11). At No. 4 in the FedEx Cup points standings, Walker knows another good week is needed if he's to control his own destiny for winning that $10 million bonus at the Tour Championship.

Bench/Backups: Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth, Martin Kaymer, Sergio Garcia.

Knockout/One-and-done pick: Martin Kaymer. Kaymer had been quiet since his romp at the U.S. Open, but he looked back in control of his game in Boston with a T-7. A similar finish this week would position him well for another big payout at the Tour Championship. How do you say "boatload of money" in German anyway?

Previously used: Keegan Bradley (Doral), Tim Clark (Sony), Jason Day (Congressional), Graham DeLaet (Phoenix), Luke Donald (Valspar), Jason Dufner (Bridgestone), Rickie Fowler (Honda Classic), Jim Furyk (Heritage), Sergio Garcia (British Open), Bill Haas (Farmers), Charley Hoffman (Travelers), Billy Horschel (Zurich), Charles Howell III (Humana), Freddie Jacobson (Valero), Dustin Johnson (Northern Trust), Zach Johnson (Colonial), Matt Kuchar (U.S. Open), Martin Laird (Kapalua), Hunter Mahan (Canadian), Graeme McDowell (Bay Hill), Rory McIlroy (PGA Championship -- WINNER!), Ryan Palmer (Memphis), Justin Rose (Memorial), Adam Scott (Masters), Webb Simpson (Wyndham), Brandt Snedeker (Deutsche Bank), Jordan Spieth (Houston), Henrik Stenson (Players), Jimmy Walker (Pebble -- WINNER!), Nick Watney (Barclays), Gary Woodland (Nelson).