Fantasy Fix

Through the use of statistics, trends, course-matchups and sometimes a magic eight ball, we will do our best to help you set your fantasy golf lineup

Tiger Woods seems to be headed in the right direction after a T-4 at the U.S. Open.

AT&T National

Where: Newtown Square, Penn.

Course: Aronimink Golf Club

Defending champion: Tiger Woods defeated Hunter Mahan by a shot at Congressional Country Club.

Purse: $6,200,000

By Alex Myers

Photos by Getty Images

June 29, 2010

Welcome to another edition of Fantasy Fix, where we hope people are taking notice of the apparent benefits that come from being a caddie at the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge.

All four players who agreed to carry the bags of three celebrities and a contest winner at this year's event found success at the Travelers Championship, most notably Bubba Watson, who picked up his first win less than two weeks after helping Super Bowl MVP quarterback Drew Brees navigate Pebble Beach. Corey Pavin nearly pulled off the surprise win of the year before losing in the three-man playoff with Watson and Scott Verplank, Ricky Barnes finished T-5 and Rickie Fowler finished T-13. I guess they are all better at reading putts when they've got money on the line.

Next up on the PGA Tour is the AT&T National. After being hosted by Congressional Country Club for its first three years, the tournament is moving to the classic Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Penn. It's a relatively small, but strong field with 120 players competing, meaning owners should double check to make sure their golfers are actually teeing it up.

So rev up the grill, sit back and enjoy a holiday weekend good golf. Here are some thoughts on how the tournament will play out.

STUDS

Tiger Woods: We're back on the bandwagon after his down-but-mostly-up performance at Pebble Beach. Glimpses of the old Tiger certainly reappeared during that scintillating 31 on the back nine Saturday, but he was unable to keep the momentum going into Sunday. Still, there are plenty of guys on tour who would be having a career year with two T-4s at major championships in one year, which is what a rusty Woods has already done.

Tiger is no longer the official host of this event anymore following his self-inflicted layoff, which caused AT&T to lay him off as their top pitchman. However, he still has plenty of good vibes at a tournament he won last year. Plus, with Phil Mickelson not in the field, it's a good opportunity for him to pad his slimming lead in the World Ranking.

We've been burned two events in a row by Hunter Mahan, but you know what they say about the third time. Last year, Mahan nearly spoiled the excitement of the Woods-Anthony Kim final pairing by posting a ridiculous 62 well ahead of the leaders and watching from the clubhouse as players failed to catch his 12-under total until Tiger did with a birdie on No. 16 to take the title. Mahan also finished T-12 and T-8 in the first two years of this event.

Fantasy Fix has not been a big fan of Vijay Singh this season and rightfully so. However, the big Fijian is showed signs of starting to play better by making the cut at the U.S. Open after receiving a special exemption to play by the USGA and then finishing T-13 at the Travelers. That finish would have been much higher if not for a 73 on Saturday, despite the fact that he shot 65, 66 and 66 in his other three rounds.

And finally, there can't be many in the field happier about the move to Aronimink than Pennsylvania native Jim Furyk. The short, tight, par-70 layout sets up well for the Grinder, who already has two wins this year and is No. 3 on the FedEx Cup points list.