Transitions Championship
Fantasy Fix
We discuss why Nick Watney is our new favorite player, who will win March Madness and of course, this week's PGA Tour event
It's tough to overlook Retief Goosen's stellar Tavistock Cup performance. OK, so that's a lie.
Transitions Championship
Where: Tampa Bay, Fla.
Course: Innisbrook
Defending champion: Jim Furyk defeated K.J. Choi by one shot to pick up his first win of 2010, which ended in him capturing PGA Tour Player of the Year.
Purse: $5,500,000
This Week's Fix Six
2. Vijay Singh
3. K.J. Choi
4. Padraig Harrington
5. Retief Goosen
6. Stephen Ames
Welcome to another edition of Fantasy Fix, where we're not afraid to pat ourselves on the back. Last week we guaranteed a winner and we came through. Not only did we pick Nick Watney to win at Doral, we also predicted a final-round 66 for Tiger Woods. As a colleague advised, we better brag about it because it will probably never happen again. So in the words of Jeff Overton, "Boom, baby!" Why stop there, though? We've still got plenty of golf left on the schedule, so let's see if we can keep rolling.
ON TAP
The PGA Tour continues its Florida swing in Tampa with one of the more appropriately-titled (albeit unintentional) events of the season. The Transitions Championship will be played at Innisbrook and in a way, it is exactly what it suggests it is -- a transition between more marquee tournaments at Doral and Bay Hill.
Random tournament fact: Trevor Immelman and Kenny Perry are sponsored by Transitions. They are featured in a commercial where Immelman is grilling burgers and the 50-year-old Perry goes out "on the town" by playing billiards. For some reason, I always find this amusing.
THE DEFENDER
Jim Furyk won here last year despite nearly shanking a ball off NBC on-course reporter Roger Maltbie during the final hole. He would make an ugly bogey to hold off K.J. Choi by a shot. I remember being in a Las Vegas sportsbook at the time wondering what kind of odds I could have gotten on that happening. But I digress... Furyk has a missed cut and a T-52 in his only other two appearances and he has been uncharacteristically bad in 2011. He's missed the cut in two of three full-field events and is only 74th in the FedEx Cup standings. In other words, don't bet on him repeating.
STUD OF THE WEEK
Nick Watney. Duh. You thought I would abandon my man after he came through for me last week? I don't think so. Here's a list of Watney's 2011 finishes so far in order: T-6, T-5, T-6, T-9, win. He has also made the cut all five times here, improving each year, including a solo fourth last year. (side note: It's time to give Watney a nickname. Since I can't think of anything creative and since his last name begins with a "W" and he's coming off a "W," we'll simply go with "Dubs" for the time being. If you have any better suggestions, operators are standing by)
FORMER CHAMPIONS READY TO GET BACK ON TRACK
K.J. Choi. A 2002 and 2006 winner here, Choi also finished solo second last year and T-6 in 2007. Simply put, it's time for the "Tank" to start rolling in 2011.
Retief Goosen. The Goose is also a two-time winner of this event (2003 and 2009), but so far this year, he's been in spring training mode like the nearby Major League Baseball teams. Speaking of exhibitions, he looked really strong at the Tavistock Cup.
FAN MAIL BREAK
"Hey, Alex. Just wanted to thank you for picking me to win last week. It's what I needed to get over the hump. Keep up the good work. Your friend, Nick Watney."
You got it, "Dubs." Keep up the good work yourself. OK, so Watney really didn't write me, but he didn't have to. We connect on a deeper level. Seriously, though, please feel free to e-mail
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