WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Fantasy Fix

We discuss Tiger's return, Rory's Twitter battle, a compliment from Kuch and of course, this week's PGA Tour stop

The one thing certain about Tiger's game right now? His caddie is far less intimidating these days.

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Where: Akron, Ohio

Course: Firestone Country Club

Defending champion: Hunter Mahan shot a final-round 64 to beat Ryan Palmer by two shots.

Purse: $8,500,000

This Week's Fix Six

1. Matt Kuchar
2. Steve Stricker
3. Lee Westwood
4. Rory McIlroy
5. Robert Allenby
6. Dustin Johnson

By Alex Myers

Follow on Twitter: @AlexMyers3

Photo by Getty Images

August 2, 2011

Welcome to another edition of Fantasy Fix, where we're still trying to get "Take Me Home, Country Roads," out of our heads following CBS' coverage of the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia. Hearing it over and over drove me so close to insanity that I thought I saw Bob Estes nearly win the tournament. Wait, that actually happened? This week, there shouldn't be as many surprises with a small, elite-field event, but that doesn't mean picking a winner will be easy. Here are some thoughts.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to Akron for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club, where my grandfather once parred the last four holes during a leisurely round. How do I know this? Because he's only told me about it 273 times.

Random tournament fact: I'm not sure if you've heard, but Tiger Woods is returning to competitive golf this week.

THE DEFENDER

Hunter Mahan. Last year Mahan picked up the biggest win of his career with a closing 64 to top Ryan Palmer by two shots. But after a great start to 2011, which included marrying a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, Mahan has been struggling. In his last five events, he has two missed cuts and his best finish was a T-30 at the AT&T National. In short, there are better options this week.

MANDATORY TIGER TALK

Did you hear? Tiger Woods is back this week! It's true! Actually, it's a pretty interesting event for him to make his return. Until last year's dreadful 18-over, T-78 performance (the worst of his pro career), it was to the point where tournament officials could have saved everyone else time by not even playing and having Tiger just show up Sunday evening to accept the trophy. Now, questions surround the 14-time major champion like never before. No matter what he does, Woods will be the dominant storyline here. And while he's certainly excited to be back, just finishing a tournament should be satisfying. We'll consider any finish inside the top 20 a bonus.

STUDS OF THE WEEK

Matt Kuchar. A disappointing final-round 73 left him T-9 here last time after an eight-year gap between qualifying for the prestigious event. More disappointing? The last tournament we picked him to win (the Canadian Open), he didn't even make it around for the weekend. In fact, Kuchar has missed the cut in his last two events. We guarantee that won't happen this week. OK, so there isn't a cut...

Steve Stricker. How good has the Strick Show been this year? In 12 stroke-play events, he hasn't missed a cut and has been in the top 20 11 times. Expect another high finish this week at an event where he's placed in the top 10 the past two years.

DUDS OF THE WEEK

Phil Mickelson. After a runner-up at the British Open, we correctly picked against Lefty at the Greenbrier. Mickelson missed the cut to continue his up-and-down play in 2011 and there's no reason to invest a lot in him this week, either. Lefty was in contention through two rounds here last year before closing rounds of 71 and 78 dropped him to T-46. He's finished better than T-43 here just once in the past seven years.

Scott Stallings. While I applaud Stallings' performance at the Greenbrier Classic (though a bit begrudgingly since it came at the expense of Wake Forest product Bill Haas), I'm not expecting much this week. The PGA Tour rookie is headed to Firestone for the first time and while anything he does here will be a bonus, the hangover from picking up his first victory will be tough to overcome. Look how poorly Darren Clarke fared in his first event after winning his first major. And that's someone who's a real veteran when it comes to playing with hangovers...

FAN MAIL BREAK

"Hey, Alex. Nice meeting you at media day for the Barclays. Nice birdie on the 18th hole as well! Take care, Matt Kuchar."

Thanks, Matt. I wasn't sure you were still watching, but since you were, I hope you took some notes. Fine, you got me. Kuchar didn't really write, but that doesn't mean I didn't make that birdie, or that you shouldn't give me a shout some time. Please feel free to e-mail me with comments, questions or just to make fun of my picks. And of course, you can follow me on Twitter.