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Fantasy Fix: Why Geoff Ogilvy is the happiest man in Hawaii this week
The PGA Tour schedule tells us that the 2014-15 season started back in October, but does that really count if there's no fantasy golf? Our favorite way of wasting time and (hopefully not) a little money is back as the Hyundai Tournament of Champions kicks off a new year of pro golf at the highest level. It's a limited field (34 players) this week in Kapalua, meaning there's a big opportunity for those teeing it up to get 2015 off to a strong start. The same can be said for those playing fantasy golf. Here's who we're going with in our Yahoo! league:
Starters -- (A-List): Bubba Watson. Quite simply, Watson is the best player in this field, having already won his first official PGA Tour start of the season at the HSBC Champions -- even if that was two months ago. NBC Sports' Mark Rolfing says he's been really impressed by Watson's preparation at the Plantation Course this week and that he's logged as many as eight practice rounds.
(B-List): Billy Horschel. The last time Horschel played against a field this size he walked away with nearly $12 million. Horschel played in this event last year for the first time and seemed to figure out the Plantation Course on the final two days with rounds of 68 and 66.
(B-List): Hideki Matsuyama. The man Brandel Chamblee considers the best iron player on tour is making his debut in this tournament after making last year's Memorial his first PGA Tour title. Considering Matsuyama is still 22, there should be plenty more where that came from.
(C-List): Geoff Ogilvy. The Aussie had quite the resurgence at the end of 2014, winning the Barracuda Championship and making it all the way to the Tour Championship. After falling as low as No. 216 in the Official World Golf Ranking last year, he might be as happy as anyone to return to Kapalua, where he also happens to be a two-time winner.
Bench/Backups: Matt Every, Jimmy Walker, Chris Kirk, Tim Clark.
Knockout/One-and-done pick: Geoff Ogilvy. Zach Johnson may be the defending champion, but Ogilvy has actually won the last two times he's teed it up in this event. After winning back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010, Ogilvy returned, but had to withdraw the day before the tournament started after badly cutting his finger while swimming. We like his chances again -- as long as he avoids the ocean.