The Loop
Fantasy Fix: Will we see another first-time winner in Mexico?
Five weeks, five first-time winners. Breakthrough victories have been the dominant storyline so far in the 2015-16 PGA Tour season, and there's no reason to think that won't continue this week at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. Although the field is full of these recent first-time winners. . . so the pool of potential first-time winners is getting smaller. . . Hmm. Quite the paradox! Anyway, here's who I'm taking on my PGA Tour Fantasy Golf squad in Mexico:
Patrick Rodgers: We're going back to the well here because we are convinced the former Stanford standout will be a first-time winner at some point this season. Rodgers has finished no worse than T-20 and has shot just one round over par (a 73) in three starts so far.
Focus, Patrick. Focus.
Brendan Steele: He wouldn't be a first-time winner, but it might feel like a first victory since Steele's lone win came more than four years ago. Unlike other players who waited to change their anchoring putting strokes, Steele got out in front of that and it's paying dividends. One of the most improved players on tour, he's coming off a T-3 at the CIMB Classic.
Carlos Ortiz: A player many thought would shine during his rookie season, Ortiz instead had only one top 10. But guess where it came? Yep, right here in his native country. We're banking on another good performance in front of the home crowd to get the 2014 Web.com Tour Player of the Year off to a strong start to his second campaign on the PGA Tour.
Patton Kizzire: We couldn't go a week without mentioning a PGA Tour rookie, now could we? All Kizzire has done in his first two starts is finish T-2 and T-4. With the way the 2015 Web.com Tour Player of the Year is playing, don't be surprised if he's taking tequila victory shots come Sunday night.
__ Bench:__ Matt Kuchar and Charley Hoffman.
And for those of you playing other fantasy golf formats:
Yahoo! lineup: The Yahoo! season doesn't start until Kapalua in January.
Knockout/One-and-done pick: Brendan Steele.
Previously used: Tony Finau (Frys.com), Anirban Lahiri (CIMB), Patrick Reed (HSBC), Patrick Rodgers (Shriners).