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PGA Championship Fantasy Picks: Jason Day has to win a major in 2016. . . Right?
Ready or not, it's PGA Championship week. Just 10 days after Henrik Stenson claimed the claret jug, the world's best golfers descend on Baltusrol for a shot at lifting the Wanamaker Trophy at the season's final major. And whoever it winds up being needs to be in good shape, because that thing is a load. So who are our editors picking to win? Have a listen to our weekly podcast:
And if you're more old-school and would rather just read my normal weekly picks, here's who I'm taking on my PGA Tour Fantasy Golf team at Baltusrol:
Jason Day: With how well he's played in the past 12 months, it's tough to imagine him walking away from 2016 without winning a major. The Aussie is getting his first look at Baltusrol this week, but so are a lot of the players in the field. In fact, he's feeling so confident he didn't even play a practice round before Wednesday. (At least, I hope that's why he didn't play a practice round before Wednesday. . . )
Phil Mickelson: One player who isn't a Baltusrol newbie is Lefty, who won the PGA Championship the last time it was contested at the New Jersey track in 2005. Of course, Mickelson is also coming off one of the great major performances we've ever seen -- and probably the best in a losing effort. More importantly, the 46-year-old ranks in the top five on the PGA Tour in scoring average and strokes gained putting. In other words, what we saw at Royal Troon wasn't a fluke.
Rory McIlroy: If it's difficult to imagine Jason Day going a year without winning a major, it's even tougher to picture McIlroy making it through two years without one. And to be sure, he's close. Rory has six top fives in his past 10 worldwide starts, including a fifth at the British Open where he was on the bad side of the draw. McIlroy was nipped in Tuesday's long drive contest by Byeong Hun An, but perhaps that's for the best. That event could wind up being a curse like the Masters Par 3.
Sergio Garcia: The Spaniard arrives at the PGA with T-5s at both the U.S. and British Opens. Garcia would like nothing more than to be the fourth first-time major champ of the season. Well, now that he can cross seeing "Hamilton" off his to-do list.
__ Bench:__ J.B. Holmes and Patrick Reed.
And for those of you playing other fantasy golf formats:
Yahoo! lineup: Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, J.B. Holmes, Bill Haas (starters); Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Patrick Reed, Kevin Na (bench).
Knockout/One-and-done pick: Jason Day.
Previously used: Kevin Chappell (Quicken Loans), Bryson DeChambeau (Valero), Luke Donald (Valspar), Jason Dufner (RBC), Matt Every (Bay Hill), Tony Finau (Frys.com), Jim Furyk (Canadian), Sergio Garcia (Riviera), Bill Haas (Farmers), J.B. Holmes (Wells Fargo), Dustin Johnson (U.S. Open -- winner!), Kevin Kisner (RSM -- winner!), Russell Knox (Honda), Brooks Koepka (St. Jude), Matt Kuchar (Colonial), Anirban Lahiri (CIMB), Graeme McDowell (Hyundai), Kevin Na (Phoenix), Ryan Palmer (CareerBuilders), Scott Piercy (Byron Nelson), Patrick Reed (HSBC), Patrick Rodgers (Shriners), Adam Scott (British Open), Brandt Snedeker (Pebble), Brendan Steele (OHL), Henrik Stenson (Players), Justin Thomas (Sony), Bubba Watson (Masters).
And one more time, if you feel like listening to us jabber about the PGA, here you go: