Fantasy Golf Picks for the PGA Championship

It will be hard for anyone to leave Tiger Woods off their roster this week since Woods is going for his third win in as many weeks. But remember he's teased us all year. Woods won every event he played in before a major, and he has yet to win one. Will this week be different?

A-Players
Tiger Woods: He has to win this week, right? Woods has five wins this year, and he lost out to Rich Beem the last time the PGA was at Hazeltine.

Stewart Cink: So much for a post-British Open letdown. Cink finished T6 at the Bridgestone in his first start since winning at Turnberry.

B-Players
Steve Stricker: I always worry about Stricker being able to finish the job on Sundays, but he's been having a great year, with eight top 10s and two wins.

Lee Westwood: Westwood is another guy who is continuing to play well after the Open. He hasn't finished out of the top 10 in his last four events.

Angel Cabrera: His record has been shaky since winning the Masters, but Cabrera is coming off solid finishes at the Scottish Open, the British Open and a T4 at Firestone.

Boo Weekley: Boo has eight top-25 finishes this year, and in his two starts at the PGA he's finished T20 and T9.

C-Players
Retief Goosen: If it's not going to be Tiger this week, I like The Goose. Goosen won earlier this year after struggling with his game, and in his last five starts he has four top 10s. Oh, and he's won two U.S. Opens.

Luke Donald: The sweet-swinging Brit has five top 10s this year, and if not for a wrist injury earlier in the year, he might have had even more. He played a great final round at Turnberry to finish T5.

Fantasy Golf Picks for the AT&T National

Tiger Woods is hosting this week's event at Congressional Country Club, but he'll certainly have something else on his mind: winning the tournament. In the two years since its inception, Woods has yet to win his own event. He tied for sixth in 2007 and missed the event last year while recovering from knee surgery.

A-Players
Tiger Woods: He has seven top 10s in eight starts, including two wins. Plus, it will be easier on Sunday if he just presents himself with the trophy.

Jim Furyk: Tiger's buddy has finished in the top 11 in four of his last five events. Furyk also has come close to winning the AT&T National twice, finishing T3 the past two seasons.

B-Players
Davis Love III: Coming off a T5 at Memorial, Love finished T27 last year at Congressional.

Hunter Mahan: He nearly won another Travelers Championship last week, plus Mahan has finished T8 and T12 at the AT&T National.

Sean O'Hair: In his first event since the birth of his third child, O'Hair has been playing great this year, with six top 10s in 14 events.

Boo Weekley: Boooooooooooo! has been struggling with injuries, but he seems to be back on track, coming off a T14 at the Travelers.

C-Players
Rocco Mediate: Tiger's nemesis at the 2008 U.S. Open has only one top-25 finish this season, but he has yet to miss a cut, and he has a solid record at the AT&T National.

Nick O'Hern: He finished T3 last year at Congressional, and after a string of missed cuts this season, O'Hern has made four straight.

Fantasy Golf Picks for the Players Championship

When Tiger Woods hasn't finished in the top 10 since 2001, you know this is going to be a different week for fantasy golf. Yup, it's time for the Players Championship, the tournament where nobody has ever defend their title. (As if you needed a reason not to pick Sergio right now.)

A-Players
Geoff Ogilvy: Like many players, Ogilvy's track record at Sawgrass isn't pretty. But he's already won twice this season, and he's been pretty consistent each time he tees it up: no missed cuts, plus five top-25 finishes in nine events.

Jim Furyk: The Jacksonville resident always seems like a good pick for the Players, probably because he's only missed the cut twice, and he has come close to winning this event several times.

B-Players
Boo Weekley: After missing his only cut of the year at the Masters, Boo has chalked up three consecutive top-13 finishes. I'm just hoping he has the lead on Sunday, hits the 17th green, then gallops around the pond like he did at the Ryder Cup.

Hunter Mahan: Another guy quietly having a good, consistent season is Mahan. In 10 events he's finished in the top 25 seven times.

Nick Watney: I've been on the Watney bandwagon for a few weeks now, and it's hard to get off with nine top-25 finishes in 11 events.

Charley Hoffman: In his last three events, Hoffman has been in the hunt with the exception of one bad round. Look for him to put together four solid rounds this week.

C-Players
Ian Poulter: Coming off a T5 at Quail Hollow, Poulter has finished out of the top 20 only once in six events.

Henrik Stenson: One of the few players with a solid record at Sawgrass, Stenson has finished T10, T23 and T3 in his three starts at the Players.

Fantasy Golf Picks for the Verizon Heritage

With the wild finish at the Masters in the rearview mirror, the PGA Tour unwinds this week in Hilton Head. It's the week after a major, but there are still plenty of big names to consider this week when filling out your roster.

A-Players
Camilo Villegas: After a solid T13 at the Masters, Villegas, who has four top-12 finishes this season, comes back to Harbour Town, where he finished T7 last year.

Jim Furyk: He's never won at Harbour Town, a course perfectly suited for his game, but Furyk has five career top-15 finishes, plus he had a good week (T10) at Augusta.

B-Players
Rory McIlroy: In his tour of America, McIlroy has yet to finish out of the top 20, including a T20 last week at the Masters.

Tim Clark: With five top-15 finishes this year, Clark, like Paul Casey in Houston, is too good of a player not to have a W on the PGA Tour.

Davis Love III: Now with the pressure of trying to get into the Masters off his shoulders, Love can concentrate on simply playing golf. And if we wins this week, Love will get an invite to next year's Masters.

Boo Weekley: Two starts, two wins at Harbour Town. Hard to pick against that record.

C-Players
Scott Verplank: He had three top-15 finishes in March, and Verplank hasn't missed a cut at Hilton Head in 10 years.

Ben Crane: He has a solid record at Hilton Head, plus Crane has two top 10s this season.

Fantasy golf picks for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill

After weeks of making picks, I finally hit the jackpot last week with Retief Goosen winning, and top-5 showings by Charles Howell III and Steve Stricker ... (holding for applause). Lets hope the winning streak continues with Tiger Woods going for his sixth title at Bay Hill.

A-Players
Tiger Woods: He finished T9 last week with a cold putter. I hate to see what happens if he starts making a few putts.

Jim Furyk: He was on a roll after a third-place finish at Doral and an opening 65 at the Transitions. But the usually steady Furyk collapsed on Friday with a 78. I'm sticking with Furyk this week. I think we're more likely to see another 65 than a 78.

B-Players
Davis Love III: Love's been on a roll this year, with his eye on winning or getting in the top 50 for a ticket to Augusta. He's currently No. 47, so Love still has an extra incentive to play well this week.

Stuart Appleby: Appleby has usually won a tournament by the time Bay Hill rolls around, but he looks to be getting in form after a T8 at the Transitions.

Hunter Mahan: Mahan has three top-20 finishes this season, plus he tied for sixth last year.

Boo Weekley: I'm picking Boo just for the mental image of Arnold Palmer handing Boo a giant sword on Sunday. Plus, Weekley has yet to miss a cut this season, and he's finished in the top 25 in both starts at Bay Hill.

C-Players
Ian Poulter: He's only played three events this season, but Poulter hasn't finished outside of the top 25.

Louis Oosthuizen: Oosthuizen has been on fire on the European Tour with four top 10s. He has also looked solid in the States, finishing T20 at Doral.

Fantasy golf picks for the Honda Classic

After my disasterous attempt to fill out a bracket last week for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, I will not try to persuade my boss to add "Golf.com Bracketologist" to my business card.

Once again the A-Player category presents several tough choices. Defending champion Ernie Els, Camilo Villegas, Stewart Cink and Sergio Garcia are all good choices. But I chose to lead off with someone who has a great track record at the Honda Classic.

Teen sensation Rory McIlroy is available in the B category, but I decided to go with experience in my selections.

Normally Luke Donald is an obvious choice in the C category, but I left him out this week due to his wrist injury.

A-Players
Robert Allenby: Talk about somebody that is due for a win. Allenby's last win came in 2001! This would be a likely spot for Allenby to win. Since 2004, he has finished in the top 5 three times.

Camilo Villegas: Spider-Man looked unstoppable last week until he ran into the red-hot Geoff Ogilvy. Despite the loss, Villegas scored his second top 10 of the season. Villegas also finished T-2 at the Honda in 2007.

B-Players
Davis Love III: Love's game is slowly returning to form, and he will probably win at least once this season. When the tournament was held at Mirasol, Love had back-to-back runner-up finishes, but he has the game to make it through the Bear Trap.

Mark Calcavecchia: It doesn't matter where the Tour holds the Honda Classic, Calc will likely be in contention. He won at Eagle Trace in 1987. He won at Heron Bay in 1998. If not for a costly double-bogey in the final round last year, he would have won at PGA National. Calc is also coming off two-straight top 10s at Pebble and Riviera.

Boo Weekley: Boo's T-17 last week was his worst finish of the season, and he is leading the Tour in greens in regulation. If he can get the putter working, watch out for Boo.

J.B. Holmes: Holmes' T-6 at Riviera proved he can do more than just bomb it 400 yards and hit a wedge. It's his first time in this event, so this may not be the right time to take Holmes. But like Ben Crenshaw before the Sunday matches at Brookline, I've got a good feeling about J.B.

C-Players
Kevin Streelman: He fired a final-round 64 at Mayakoba to finish T-3. He tied for 60th last year in his first start at the Honda.

Matt Kuchar: The 2002 Honda champion has three top-25 finishes this season, and he's made his last two cuts at this event.

PODS Championship

This week's PODS Championship features a strong field on a tough course, Innisbrook. The list of past champions includes a who's who of players not named Tiger or Phil -- Mark Calcavecchia, K.J. Choi, Vijay Singh, and Retief Goosen have all won this event. Expect more strong performances by the big names this week, but we've also tracked down a few lesser-known players who could be ready to break out.

PODS Picks

Ernie Els: The Big Easy has said that he wants to catch Tiger Woods, and he made a small step last week by winning the Honda Classic, his first PGA Tour victory since 2004. Els finished tied for sixth in 2006 at Innisbrook, and he should be the favorite this week with Woods and Phil Mickelson sitting out.

Stewart Cink: It's easy to remember Cink's last outing, an 8-and-7 drubbing against Woods at the WGC Match Play. But don't forget who Cink beat to get to the final: Angel Cabrera, the 2007 U.S. Open champ, and Padraig Harrington, the 2007 British Open champ. He also knocked out two of Europe's best players, Colin Montgomerie and Miguel Angel Jimenez. Cink has a good record at Innisbrook, finishing tied for 19th in 2006 and tied for third in 2005.

Steve Stricker: In four of five appearances this year, Stricker has earned a six-figure paycheck to take back to Wisconsin. It seems clear that the last two seasons were no fluke; Stricker is here to stay. He played the PODS last year, his first visit to Innisbrook in three years, and missed the cut. Still, he's a solid pick.

Stuart Appleby: No one is more due for a win than Appleby. The guy hasn't finished out of the top 10 in four events this season. He's never played well at this tournament, but it's hard to go against a guy who has been so consistent.

Boo Weekley: Does anyone else on Tour play golf so he can afford to go huntin' and fishin'? It's working for Boo. He has three top 10s this season, and he's playing in his home state. His short-range putting is still shaky, but he should have a solid finish this week.

Sleeper

Matt Jones: If you watched the Honda this weekend, you know Johnny Miller really likes this guy. Yet another strong player from Australia, Jones was one shot behind Els until he went for glory on the par-3 17th. The wind caught his ball and sent it into the drink, but it was still an encouraging performance. He hasn't missed a cut this season. 

Players to Avoid

Mark Calcavecchia: It would be easy to pick Calc because he nearly won the Honda, and he's the defending champion. Throughout his career, however, consistency has been a problem, and his putting last week shouldn't give you (or him) much confidence.

Retief Goosen: He tied for second at the Masters last year, but that was his only top 10 of 2007, and he's coming off a T60 at the Honda.

Geoff Ogilvy: Where did this come from? Ogilvy has missed as many cuts this season as he did all of last year (three). He lost in the first round of the WGC Match Play to Justin Leonard, and he's playing Innisbrook for the first time since 2005.

Chris DiMarco: Anyone else see DiMarco this weekend in the TV ads for the PODS Championship? Yes, Chris, we know you're a fighter, we know you're competitive. But we also know you've missed four of six cuts this year. Even when you made the cut, you were way down the leaderboard, finishing T67 and T54.