The 2009 Buick Invitational Six-Pack

Wow.

What a weekend. Hopefully you got to squeeze in some of the FBR Open in between all of the Super Bowl hype. That being said, what a game.

Congrats to all the fans of Pittsburgh on your victory. Make that, your SIXTH Super Bowl victory. Simply incredible.

The FBR Open was quite a contest as well. Three of my guys unfortunately missed the cut. However the three who didn't were in the top five, and one of them, Kenny Perry, won the whole thing at 33-1 odds!!!!

Add that to my Super Bowl props and you have no idea of the "unit fever" that went on this weekend.

The FBR saw Kenny Perry edge out Charley Hoffman, who really beat himself. Kevin Na also missed a tricky eight-foot putt that would have made it a three-way playoff.

It was shocking to see him miss that putt, as Kevin Na is one of the best putters on the Tour. Had Kenny Perry's putter, been working better he would have run away with this thing.

Cut to.....The Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in San Diego, CA is being played this weekend. Mainstay Tiger Woods is still not ready to play, but I had to put his picture up. This guy has won six of the last 11 events here and has truly dominated this contest.

Who is going to win this week? Lots of folks like Padraig Harrington and Phil Mickelson. I need to see Mickelson show up before I put him on any of my fantasy teams this year.

Paddy is a good pick, but I think his odds of 12-1 are way too low. Paddy is a shooter, but he really shows up big time, during the BIG tournaments.

In my Yahoo Fantasy league last week, seven of my eight players missed the cut! That is highly unusual, and won't be happening this week. I am going to start listing my Yahoo fantasy lineup here as well, as quite a few people have been requesting to see whom I like for that.

I will list the group and the starter will be the top name (top two names in group B), with the bench players being below.

GROUP A
Kevin Sutherland
Ryuji Imada

GROUP B
Rory Sabbatini
Nick Watney
Hunter Mahan
Freddy Couples

GROUP C
Webb Simpson
Luke Donald

My six pack as usual will consist of guys that are 20-1 odds (or higher) to win. I have picked two winners so far this year, and I have six others who have placed in the top five. If you have an account, you are not doing yourself justice by not sprinkling on my picks.

Get 'em while they're free......

1. Luke Donald

Luke Donald won his first club championship when he was 15 years old. Seventeen years later, it could very well be his time to win his first Buick Invitational.

There is no Tiger. Phil is highly suspect right now. Paddy is the favorite.

That means Luke is under the radar.

He has played in this event five times. Three of those have been T10 finishes, and the other two were in the top 25.

Luke has come out shooting early this year with a T23 at the Sony Open and a T25 at the FBR Open last weekend.

He is my no-brainer this week at 20-1.

2. Hunter Mahan

Hunter Mahan is one of those "young guns" to watch on the PGA Tour. He can hit the ball a mile of the tee, and his putter is fairly consistent.

He had an "okay" performance at the FBR with a T35. He is carrying some serious momentum from the end of last season when he played his best golf of the year.

Torrey Pines sets up well for Mahan, even though he missed his first three cuts here. Mahan has matured as a player since then, and he will be a contender this week, as his improvement on this course has been exponential year to year.

Mahan is a 33-1 favorite to win.

3. Ryuji Imada

Ryuji Imada was runner-up here last year. The other thing to know about this guy is that he plays very well in February and into March. I like the timing coupled with the way he has been playing lately.

Imada got his first tour victory last year at The AT&T Classic. That stop has been eliminated from the tour for 2009, so look for Imada to pick up Torrey Pines as his new stompin' grounds.

His scoring average this year is below 70, and he is a terrific putter, so I like for him to make an impact here this weekend.

Imada is 40-1 odds to win.

4. Kevin Sutherland

This guy does not make into "sixpackville" very often, but this is one tournament in which he will be present and accounted for.

Sutherland is coming off a career year and typically plays well at Torrey Pines. In 13 events here, he has never missed the cut.

He needs to play above his typical level, and must avoid the one "bad" round. Should he string together four rounds under 70, the prize may very well be his.

I love his value at 50-1 to win.

5. Arron Oberholser

Oberholser is coming off an injury-plagued 2008. It seems as though he is back on track and ready to perform in 2009. This could be the tournament that helps define his season.

Some people are not sold on Arron this year due to the injury factor, but I have a feeling his wrist and back problems have been corrected properly (finally). Obie plays well here at Torrey Pines.

He has played in four events here and never missed a cut. Two of his finishes were in the top 10 and the other two were decent, except his T74 back in 2004 when he chunked out a final-round 81.

Oberholser will be in the hunt here this weekend.

He is value personified at 66-1 odds to win.

6. Webb Simpson

It's time for the dark horse special of the week, that in my opinion, is very hard to call a "dark horse."

Webb Simpson has been on fire in his rookie campaign on the PGA Tour. He played thirteen rounds of golf so far in 2009. Ten of those rounds have been below 70.

Webb has not missed a cut this year, and he already has two finishes in the top ten. The FBR was not great for him, but it was a rough track for lots of other great golfers as well.

I expect one heck of a season from this Wake Forest grad.

Oh yeah, did I mention he is at 80-1 odds to win?

Good luck to you all this week!