The 2010 Zurich Classic Six Pack

Woo Hoo!

Jimmy Furyk nails down his second win in a month, and nails us down a sweet 25:1 payday. My account was down to the last dollar, thank heaven he came through.

Maybe I should stick to a bare bones format for my articles?

It seemed to be lucrative last week. But alas, I like to qualify my choices with some stats so it’s back to the real deal this week as the tour takes a stop in The Big Easy for the Zurich Classic.

The field in my opinion is somewhat weak here, making it rather tricky to nail down my selections.

Only two golfers were under the 20:1 odds mark; Ian Poulter (14:1) and Steve Stricker (12:1). I like both of them to do well here this week, but I’m not so sure about a victory.

Stricker has fared pretty well in this event over the years, and so has Poulter. They are excellent candidates for fantasy, but out of the gambling scene for me this week.

In Yahoo fantasy I had a kick ass week in Harbour Town.

I now have a total of 2284 points on the year.

I now lead Arkush by 76 points and Planer by 98 points. I am trailing Greg Vara by only 23 points and am slowly trying to catch Matt Romig, who is currently edging me out by 150 points.

I took a nice leap in the standings last week. I now am seven points up in my group TFOHM to a nice 73rd percentile. I also crept up in the overall standings four points to the 79th percentile.

Here’s who I am starting and sitting this week in Yahoo fantasy golf.

GROUP A

Start Sit
Steve Stricker Steve Marino

GROUP B

Start Sit
KJ Choi Briny Baird
David Toms Charles Howell III

GROUP C

Start Sit
Ryuji Imada Ian Poulter

Before we go to the official six pack, here are my two honorable mentions for the week: Stephen Ames (33:1) and Briny Baird (66:1)

No. 1 KJ Choi

Ok, Choi started off like gangbusters with a seven-under-par round at Harbour Town on Thursday last week, only to slowly piss it all away over the next three days to finish 41st.

I’m willing to give him a break, as Harbour Town is a very difficult track to string together four very good days.

Choi is having a great comeback to his uncharacteristic 2009 campaign.

He has not missed a single cut this year, and has already earned $300,000 more than he did in all of last year.

Choi has six top 25 finishes so far and two of those have been an impressive second place at Transitions and an even more impressive tie for fourth at The Masters.

Yes, he may be coming off his worst finish of the year, but he is going to a place where he has done well over the years.

He won here back in 2002, and has also finished as high as seventh before. He has only missed the cut once in six attempts in New Orleans.

Let’s go inside the numbers of KJ Choi:

He is second in scoring average with 69.38 strokes per round.
He ranks second in par three performance with thirteen strokes under par on the year.
He ranks eighth in the All Around category.
He is fifth in scrambling.

All of that adds up to a guy that can score low and can recover nicely when he may miss the fairway. At 20:1 odds, KJ is my favorite in the field this week.

No. 2 Charles Howell III

Seriously, when the hell is Crest Whitestrips going to sponsor this guy?! Look at those pearly white chompers, ready to take a bite out of his competition and some jumbo shrimp down in 'Nawlins this week.

I hate picking good ‘ol “Chicklets the Third”, but I simply cannot overlook him at this event. Maybe this will be the week that he actually helps me out for a change.

Howell is having a very nice year so far and is doing it rather quietly. He has only missed two cuts in eleven events and has six top 25 finishes, with three of those being in the top ten.

His track record in New Orleans is what really has piqued my interest this week. He has been runner-up in the last two attempts at this course.

You know his motivation to win on this track is now getting personal. I say this is the week he kicks it into high gear and secures his first PGA tour victory since the Nissan Open back in February of 2007.

Here are some numbers that may get Chucky a trophy this week:

He is fifth in scoring average with 69.84 strokes per round.
He has made the second most birdies on tour this year with 156.
He leads the tour in par five performance on the year with 69 strokes under par.

At 25:1 odds I cannot deny CH3 this week, no matter how much I want to.

No. 3 Steve Marino

Mr. Marino has been a bit under the radar so far this year.

This guy had been in my six pack probably half a dozen (maybe more) times last year. I seriously thought he was going to win twice last year. I still have confidence in him, as he is right on track to have another brilliant year here in 2010.

He has earned roughly half what he did overall last year, and we are just about a third of the way through the season.

Recently Marino has had three terrific consecutive finishes placing 11th, 14th, and 14th. He is now prime to perform at a track that he very much could have won last year, if not for a few silly mistakes causing him to tie for fifth instead.

Marino has only missed two cuts this year and his stats are a little flat:

He ranks 33rd in the All Around category.
He is 26th on the money list right now.

That being said, I still love this guy to contend this week in The Big Easy at 28:1 odds of winning.

No.4 David Toms

Toms is definitely not having the same year he had last year. He is having some shoulder issues with a slight bone spur in his rotator cuff.

Apparently world renowned surgeon Dr, James Andrews does not think surgery is necessary at this juncture. Let’s hope David can play through this malady.

Toms most recent performances have been mediocre, yet he showed signs of promise at The Masters by placing in a tie for 14th place.

I think he will carry that momentum right into his home state of Louisiana to this week’s event, which for Toms is his personal fifth major of the year.

He always contends here in front of his hometown fans. He won the event back in 2001 and has two other top ten finishes.

Toms has had a nice low round this year. He shot a 63 at last month’s Transitions Championship. Too bad he followed it up Saturday with a 73!

Tom’s stats aren’t glowing this year, but here are a few that will help him out:

He ranks 30th in driving accuracy at 68.31 percent.
He is seventh in career earnings at just over $32 million.

At 40:1 odds of winning, I am relying on David Toms’ track record and hometown appeal in New Orleans more so than his recent play this year.

No. 5 John Senden

Some of you may be wanting to “send-in” a psychiatrist to ask why I made this pick, but I think John is a great pick this week. He has only missed two cuts this year, and has two top 25 finishes.

He is way off pace to finish like he did last year, but it is amazing what a victory can do for your pace numbers.

Senden has only missed the cut here once in six attempts. Three of those efforts were in the top 20. As of late, John has played pretty well tacking down five rounds below 70 in his last five tournaments.

He may not be the most well known man in the field, but this Aussie’s modest stats may get him there:

He ranks 28th on tour in driving accuracy at 68.67 percent.
He is 39th in Ball Striking.
He comes in at 36th in Total Driving.

Mainly I am relying on Senden’s past performance this week in a less-than-strong field. At 50:1 odds I think John Senden offers nice value.

No. 6 Kevin Stadler

And now on to the long shot of the week..

Seems funny to keep calling this guy a “long shot.” It also seems kind of funny that a man with that physique can write down "professional athlete" next to occupation on any standardized forms he may fill out.

He has had a terrific year so far only missing two cuts in eight tries. Five of his six cuts made have been top 25 efforts, and three of those have been in the top 10!

He may not have the best track record in New Orleans, but he has progressively gotten better there, and is on pace to have a career year on the PGA tour.

Look at some of these very impressive stats rankings for Kevin Stadler:

Leads the PGA in GIR’s at 75.13 percent.
He is second in Par Breakers at 24.9 percent.
He is eighth in Ball Striking on tour so far in 2K10.

I think you’d have to be crazy NOT to look at this guy this week. After all he could win you some sweet cash at 80:1 odds if you can find the right sports book.

Have a great week and good luck to you in all your pools and wagers.