Fantasy PGA: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and Mayakoba Classic Previews

Not every format will have two tournaments this week, but many will. The Yahoo! game only uses the Mayakoba Golf Classic this week. The Golf Channel Fantasy Challenge will utilize both the Mayakoba and the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Many survivor/earnings formats will feature players from both tournaments.

We're going to start with the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. These World Golf Classic events tend to have smaller, more diverse fields and bigger purses. That means many non-US players (say Rory McIlory) who don't play many PGA Tour events will be playing here. Given that you have limited opportunities to use such players, I try to do so when the opportunity presents itself.

This is a match play format, so you are looking for consistent golfers. Bogey avoidance and strong putting abilities are crucial here. The tournament is being played at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona. It's a very long course, but not extremely challenging.

Given the composition of the field, I'm going to go with a top non-US player this week in Survivor/Eliminator/Earnings leagues. It is important to note that the winner here will take home over $1.4 million. That's one of the biggest purses on the PGA Tour this season.

My top options are:

Rory McIlroy
Lee Westwood
Martin Kaymer
Charl Schwartzel

It is very tempting just to go with McIlroy here. He's played great overseas so far this season, and he has a nice history in match play. None of the other players jump out at me with their recent performances or their fit for this venue. At some point you have to take a shot and stick your best players out there. Why not do it when one of the biggest prizes of the year is on the line? I'm going with Rory McIlroy at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

While on this event, lets take a quick look at the Golf Channel Fantasy Challenge. To play you simply pick one golfer from each of the four groups. No bench players or anything else. There's also no limit on the number of times you can use a player.

GROUP 1 - LUKE DONALD - Donald is the defending champion here. Despite his poor play at his one event in 2012, he's still the best option in a weak Group 1.

GROUP 2 - MATT KUCHAR - Kuchar is amongst the steadiest golfers on Tour. He's excellent at racking up pars, minimizing poor decisions and errant putts. He finished third here last year and is as good a bet as any to go deep again.

GROUP 3 - RORY MCILROY - If I think he's going to win the event, I kind of have to pick him here. It's actually a pretty weak group with Charl Schwartzel, Jason Day and Keegan Bradley being the only other decent options.

GROUP 4 - WEBB SIMPSON - Simpson has played great this season, with two top-10 finishes in three starts in 2012. He is No. 1 on the PGA Tour in Greens in Regulation Percentage (75.93%). He doesn't have a history here, but his game is an excellent fit.

For our second event: the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon in Riviera Maya, Mexico. This is a small event where the winner will take home less than $700k. While that's quite a chunk of change for your or me, that's relatively small potatoes for a PGA Tour winner's share. Just something to keep in mind.

This is a tough course. While not particularly long or twisting, players have to capitalize on their scoring chances. Don't expect any player to shoot low scores here, and there should be a cluster of players near the top of the leaderboard throughout the week. 

Yahoo! Weekly Lineup Game

Group A

Charles Howell III (Starting)—Howell III hasn't done much since since a T2 back at the Sony Open over a month ago. But he has a nice history here, and despite his recent struggles he still ranks 22nd on Tour in Greens in Regulation Percentage (70.37%). He finished T13 here last season.

Rory Sabbatini (Bench)—Sabbatini was very solid in his first three starts this season (T9, T29 & T14) before the wheels fell off recently, with two straight missed cuts. But he finished T5 here last season and he still ranks 8th on Tour in Strokes Gained Putting (1.072).

Worth Noting: There are only four golfers available in Yahoo! Group A this week.

Group B

Briny Baird (Starting)—Sure Baird was lousy early this season, missing the cut in his first three tournaments. But he's coming off of a decent T34 at the Northern Trust Open last week. And his history here is phenomenal. He finished T5 here last season and T4 back in 2010.

Martin Flores (Starting)—Flores has been inconsistent this season, but he ranks 2nd on Tour in Strokes Gained Putting (1.443). He's made the cut in his last three events, which include a T8 and a T19. In a weak field, Flores could surprise.

Robert Allenby (Bench)—Allenby doesn't have a history here, but he's one of the more proven golfers in the field. He's the perfect player to throw on your bench in a week like this. If he plays well you can move him into the lineup. If not, no harm done.

Chris Stroud (Bench)—Stroud has played in five tournaments so far in 2012. He's missed the cut three times and finished T13 and T12 in his other two tournaments. So it's fair to say that you're not sure what you will get with Stroud in any given week. That makes him an excellent bench player in a weak field.

Worth Noting: Despite a decent quantity of golfers, Group B is very shallow this week, much more so than Group C.

Group C

Johnson Wagner (Starting)—Wagner got off to a torrid start this season (T9, 1 and T2 in his first three events) and has still been good recently, with a T55 and a T24 in his last two events. He is the defending champion here, and he also ranks 6th on Tour in Strokes Gained Putting (1.131).

Jarrod Lyle (Bench)—Lyle shapes up as an interesting option here. He's coming off of a T4 last week at the Northern Trust Open. His last three appearances here have been outstanding finishing T5, T9 and T6. If you're ever going to use Lyle, this might be the place.

Now, who do you pick in your Weekly Survivor/Eliminator/Earnings League?

With the relatively small purse, I'm not going to use a golfer whom I might use elsewhere. Given that, my main options are Briny Baird and Jarrod Lyle.

While both players have a similar, excellent history here, Lyle has been the better golfer over the past month. Given that, I will go with the hotter hand and use Jarrod Lyle this week.

For the record, I've already used: Bryce Molder, Steve Marino, Bill Haas, D.A. Points, Martin Laird, Hunter Mahan and K.J. Choi.

Good luck to all this week. If you have any comments or questions, please use the comments feature or reach out to me on Twitter.

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