Tour Outsider: Buick Open

The US PGA Tour goes to the great summer state of Michigan for the Buick Open.

Let's look at the Golf CLi and see who the top 15 players are for the tournament ranked by the CLi figure.

Rank Player CLi 1 Jim Furyk 2.90 2 Kenny Perry 5.80 3 Scott Verplank 7.40 4 Sean O'Hair 9.10 5 Woody Austin 11.85 6 Richard S Johnson 12.00 7 Fred Funk 13.15 8 Brian Gay 16.30 9 Charles Warren 25.10 10 Heath Slocum 25.15 11 J.J. Henry 25.25 12 Stephen Leaney 29.90 13 Bob Tway 30.10 14 Billy Andrade 30.45 15 Rod Pampling 31.85

I am going to stick with the top 5 of the CLi.

The big question I had last week about Perry continuing his solid play was put to dirt when he finished in the top 15 at the Travelers Championship. So I am not going to pass on him this week as he is continuing to improve his game this year and he has played well in the Buick Open in the past. He won the tournament in 2001 and has placed no lower than 29th the past 6 times he has played in the tournament (he skipped the tournament in 2005).

I was also tempted to pick Funk over Austin. However, I think Austin has a slight edge over Funk in this tournament with his confidence and current energy level...but it will be close between these two veterans. Funk really wants to make the President's Cup this year, being 50 years old and all.

So the Tour Outsider picks for the Buick Open are:

Rank Player CLi 1 Jim Furyk 2.90 2 Kenny Perry 5.80 3 Scott Verplank 7.40 4 Sean O'Hair 9.10 5 Woody Austin 11.85

The Tour Insider's (Dave Shedloski) picks are:

• 1 Jim Furyk
• 2 Sean O'Hair
• 3 Scott Verplank
• 4 Jason Gore
• 5 John Daly

This week we have 3 players in common: Furyk, O'Hair, and Verplank. Those 3 players are the top 3 of the CLi as well.

Tour Outsider: Travelers Championship Review

It is now time to review the picks for the Travelers Championship to see how the results turned out.

Here are the results of the Tour Outsider (my) picks.

Rank Player CLi Rank Earnings Rd4 Rd3 Rd2 Rd1 Actual 1 Ryan Moore 5.40 33 12 17 8 $33,900 2 Woody Austin 8.60 43 37 34 8 $21,000 3 Stewart Cink 12.50 75 55 29 29 $11,340 4 Peter Lonard 20.55 29 37 17 29 $39,900 5 Jerry Kelly 23.95 15 7 17 47 $90,000

None of my picks placed exceptionally well, however, they did not place poorly either. It would have have been nice if Cink did card a 10 on the 15th hole during the 3rd round. However, he got his money's worth on that hole that day.

Here are the results of the Tour Insider (Dave Shedloski) picks.

• 1 Carl Pettersson | 15 | $90,000
• 2 Arron Oberholser | 156 WD | $0
• 3 Kenny Perry | 15 | $90,000
• 4 David Toms | 6 | $201,000
• 5 J.J. Henry | 13 | $120,000

Oberholser's withdrawal didn't help Shedloski much this week. Here is the comparison between the Tour Ousider and Tour Insider picks.

	Tour Ousider	Tour Insider	Winner
Total Earnings	$196,140	$501,000	TI
Avg Rank	39.0	41.0	TO
Made Cut	5	4	TO
Outcome	--	--	TO

The Tour Insider won the Total Earnings category by over $300,000.

The Tour Outsider won the Avg Rank category by a margin of 2.0.

The Tour Outsider won the Made Cut category.

This tournament was won by the Tour Outsider.

It is nice to have a winning week after losing the previous 3 weeks, even if it was a squeaker.

The overall results between the Tour Outsider and the Tour Insider to date is, 4 wins to the Tour Outsider, 3 win to the Tour Insider, and 3 draws.

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The CLi top 15 looked like this (see below).

Rank Player CLi Rank Earnings Rd4 Rd3 Rd2 Rd1 Actual 1 Ryan Moore 5.40 33 12 17 8 $33,900 2 Woody Austin 8.60 43 37 34 8 $21,000 3 Stewart Cink 12.50 75 55 29 29 $11,340 4 Kenny Perry 13.15 15 12 12 3 $90,000 5 Tim Herron 15.55 54 69 63 79 $13,560 6 Peter Lonard 20.55 29 37 17 29 $39,900 7 Heath Slocum 23.35 22 12 12 29 $54,086 8 Jerry Kelly 23.95 15 7 17 47 $90,000 9 Brian Davis 26.50 43 66 49 79 $21,000 10 Rod Pampling 27.85 36 31 17 8 $27,043 11 Vijay Singh 29.00 4 7 34 29 $288,000 12 Zach Johnson 29.10 MC MC 104 79 $0 13 Justin Rose 32.35 9 7 17 47 $156,000 14 D.J. Trahan 33.80 MC MC 86 79 $0 15 Will MacKenzie 34.00 72 74 63 16 $11,640

Tour Outsider: Travelers Championship

The US PGA Tour goes to the Connecticut for the Travelers Championship, formerly called the Buick Championship, and before that called the Greater Hartford Open.

Let's look at the Golf CLi and see who the top 15 players are for the tournament ranked by the CLi figure.

Rank Player CLi 1 Ryan Moore 5.40 2 Woody Austin 8.60 3 Stewart Cink 12.50 4 Kenny Perry 13.15 5 Tim Herron 15.55 6 Peter Lonard 20.55 7 Heath Slocum 23.35 8 Jerry Kelly 23.95 9 Brian Davis 26.50 10 Rod Pampling 27.85 11 Vijay Singh 29.00 12 Zach Johnson 29.10 13 Justin Rose 32.35 14 D.J. Trahan 33.80 15 Will MacKenzie 34.00

I am going to go with the top 3 in the list: Moore, Austin, and Cink. Even though Cink missed the cut last week in the U.S. Open, he is playing well. My only question in picking him is if he might withdraw, as he is getting a little tired with his all of the tournaments he has played in of late.

I will skip Kenny Perry. He has been playing better lately, especially in the Memorial tournament several weeks ago. However, I just don't know which Perry will show up this tournament. Will it be the "shooting low" Perry, or the "hang on to try to make the cut" Perry.

Herron is playing well, but want to go down the list further and pick Lonard and Kelly. Lonard has been playing well for the past couple of months, and Kelly went to the University of Hartford. So he knows this town and the tournament well. Hartford is like his second home.

So the Tour Outsider picks for the Travelers Championship are:

Rank Player CLi 1 Ryan Moore 5.40 2 Woody Austin 8.60 3 Stewart Cink 12.50 4 Peter Lonard 20.55 5 Jerry Kelly 23.95

The Tour Insider's (Dave Shedloski) picks are:

• 1 Carl Pettersson
• 2 Arron Oberholser
• 3 Kenny Perry
• 4 David Toms
• 5 J.J. Henry

This week we have no players in common.

Tour Outsider: U.S. Open Review

It is now time to review the picks for the U.S. Open Championship to see how the results turned out.

Here are the results of the Tour Outsider (my) picks.

Rank Player CLi Rank Earnings Rd4 Rd3 Rd2 Rd1 Actual 1 Jim Furyk 7.75 2 7 19 5 $611,336 2 Tiger Woods 8.50 2 2 13 5 $611,336 3 Sergio Garcia 13.95 MC MC 99 128 $0 4 David Toms 17.75 5 10 8 21 $248,948 5 Stewart Cink 21.70 MC MC 83 21 $0

Furyk and Woods played well; both had a chance to win the tournament. However, they could not get past Angel Cabrera.

Garcia and Cink did not live up to their potential. Both were playing well going into the tournament, but both missed the cut.

Here are the results of the Tour Insider (Dave Shedloski) picks.

• 1 Adam Scott | 127 MC | $0
• 2 Jim Furyk | 2 | $611,336
• 3 Tiger Woods | 2 | $611,336
• 4 Aaron Baddeley | 13 | $124,706
• 5 Scott Verplank | 7 | $194,245

For both of us, we had two 2nd place finishes with Furyk and Woods.

Shedloski had a good pick in Baddeley, with him leading after 3 rounds. However, Baddeley shot 80 in the final round.

Here is the comparison between the Tour Ousider and Tour Insider picks.

	Tour Ousider	Tour Insider	Winner
Total Earnings	$1,471,620	$1,541,623	TI
Avg Rank	38.2	30.2	TI
Made Cut	3	4	TI
Outcome	--	--	TI

The Tour Insider won the Total Earnings category by over $70,000. The difference maker was Shedloski's Verplank pick.

The Tour Insider won the Avg Rank category by a margin of 8.0.

The Tour Insider won the Made Cut category to get the sweep.

This tournament was won by the Tour Insider.

The overall results between the Tour Outsider and the Tour Insider to date is, 3 wins to the Tour Outsider, 3 win to the Tour Insider, and 3 draws.

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The CLi top 15 looked like this (see below).

Rank Player CLi Rank Earnings Rd4 Rd3 Rd2 Rd1 Actual 1 Jim Furyk 7.75 2 7 19 5 $611,336 2 Tiger Woods 8.50 2 2 13 5 $611,336 3 Sergio Garcia 13.95 MC MC 99 128 $0 4 Vijay Singh 16.85 20 13 33 5 $86,200 5 Phil Mickelson 17.10 MC MC 64 57 $0 6 David Toms 17.75 5 10 8 21 $248,948 7 Steve Stricker 17.95 13 7 33 77 $124,706 8 Arron Oberholser 18.05 MC MC 99 34 $0 9 Stewart Cink 21.70 MC MC 83 21 $0 10 Ryuji Imada 22.30 MC MC 83 57 $0 11 K.J. Choi 23.30 MC MC 83 104 $0 12 Justin Rose 23.75 10 3 3 5 $154,093 13 Sean O'Hair 25.15 MC MC 92 34 $0 14 Woody Austin 28.65 MC MC 64 57 $0 15 Geoff Ogilvy 28.65 42 40 19 5 $31,084

Tour Outsider: U.S. Open

The US PGA Tour hits it's second major of the year in the U.S. Open. This year the tournament being held back at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, PA --- just outside of Pittsburgh.

Let's look at the Golf CLi and see who the top 15 players are for the tournament ranked by the CLi figure.

Rank Player CLi 1 Jim Furyk 7.75 2 Tiger Woods 8.50 3 Sergio Garcia 13.95 4 Vijay Singh 16.85 5 Phil Mickelson 17.10 6 David Toms 17.75 7 Steve Stricker 17.95 8 Arron Oberholser 18.05 9 Stewart Cink 21.70 10 Ryuji Imada 22.30 11 K.J. Choi 23.30 12 Justin Rose 23.75 13 Sean O'Hair 25.15 14 Woody Austin 28.65 15 Geoff Ogilvy 28.65

I am going to go with the top 3 in the list: Furyk, Woods, and Garcia.

Then after that will skip down to Toms and then down to Stewart Cink.

Have a hestitation with Singh in that his driving can be wild and his putting a little off at this point in the year.

As well, with Mickelson I have a hestitation with his health (wrist). The tall, thick rough at the U.S. Open could be a problem with his ginger wrist.

For Stricker and Oberholser, they don't have a lot of history in the tournament, so it is hard to pick them at this point.

So the Tour Outsider picks for the U.S. Open Championship are:

Rank Player CLi 1 Jim Furyk 7.75 2 Tiger Woods 8.50 3 Sergio Garcia 13.95 6 David Toms 17.75 9 Stewart Cink 21.70

The Tour Insider's (Dave Shedloski) picks are:

• 1 Adam Scott
• 2 Jim Furyk
• 3 Tiger Woods
• 4 Aaron Baddeley
• 5 Scott Verplank

This week we have one player in common: Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods.