Quail Hollow Championship

This week the US PGA Tour is back on the East coast playing the Quail Hollow Championship.

Below is the list of the top 15 players in the CLi rankings for the Quail Hollow Championship.

#	Player	CLi
1	Anthony Kim	1.65
2	Tiger Woods	2.35
3	Jim Furyk	7.00
4	Fred Couples	8.30
5	Phil Mickelson	9.25
6	Jason Bohn	13.90
7	Bubba Watson	17.75
8	Nick Watney	21.10
9	Fredrik Jacobson	25.20
10	Boo Weekley	28.05
11	Adam Scott	29.85
12	D.J. Trahan	32.00
13	Bo Van Pelt	32.55
14	Ben Curtis	36.55
15	Bill Haas	38.30

This week the CLi did a turn around. The top 5 players all have a CLi figure less than 10. This will make it easier to pick players for this tournament...I will go with the top 5 players.

Wait, hold on. Actually, there is a question mark with one of the players and that is Couples. The CLi is including his recent wins on the Champions Tour which probably is not a good thing since this tournament is a US PGA Tour event. Champions Tour events are played on shorter courses than US PGA Tour events, and require a more healthy competition (not to put the Champions Tour down, but the Champions Tour events have a smaller field and no cut). So even though I would very much enjoy Couple winning a US PGA Tour event, I am going to pull him out of my picks and go down to the 6th player in the list, Bohn. He won last week in New Orleans and could easily continue to play well this week.

Below are my 5 picks for the Quail Hollow Championship:

#	Player	CLi
1	Anthony Kim	1.65
2	Tiger Woods	2.35
3	Jim Furyk	7.00
5	Phil Mickelson	9.25
5	Jason Bohn	13.90

Below is the top 5 players in the Power Rankings from Rob Bolton:

1. Camilo Villegas
2. Phil Mickelson
3. Anthony Kim
4. Tiger Woods
5. Jim Furyk

Here is a link to Bolton's Power Rankings so that you can read more about his thoughts on his top players in this week's Power Rankings:

Bolton's Power Rankings: Quail Hollow Championship

We have 4 player in common this week: Mickelson, Kim, Woods, and Furyk.

Below are the settings for the CLi calculation I used for the Quail Hollow Championship:

Number of Past Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA1)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA1)
5	25%	25%
Number of Days Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA2)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA2)
30	5%	5%
Number of Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA3)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA3)
4	20%	20%

Zurich Classic Review

It is now time to review the picks for the Zurich Classic to see how the results turned out.

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

1. K.J. Choi | 37 | $28.160
2. Ian Poulter | 156 (WD) | $0
3. Jeff Maggert | 156 (WD) | $0
4. Bubba Watson | 43 | $18,701
5. Charles Howell III | 43 | $18,701

Here are the results for the Tour Insider's (Bolton's) picks.

1. Charles Howell III | 43 | $18,701
2. Steve Marino | 141 (MC) | $0
3. Steve Stricker | 156 (WD | $0
4. Rory Sabbatini | 53 | $14,816
5. Brian Davis | 57 | $14,208

Here is the comparison of the results for our picks.

	Tour Outsider	Tour Insider	Winner
Total Earnings	$65,562	$47,725	TO
Avg Rank	87.0	90.0	TO
Made Cut	3	3	DRAW
Outcome	--	--	TO

The Total Earnings category was won by the Tour Outsider.

The Avg Rank category was won by the Tour Outsider.

The Made Cut category was a draw.

This tournament overall was won by the Tour Outsider.

The overall results between the Tour Outsider and the Tour Insider is 5 wins to the Tour Outsider, 8 wins to the Tour Insider, and 1 draw.

Hmmmmm....that was a lam win. I had two players withdraw (Poulter and Maggert). However, it helped that Bolton also had one player withdraw (Stricker) along with a poor showing by another player he picked (Marino). A win is a win, and at this point I will take even an ugly win since I have been behind the entire year so far.

Zurich Classic

This week the US PGA Tour is in Louisiana to play the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Below is the list of the top 15 players in the CLi rankings for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

#	Player	CLi
1	K.J. Choi	17.50
2	Ian Poulter	20.20
3	Jeff Maggert	25.00
4	Tommy Armour III	26.55
5	Bubba Watson	29.55
6	Stuart Appleby	30.85
7	Charles Howell III	31.10
8	Woody Austin	31.95
9	Brian Davis	32.05
10	Jerry Kelly	32.25
11	Justin Rose	35.25
12	Chris Couch	36.70
13	J.J. Henry	39.30
14	John Senden	41.55
15	Steve Marino	42.65

Wow, what is happening with the CLi. For the past 3 weeks, there has not been a player with a CLi figure less than 10. And in the case this week, only one player has a CLi figure less than 20.

I will go with the top 3: Choi, Poulter, and Maggert. Maggert missed the cut last week in Hilton Head. However, I see him bouncing back and playing well in Louisiana. He plays well in this tournament, and it is close to his home in Texas.

After that I am going to skip over Armour (the 50 year old might party too much in New Orleans on Bourbon street). Then I will go with Bubba Watson. I would normally pick Appleby as I think he would be a good pick for this tournament. However, I think Howell is an even better pick as he has been quietly playing well this year and could possibly break through with a win this week. If not a win, at least a top 10. That means that I have a player with a CLi figure of over 30 in my picks. Let's see if that works or not this week.

Below are my 5 picks for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans:

#	Player	CLi
1	K.J. Choi	17.50
2	Ian Poulter	20.20
3	Jeff Maggert	25.00
4	Bubba Watson	29.55
5	Charles Howell III	31.10

Below is the top 5 players in the Power Rankings from Rob Bolton:

1. Charles Howell III
2. Steve Marino
3. Steve Stricker
4. Rory Sabbatini
5. Brian Davis

Here is a link to Bolton's Power Rankings so that you can read more about his thoughts on his top players in this week's Power Rankings:

Bolton's Power Rankings: Zurich Classic of New Orleans

We have 1 player in common this week: Howell.

Below are the settings for the CLi calculation I used for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans:

Number of Past Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA1)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA1)
5	25%	25%
Number of Days Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA2)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA2)
30	5%	5%
Number of Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA3)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA3)
4	20%	20%

Verizon Heritage Review

It is now time to review the picks for the Verizon Heritage Classic to see how the results turned out.

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

1. Matt Kuchar | 14 | $88,350
2. Jim Furyk | 1 | $1,026,000
3. Stephen Ames | 14 | $88,350
4. Jeff Maggert | 92 (MC) | $0
5. Luke Donald | 3 | $330,600

Here are the results for the Tour Insider's (Bolton's) picks.

1. Matt Kuchar | 14 | $88,350
2. K.J. Choi | 41 | $20,520
3. Bo Van Pelt | 3 | $330,600
4. Vaughn Taylor | 131 (MC) | $0
5. Brian Gay | 32 | $33,725

Here is the comparison of the results for our picks.

	Tour Outsider	Tour Insider	Winner
Total Earnings	$1,533,300	$473,195	TO
Avg Rank	24.8	44.2	TO
Made Cut	4	4	DRAW
Outcome	--	--	TO

The Total Earnings category was won by the Tour Outsider.

The Avg Rank category was won by the Tour Outsider.

The Made Cut category was a draw.

This tournament overall was won by the Tour Outsider.

The overall results between the Tour Outsider and the Tour Insider is 4 wins to the Tour Outsider, 8 wins to the Tour Insider, and 1 draw.

Yeah!!! I got a win in the tournament and with Furyk winning.

Verizon Heritage

This week the US PGA Tour takes us to Hilton Head Island for the Verizon Heritage.

Below is the list of the top 15 players in the CLi rankings for the Verizon Heritage.

#	Player	CLi
1	Matt Kuchar	14.20
2	Jim Furyk	14.55
3	Stephen Ames	16.50
4	Jeff Maggert	20.00
5	Paul Casey	20.10
6	Luke Donald	21.20
7	Camilo Villegas	25.75
8	Jason Bohn	25.80
9	Vaughn Taylor	26.90
10	Chris Couch	27.90
11	Fredrik Jacobson	28.15
12	Jerry Kelly	28.50
13	D.J. Trahan	29.95
14	Shaun Micheel	30.45
15	Spencer Levin	31.20

As with last week, there are no players with a CLi figure less than 10. This usually means that there is no clear favorite in the tournament. However, I will still stick with the top 4 players in the CLi rankings: Kuchar, Furyk, Ames, and Maggert. These 4 players are not long hitters, but are accurate with their irons. I will skip over Casey as he is still nursing his shoulder injury and is an unknown factor (he hurt me in the Shell Houston Open by withdrawing from the tournament due to that injury). I will then pick Donald for my 5th pick. He is another player that is accurate with his shots. Let's just hope that the putter gets hot for one or two of these players to make the difference with these picks.

Below are my 5 picks for the Verizon Heritage:

#	Player	CLi
1	Matt Kuchar	14.20
2	Jim Furyk	14.55
3	Stephen Ames	16.50
4	Jeff Maggert	20.00
5	Luke Donald	21.20

Below is the top 5 players in the Power Rankings from Rob Bolton:

1. Matt Kuchar
2. K.J. Choi
3. Bo Van Pelt
4. Vaughn Taylor
5. Brian Gay

Here is a link to Bolton's Power Rankings so that you can read more about his thoughts on his top players in this week's Power Rankings:

Bolton's Power Rankings: Verizon Heritage

We have 1 player in common this week: Kuchar.

Below are the settings for the CLi calculation I used for the Verizon Heritage:

Number of Past Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA1)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA1)
5	25%	25%
Number of Days Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA2)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA2)
30	5%	5%
Number of Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA3)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA3)
4	20%	20%

The Masters Review

It is now time to review the picks for The Masters to see how the results turned out.

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

1. Tiger Woods | 4 | $330,000
2. Ernie Els | 18 | $94,500
3. Jim Furyk | 91 (MC) | $5,000
4. Luke Donald | 54 (MC) | $5,000
5. Retief Goosen | 38 | $34,500

Here are the results for the Tour Insider's (Bolton's) picks.

1. Retief Goosen | 38 | $34,500
2. Steve Stricker | 30 | $45,563
3. Lee Westwood | 2 | $810,000
4. Tiger Woods | 4 | $330,000
5. Ernie Els | 18 | $94,500

Here is the comparison of the results for our picks.

	Tour Outsider	Tour Insider	Winner
Total Earnings	$469,000	$1,314,563	TI
Avg Rank	41.0	18.4	TI
Made Cut	3	5	TI
Outcome	--	--	TI

The Total Earnings category was won by the Tour Insider.

The Avg Rank category was won by the Tour Insider.

The Made Cut category was won by the Tour Insider.

This tournament overall was won by the Tour Insider.

The overall results between the Tour Outsider and the Tour Insider is 3 wins to the Tour Outsider, 8 wins to the Tour Insider, and 1 draw.

If I had Bolton did a good job in picking two top 5 players in Westwood and Woods. He is now 5 up after 12 tournaments. With the season now about 1/3 complete, I could be knocked out for the rest of the season if I don't get my act in gear over the next 6 or so tournaments.

Bolton did a good job in picking two top 5 players in Westwood and Woods. If I had picked Kim, I would have done well this week. The CLi rankings showed Kim as the best pick, but I passed over him since I didn't think he had the experience to keep up his good form at a Major even though he did win the previous week at the Shell Houston Open.

Bolton is now 5 up after 12 tournaments. With the season now about 1/3 complete, I could be knocked out for the rest of the season if I don't get my act in gear over the next 6 or so tournaments.

The Masters

This week is the first major of the year, The Masters.

Below is the list of the top 15 players in the CLi rankings for the Masters.

#	Player	CLi
1	Anthony Kim	10.40
2	Tiger Woods	11.30
3	Paul Casey	12.55
4	Vijay Singh	13.65
5	Ernie Els	14.25
6	Jim Furyk	14.30
7	Luke Donald	14.65
8	Retief Goosen	15.60
9	Fred Couples	16.35
10	Phil Mickelson	17.90
11	Padraig Harrington	19.00
12	Nick Watney	19.40
13	Hunter Mahan	20.20
14	Ian Poulter	20.45
15	Steve Stricker	20.80

The main thing that sticks out at me when I look at the CLi rankings is that no player has a CLi figure less than 10. As I have mentioned in previous posts, that usually means that there is no clear favorite in the tournament...and thus makes it harder to pick players. Being that this is a major, and majors are difficult to pick players in the first place, that makes it even harder for picking players that will play well.

I will get off my soapbox and just pick accordingly. Even though Kim last week and he is the lowest CLi ranking player, I am going to skip him. I think he will not be focused having won last week. He will have confidence. But experience comes before confidence at Augusta, and he doesn't have a lot of experience playing at Augusta.

So my first pick will be Tiger. Even though Tiger has been out of competition for the past 3-5 months, and he has done some things that I disagree with personally, golf has not been far from his mind. He might be a little rusty when it comes down to the fine points of the game this weekend. But he will place well (i.e. in the top 20).

The next two picks, Casey and Singh, are players that I like and which are playing well leading up to this week...if they can hit the ball. However, both of them hurt me last week when they pulled out of the Shell Houston Open. Casey didn't withdrew before even hitting a shot and Singh pulled out after playing 9 holes due to a back injury. I just don't know if their injuries will hold them up this week. So I am going to pass on them. If they were healthy they would definite be threats to win the tournament.

I am then going to pick the next 4 players: Els, Furyk, Donald, and Goosen.

Below are my 5 picks for the Masters:

#	Player	CLi
1	Tiger Woods	11.30
2	Ernie Els	14.25
3	Jim Furyk	14.30
4	Luke Donald	14.65
5	Retief Goosen	15.60

Below is the top 5 players in the Power Rankings from Rob Bolton:

1. Retief Goosen
2. Steve Stricker
3. Lee Westwood
4. Tiger Woods
5. Ernie Els

Here is a link to Bolton's Power Rankings so that you can read more about his thoughts on his top players in this week's Power Rankings:

Bolton's Power Rankings: Masters

We have 3 players in common this week: Goosen, Woods, and Els.

Below are the settings for the CLi calculation I used for the Masters:

Number of Past Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA1)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA1)
6	25%	25%
Number of Days Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA2)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA2)
60	5%	5%
Number of Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA3)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA3)
6	20%	20%

Shell Houston Open Review

It is now time to review the picks for the Shell Houston Open to see how the results turned out.

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

1. Paul Casey | 142 (WD) | $0
2. Fred Couples | 55 | $13,166
3. Ernie Els | 44 | $17,535
4. Vijay Singh | 142 (WD) | $0
5. Anthony Kim | 1 | $1,044,000

Here are the results for the Tour Insider's (Bolton's) picks.

1. Hunter Mahan | 81 (MC) | $0
2. Paul Casey | 141 (WD) | $0
3. Ernie Els | 44 | $17,535
4. Padraig Harrington | 40 | $23,200
5. Fred Couples | 55 | $53,901

Here is the comparison of the results for our picks.

	Tour Outsider	Tour Insider	Winner
Total Earnings	$1,074,701	$53,901	TO
Avg Rank	76.8	72.4	TI
Made Cut	3	3	DRAW
Outcome	--	--	DRAW

The Total Earnings category was won by the Tour Outsider.

The Avg Rank category was won by the Tour Insider.

The Made Cut category was a draw.

This tournament overall was a draw.

The overall results between the Tour Outsider and the Tour Insider is 3 wins to the Tour Outsider, 7 wins to the Tour Insider, and 1 draw.

With picking a winner in Kim, you would have thought that I would have run away with it. The withdrawal of both Singh and Casey kicked me in the rear-end. I guess I should have paid more attention to Singh's back injury and the Masters coming up. Both Singh and Casey wanted to rest their injuries (Casey has a wrist injury) before playing in the Masters.