Zurich Classic of New Orleans

[ I am late in posting this week's picks due to my focus on wrapping up my dissertation and other research projects.  However, unlike last week when I was late in my posts, this time I am able to do a full write up.  ]

This week the US PGA Tour heads to the bayou 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	Bubba Watson	7.20
2	Luke Donald	10.55
3	Jason Dufner	13.45
4	Cameron Tringale	18.80
5	Charles Howell III	18.95
6	John Senden	19.90
7	Keegan Bradley	20.45
8	Jeffrey Overton	22.80
9	Steve Stricker	24.95
10	Greg Owen	26.95
11	Brian Davis	27.50
12	Carl Pettersson	27.55
13	Pat Perez	28.45
14	Greg Chalmers	31.90
15	Chris Stroud	32.15

Watson (analysis) is the only player with a CLi figure less than 10.  He won this tournament last year, and he won the Masters 3 weeks ago.  He was also playing well leading up to the Masters, with 4th and 2nd place finishes the two weeks before the Masters.  However, I am going to pass on him this week as it will be difficult for him to focus on his golf game after all the hoopla surrounding his great win at the Masters.  If he was able to focus on his game, I would pick him.  But the media is just all over him (the media wants, and expects, another 155 yard 90-degree bend pitching wedge from him to win the tournament), and that will make it difficult for him to focus on his golf game this week in New Orleans.

Donald (analysis) is no longer number one in the world this week (McIlroy reclaimed the top spot over last week)at this time.  So maybe that will take some pressure off him, as he is still playing well.  Yes, he had a poor showing at the Masters several weeks ago, and has struggled in the past two tournaments. However, even though he has struggled, he has continued to make the cut.  I look to see him get back into contention this week; to possibly replicate this win at the Transition Championship a month ago.  So he will be my first pick of my 5 picks this week.

For my next 3 picks, I am going with the CLi rankings: Dufner (analysis), Tringale (analysis), and Howell III (analysis).  Dufner has placed 3rd, 7th, and 9th the past 3 years in this event, and since hitting the mainland this season, has yet to miss a cut.  Tringale, a young unheralded buck, is chomping at the bit to get in the winner's circle for the first time. He has placed 18th and 28th the two times he has played in this event, and placed 8th in the past two tournaments he has played in.  Howell III has yet to miss a cut in this event and has placed 2nd twice.  He has missed only one cut in the 11 tournaments he has played in this year.

For my final pick, I am going to skip over Senden (analysis), and pick Bradley (analysis).  Senden is a steady player and that shows in his results in this event -- he has not missed a cut the last 7 events in New Orleans.  However, he has been trending up in his results lately with a 18th, 38th, and 63rd finish in the last 3 events.  As well, in looking at Bradley's results, Bradley has some stronger finishes recently than Senden.  He finished 27th at the Masters even with a 77 in the 2nd round.  And before the Masters, he finished 4th and 8th in the Shell Houston Open and the Cadillac Championship.  These stronger finishes lead to a possible win, and I would like to get a player in the winner circle this week (that would help me make up some ground against the Insider :-) ).


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

#	Player	CLi
1	Luke Donald	10.55
2	Jason Dufner	13.45
3	Cameron Tringale	18.80
4	Charles Howell III	18.95
5	Keegan Bradley	20.45

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

1. Graeme McDowell
2. Steve Stricker
3. Keegan Bradley
4. Luke Donald
5. Bubba Watson

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 2 players in common this tournament: Bradley and Donald

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%

If you don't like the configuration of my CLi calculation, feel free to run your own CLi calculation with your own desired settings by going to golfcli.com.