Hyundai Tournament of Champions

This is the first tournament of the 2011 season for the US PGA Tour. As usual, the tour starts in Hawaii with a tournament that has a limited number of players and no cut. It is the newly named Hyndai Tournament of Champions (formerly know as the SBS Championship and prior to that as the Mercedes-Benz Championship).

Below is the list of the top 15 players in the CLi rankings for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

#	Player	CLi
1	Jonathan Byrd	7.70
2	Geoff Ogilvy	8.65
3	Adam Scott	10.15
4	Ernie Els	10.70
5	Hunter Mahan	11.35
6	Zach Johnson	12.40
7	Ben Crane	12.60
8	Jim Furyk	12.65
9	Steve Stricker	12.95
10	Matt Kuchar	13.80
11	Anthony Kim	14.00
12	Dustin Johnson	14.20
13	Cameron Beckman	14.40
14	Charley Hoffman	15.85
15	Camilo Villegas	16.40

Usually it is difficult to pick players during the first couple of tournaments in the season because of the previous 2 month layoff. However, with this tournament being a limited field and has no cut, it makes it a little easier to pick players although it is the first tournament of the season,

For my picks, I like the top 5 in the CLi rankings: Byrd, Ogilvy, Scott, Els, and Mahan.

I was thinking about skipping on Mahan and going with Furyk. The reason I was thinking about Furyk iis because there is not much difference in their CLi rankings although Mahan is ranked 5th and Furyk 8th (difference of 4 spots in the CLi rankings). In addition, Furyk tends to play well in Hawaii. He has a house in the state of Hawaii, which basically makes him a local boy; local boys tend to play well in their tournaments. But I am going to trust the CLi this week and pick Mahan over Furyk.

Below are my 5 picks for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions :

#	Player	CLi
1	Jonathan Byrd	7.70
2	Geoff Ogilvy	8.65
3	Adam Scott	10.15
4	Ernie Els	10.70
5	Hunter Mahan	11.35

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

1. Geoff Ogilvy
2. Ernie Els
3. Graeme McDowell
4. Steve Stricker
5. Tim Clark

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: Hyundai Tournament of Champions

We have 2 players in common this week: Ogilvy and Els.

Below are the settings for the CLi calculation I used for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions :

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)
90	15%	15%
Number of Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA3)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA3)
4	10%	10%

That Time of Year Again

Happy new year everyone!!!

It is that time of year again...the start of the US PGA Tour season.  As usual, the tour starts this week in Hawaii with a selective set of players.  So tomorrow I will get back on the horse and start posting my weekly predictions for tournaments again. 

Rob Bolton will remain the competitor of the Tour Outsider...and thus has the label of Tour Insider (even though he is the Power Rankings persons on the US PGA Tour web site).  Bolton won last year; hopefully I will get the upper hand this year.  If not, at the very least the combination of both of our picks should be rewarding to readers.

Enjoy the year.

Season Finished; Taking a Break Until the Start of 2011 Season

It looks like I lost for the first time to the Tour Insider.  Rob Bolton, the Tour Insider this year, won 21 of the 44 events we made picks.  I won 19 events, and we drew the remaining 4 events.  Congrats Bolton!!!!  Hopefully I will do better next year.

For now, I am going to be taking a break until the end of the year.  It is now my time to finish up teaching this semester and do some work on my dissertation.  See you all at the start of the 2011 US PGA Tour golf season in January. Thanks for all of your support.

In the meantime, if you want to run your own Golf CLi you can do so for any of the tournaments on the major tours by setting up an account on golfcli.com.

Children's Miracle Network Classic Review

It is now time to review the picks for the Children's Miracle Network Classic to see how the results turned out.

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

1. Joe Durant | 40 | $18,330
2. Charles Howell III | 9 | $126,900
3. Tom Pernice Jr | 30 | $26,179
4. Davis Love III | 19 | $58,985
5. Justin Leonard | 85 (MC) | $0

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

1. Webb Simpson | 40 | $18,330
2. Brendon De Jonge | 30 | $26,179
3. Spencer Levin | 3 | $244,400
4. Charles Howell III | 9 | $126,900
5. John Senden | 12 | $92,120

 Here is the comparison of the results for our picks.

	Tour Outsider	Tour Insider	Winner
Total Earnings	$230,394	$507,919	TI
Avg Rank	36.6	18.8	TI
Made Cut	4	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 19 wins to the Tour Outsider, 21 wins to the Tour Insider, and 4 draws.

Children's Miracle Network Classic

This week the US PGA Tour is back in the USA playing the last of the Fall Finish tournament. The Children's Miracle Network Classic is being played in Florida at the Disney World Resort --- where dreams come true.

Below is the list of the top 15 players in the CLi rankings for the Children's Miracle Network Classic.

#	Player	CLi
1	Joe Durant	7.55
2	Charles Howell III	9.80
3	Tom Pernice Jr	13.65
4	Davis Love III	14.10
5	Brian Davis	15.50
6	Justin Leonard	16.05
7	Pat Perez	16.40
8	George McNeill	18.50
9	Chris Stroud	18.80
10	Mark Wilson	21.30
11	John Senden	21.80
12	Cameron Beckman	21.95
13	Tom Lehman	22.25
14	Heath Slocum	22.25
15	Ryan Palmer	23.80

I like the top 4 in the CLi rankings: Durant, Howell III, Pernice, and Love. I actually like the player in the 5th position: Brian Davis. He placed 2nd in the recent tournament in Malaysia. However, I am looking at the 6th player, Justin Leonard, and his record in this tournament and leading up to this tournament. He has played well at Disney, and has played solidly leading up to this tournament. He hasn't placed in the top ten recently, but I could see him push it hard this week to try to end the season on a good note.

Below are my 5 picks for the Children's Miracle Network Classic :

#	Player	CLi
1	Joe Durant	7.55
2	Charles Howell III	9.80
3	Tom Pernice Jr	13.65
4	Davis Love III	14.10
5	Justin Leonard	16.05

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

1. Webb Simpson
2. Brendon De Jonge
3. Spencer Levin
4. Charles Howell III
5. John Senden

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: Children's Miracle Network Classic

We have 1 player in common this week: Howell III.

Below are the settings for the CLi calculation I used for the Children's Miracle Network Classic :

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%

HSBC Champions Tournament Review

It is now time to review the picks for the HSBC Champions Tournament to see how the results turned out.

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

1. Nick Watney | 21 | $68,000
2. Ernie Els | 6 | $145,714
3. Luke Donald | 3 | $372,500
4. Adam Scott | 25 | $60,200
5. Ryo Ishikawa | 41 | $44,000

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

1. Martin Kaymer | 30 | $55,500
2. Graeme McDowell | 34 | $51,000
3. Luke Donald | 3 | $372,500
4. Nick Watney | 21 | $68,000
5. Padraig Harrington | 16 | $77,200

 Here is the comparison of the results for our picks.

	Tour Outsider	Tour Insider	Winner
Total Earnings	$690,414	$624,200	TO
Avg Rank	19.2	20.8	TO
Made Cut	5	5	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 19 wins to the Tour Outsider, 20 wins to the Tour Insider, and 4 draws.

HSBC Champions Tournament

This week the US PGA Tour stays in Asia to play a World Golf Championship event, the HSBC Champions Tournament.

Below is the list of the top 15 players in the CLi rankings for the HSBC Champions Tournament.

#	Player	CLi
1	Nick Watney	5.6
2	Ernie Els	6.4
3	Luke Donald	8.3
4	Adam Scott	8.6
5	Robert Allenby	11.2
6	Ryo Ishikawa	13.1
7	Kyung-tae Kim	13.8
8	Arjun Atwal	15.4
9	K.J. Choi	16.5
10	Martin Kaymer	17.4
11	Padraig Harrington	17.7
12	Retief Goosen	17.9
13	Paul Casey	20.8
14	Lee Westwood	23.1
15	Tiger Woods	23.8

I like the top 5 in the CLi rankings: Watney, Els, Donald, Scott, and Allenby. However, none of them are Asia-based. And with this tournament being played in Asia (China), I want to have at least one player in this "World Golf Championship" that is "local". So I will by pass Allenby to pick Ishikawa. Allenby is playing well, but so is Ishikawa....in the Japanese events he has played over the past month. Hopefully he will take his play to China and play well this week.

Below are my 5 picks for the HSBC Champions Tournament :

#	Player	CLi
1	Nick Watney	5.6
2	Ernie Els	6.4
3	Luke Donald	8.3
4	Adam Scott	8.6
5	Ryo Ishikawa	13.1

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

1. Martin Kaymer
2. Graeme McDowell
3. Luke Donald
4. Nick Watney
5. Padraig Harrington

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: HSBC Champions Tournament

We have 2 players in common this week: Donald and Watney.

Below are the settings for the CLi calculation I used for the HSBC Champions Tournament :

Number of Past Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA1)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA1)
5	20%	20%
Number of Days Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA2)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA2)
30	10%	10%
Number of Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA3)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA3)
4	20%	20%