After a rugged weekend of DFS play in Canada last tourney, it is good for the PGA Tour to return to the US of A and the Firestone Country Club (South), in Akron, Ohio — home of both Devo and the Pretenders–for the Bridgestone Invitational.
If I thought last week posited a long course with Glen Abbey at 7,273 yards, Firestone dusts that with a 7,400 yards of torturous and potentially rewarding play. The course is different, boasting just a pair of par fives, with the 16th hole, at 667 yards, playing as the longest on the tour as opposed to hole #2, a relatively short 527.
On the other side, four threes — ranging from 180 to 221 — mean 12 fours, with a short of 399 on hole #1 to 494 on the ninth, with seven of the fours logging at greater than 450 yards.
That all suggests, once again, the big hitters, either out of the box or an ability to hit the green from 175-200 yards out, were the names that got my attention. But, with the limited slate of 73 golfers, there were a lot of good choices up and down the scorecard.
As for the weather, a typical midwest weekend means warmish — highs around 85 — muggy and a chance at some showers Friday.
As usual I’m playing the $1 Triple Up at FantasyDraft, a format I really like because they drop the low score from your seven-man roster ($100K cap) for the weekend, so sign up and see if you can beat me!
Dustin Johnson ($18,500): Nine top 10s, three wins, and coming off a dominant -23 showing last week at the Canadien, it is very hard to bet against Dustin right now.
Tiger Woods ($17,400): If local knowledge is worth anything, Tiger has been a victor at Firestone no fewer than eight times. He might not be the Tiger of old, but he is still Tiger after all.
Phil Mickelson ($13,900): OK, I am weak with man-love, but in Phil’s case that means 15 of 17 cuts, six top 10s, and a win. And, if my #3 guy can earn his 129.58 point average, I will be in good shape.
Pat Perez ($12,100): Another streaky guy, but a great one at this price, Perez has four top 10s and win this year and ranks #39 in GIR overall with a 69.12% accuracy.
Adam Hadwin ($12,100): Hadwin rates at #54 in GIR and has three top 10s plus a solid 99.47 FPPT.
Brian Harman ($12,100): Harman, who seems to start the season hot and then gets hot again around two-thirds through the season, is another well priced player, and with eight top 10s this season, he is due for a win.
