The prestigious Players Championship is just a week away, which has brought the world's best out in droves to tune up at the Wachovia Championship. As if a field that includes all but one of the world's 20 best players needed any more intrigue for the fantasy hacker, the crew at Quail Hollow has the track set up like it's a major, with dry conditions creating extremely slick putting surfaces that should challenge the boatload of talent that has shown up in Charlotte this week. With so much firepower in attendance, fantasy owners have to be very diligent in setting their lineups this week. Our preview gets you started on the right track.
The Favorites
We'll just dispense with the pleasantries and assume you know that Tiger Woods is the favorite, as usual, this week. He'll be given a serious run by a slew of world class players, however, starting with 2006 Wachovia champ Jim Furyk. Furyk has been in a playoff for the title each of the last two years, but he'll have to break a five-week skid to contend this week. Furyk hasn't registered a top 10 since mid-February. Like Furyk, Vijay Singh also has a win and a runner-up at Quail Hollow, so he'll likely be in the mix. Operation Fix My Driver began with a T3 at the Byron Nelson for Phil Mickelson, but that finish had nothing to do with a driver that barely found half of the fairways and everything to do with a putter that didn't see a putt it didn't like. Based primarily on his third place finish at this event a year ago, Adam Scott should not be overlooked.
The Best of the Rest
A handful of players come into this week riding some serious momentum. At the top of the list is last week's winner Scott Verplank. He won what he refers to as the fifth major a week ago and finished tied for 11th in his only previous trip to Charlotte. As you'll see below, Rory Sabbatini is as hot as his temper these days, as is Vaughn Taylor, who is riding a wave of top 10s in general (three in his last four events) and at Quail Hollow (two in a row). Jerry Kelly and Masters champ Zach Johnson are both sporting top-10 streaks of their own, but both will have to overcome less-than-stellar historical results at Quail Hollow to keep it up. Trevor Immelman, last year's runner-up, certainly deserves mention, as do the usual suspects like Luke Donald, Ernie Els, and Henrik Stenson.
Who's Hot?
Rory Sabbatini: The volatile South African figured something out at the Masters. He followed his unlikely tie for second at Augusta with a T3 last week at the Byron Nelson, which was fueled by a final-round 64.
Zach Johnson:Johnson now has three consecutive top 10s, including, of course, his Masters win. Sadly, he also appears on "The Ugly" list below.
Who's Not?
Trevor Immelman: Last year's Wachovia runner-up will have to shake a recent slump to contend again this week. He's finished better than T35 just once in his last four events.
Robert Allenby: After starting the year with four straight top-10 finishes, Allenby has placed T32 or worse in three of his last four tournaments.
Player Trends
It's not a fool-proof indicator of future success, but golfers who fare well at a particular venue tend to do so time and again. With that in mind, we provide a list of players who have notable trends at this week's event (most recent results are listed first).
The Good
Vijay Singh (T38, Win, T10, T2)
Geoff Ogilvy (T10, T22, T10)
Vaughn Taylor (T6, T5, Cut)
Joey Sindelar (T6, T33, Win, Cut)
D.J. Trahan (T14, T9)
The Bad
Peter Lonard (Cut, T44, T40)
Rory Sabbatini (T52, Cut, T50, T40)
Rod Pampling (T56, T28, Cut)
Stuart Appleby (T52, Cut, T15, Cut)
Carl Pettersson (T38, T64, Cut, Cut)
The Ugly
Zach Johnson (Cut, Cut, Cut)
Weekly Rankings
1. Tiger Woods
2. Jim Furyk
3. Vijay Singh
4. Phil Mickelson
5. Adam Scott
