Fantasy Crystal Ball: THE PLAYERS Championship

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This week, it's the "crown jewel" of the PGA Tour schedule and the 36th playing of the Players Championship.  (If you type THE PLAYERS, it is like you are yelling the name of it from the top of a mountain.)  Really deep field this week with 47 of the top 50 in the world in play at TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course.

via www.golfdigest.com

The Pete Dye design was redone a couple of years ago and the old, 70s-ish clubhouse was replaced with a bohemoth of Frescan architecture.  The scorecard says Sawgrass plays at 7215 yards from the TPC tees. The HOG Blog has the yardage book.

By and large, driver is not that important at Sawgrass.  Length helps on the par 5s, but the crux of the course demands precise shots that may not equate with what players get in their sight lines.  Dye tried to create shots that forced players to trust their instinct instead of what they saw.  The result is a course that can really play tricks on the mind.  Also, the course's susceptibility to the wind can make club selection a very difficult process.

I was at Sawgrass in 2003 when Davis Love III picked up the title in some rainy conditions.  Yes, 17 is awesome to watch, but it is diabolical to play.  Ask Paul Goydos ... or Sean O'Hair.

Anyway, the picks this week kind of vary.  Often times, there is a real darkhorse player that contends for the title all the way through.  Goydos, Tommy Tolles, and others.  That is almost impossible to predict.  But, if I had to venture a guess I would pick it on past performance & Sal Johnson's Golf Stats package.  That said, how about Jeff Quinney?  He has two top 6 finishes in his only two Players appearances.  That was easy.

Now, onto the stars.  The crew at Golf Channel was kind of mixed with Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson getting multiple votes of confidence.  I like Lefty, too, if he doesn't wear a white belt.  He has shown form of late, but not quite enough to capture the Masters or Quail Hollow.  Trust me, though, he smells blood on the world number one ranking.

Maybe take a look at Ernie Els.  Sure, he has fallen off of the map, but he has top 10 finishes in two of the last three years here.  This is a course that clearly requires seasoning in order to play well.  Ask Sergio Garcia, whose Players finish improved every year from 2003 to his win last year.

That said, I think I'm going to bring back the Steve Marino pick this week.  Sure, he's missed the cut in both of his Players starts, but I got a feeling.  Speaking of feeling, I am going with Ross Fisher on my C-list.  The guy strikes the ball really well and that is required at Sawgrass - despite this being his first appearance.

And you always pick last week's winner.  Sean O'Hair is figuring it out before our eyes.  Hopefully he doesn't remember 2007 here, or Bay Hill from earlier this year.