Strausberg on the AT&T Classic

By Mark Strausberg

YAHOO:
"Pick any two Bond movies you want from his collection."
"Really? Cool!"
"Yeah, but I hope you like Timothy Dalton".

A Pool
That's what picking the As are like this week in Yahoo. I can live with no Tiger or Phil or Scott or Singh. But no Verplank, no Choi, no Furyk, no Snedeker, nor my favorite Boo Weekley. Heck, you can't even choose the fun to say Vance Veazey. So I went with the obvious pick of ZJ (Zack Johnson). Originally when I picked my lineup earlier in the week, I was kind of excited to finally pick Kevin Na because I like his game, but he's not usually worth using as my A and this was a golden opportunity. So of course, he withdraws. I ended up choosing the rook, Jason Day, whom I rode earlier in the other games to much disappointment. But just in case he decides to play well, I'll have him on my team. But you're probably better off going with the other rookie, Nick Flanagan. But if you want someone who has actually won a tournament, go with Chucky Three Sticks, but he's dead to me....

B Pool
You want to start him on your bench? Fine. But if you don't include Cink on your team this week, you're an idiot. He DQ'd himself and missed one cut this year. Outside of those two tournaments, Cink's worst performance was 26th. He's #3 on the money list. Has 6 top 10 finishes this year already. (That Woods guy can't even say that!). And oh yeah, he played in college at Georgia Tech and has a home at Sugarloaf. Do you really need anymore reasons?

Bubba Watson-One of my favorite players and I haven't used him yet this year in this format. Sugarloaf rewards those that can bomb and those that can putt. If Bubba gets his putter going (like he did in the US Open last year), don't be surprised to see him in one of the last groups on Sunday.

Imada-Another who played his college ball in Georgia. Maybe its the 2nd place finish last year, but just a hunch he gets back on track here.

Goosen-I know he hasn't played that well lately, but he won that thing called the US Open not too long ago and he won this event back in 2002 and had a T-4 place finish in 2006. I'm going to roll the dice with him.

C Pool
Crane-I like to play guys that own the course record. Crane does. And he won here back in 2003. And he had a T-6 in the deep field of the Players Championship.

Slocum-His record is not the best here, despite living in Alpharetta. But he's playing better lately, so I'll hope he keeps it up. But I'll be honest, I might make a last minute switch and go Shane Bertsch. He has 5 Top 25s this year and he finished T-7 back here in 2006.

ESPN
Watson-He's a carryover.
Imada-See above
Cink-See above
Baird-That's 7 Top 25 performances already this year and Top 10 finishes here both of the last two years. Given that it leaves me with just .1 million left that'll work!

CBS-Here's what I like to do in CBS--roll the dice on two minimums and use the remaining $850K on three guys. So the first one is Parker McLachlin. Made his last three cuts and finished tied for 16th place last year. Good enough for me.
Since the youngest Strausberg entered the world last week, I feel like going with someone young and new on the scene.-D. Johnson it is. Plus, that gives me enough money to choose Cink, Johnson, and Watson.

PGA-I should tell you that because this game has weekly prizes, I often go a little more aggressive here often choosing other players I like for the week that I haven't chosen yet.
Group 1-Nicholas Thompson. I like Imada and Cink more, but NTom (okay, maybe it doesn't work, but that's what I'm calling him) has six top 25 finishes this year and played at Georgia Tech. Just because I'm going aggressive, doesn't mean I can't be smart about it also.
Group 2-No one jumps out at me. Elkington has been playing well recently and he has a 16th place finish last year. Goydos will probably be the popular choice, but his track record for back to back success is non-existent.
Group 3-Crane. Almost went Baird. Not EVERY pick has to be aggressive.
Group 4-Goosen is probably the smart pick. But I'm an idiot-just ask my wife. So I'm going with Matteson who also lives in Alpharetta and played at Ga Tech.
Group 5-Byrd. Slocum and Flesch are tempting, but Bryd has finished in the top 10 twice here both of the last two years.
Group 6-ZJ. See above.
Tiebreaker-Villegas. The only player in the tiebreaker list that I like that I haven't chosen somewhere else.

Mark Strausberg has been playing fantasy sports since back when Jose Canseco was a first round fantasy pick and not a 'best-selling author'. Mark's work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, and of course the talentedmrroto.com. He wishes he could play golf as well as his analyzes it, but he has also been known to suffer from "paralysis by analysis". Mark would also like to thank the Hooker for this opportunity, but he's worried that his wife might find out and not understand. If you want to let him know what an idiot he is, drop him a line at mstrausberg@hotmail.com