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JoePa's AT&T NATIONAL Picks
Congressional Country Club - 7,225 yards long, tight fairways, well bunkered greens, 102 sand traps, long rough, the 11th hardest course on tour to make birdies on, ranked 9th of 55 courses on the PGA Tour in 2007 in level of difficulty. Favors the accurate hitters....so I'm going mostly with a stable of older tour players whose games fit the course.
AT&T NATIONAL @ CONGRESSIONAL -
ROBERT ALLENBY 20 / 1 - He placed 6th at Congressional in 2007. He's the Rodney Dangerfield of the PGA Tour, is always close and gets no respect from tour pundits although he hasn't missed a cut since the Sony Open in Hawaii....that's January 13th and 16 events ago for Allenby. And, he's gotten Top10 money 5 times this year. You may not like his meager looks and sporty sunglasses but he's money in GIR (3rd), and the smooth way swings his irons makes him a threat to win almost anytime when he running close. He's also 5th in scoring average before the cut, 25th in birdie average, and 12th in tour scoring average at 69.81.
STUART APPLEBY 25 / 1 - Here's a man with a chip on his shoulder, a score to settle, who is owed one big time by the golfing gods, etc. You know the drill, add your own cliche to describe what happened to Appleby at Congressional last year where he finished T3rd. If not for a fateful 76 on Sunday he might not have squandered a lead he had or shared for nearly all four days of the tournament. This season he has a 20th finish at The Memorial and a solid 15th at The Players, has only missed 2 cuts on the season and quietly ripped off a string of 5 straight Top10s at the season's outset. He's cooled off since then, but don't expect him to bow down to Congressional this year!
ROCCO MEDIATE 50 / 1 - The "Rock" finished T8th last year --- but that was last year! We all know his recent form: A tough battle mano-e-mano with Tiger for 19 holes in the U.S. Open playoff, a T6th at The Memorial, and how about that quiet quiet -11 he fired last week at The Buick Open. As an added incentive, if Rocco finishes in the top two of the money list for this week's tournament, he would qualify for an invite to The Open Championship schedule for Royal Birkdale later this month. Pennsylvania is not far away so I expect alot of Rocco's home state fans to be in attendance. He's not favored to win and that's less pressure on him and no biggie since he hasn't been on anyone's short list this year. It could be a fitting chapter in the Cinderella story on the greatest holiday weekend in our country. Maybe Rocco goes out with a bang this weekend! Some said that Torrey Pines was too long for him and all he did was plod along hitting fairways and greens despite him 169th and 82nd rankings in those stat areas. But like in the U.S. Open his stats have been much improved as he was T9th in GIR and 51st in driving distance at The Buick last week!
KEVIN STREELMAN 85 / 1 - The darling of the opening round of the U.S. Open when he had the lead, but since then he hardly gets a mention in the pre-tournament stories! Why? He made plenty of noise the The U.S. Open, is one of the young guns poised to get the 20 somethings back into the winner's circle, and is due, I say he's due! Streelman has made 12 of 19 cuts this year with 3 Top 25s and 1 Top10 to his credit, but he's been in contention and late into the weekend with finishes of T10th at The Travelers at -12, and a T12th in The Buick last week at -14. His recent form shows he accelerated his GIR stat to 72+% in the Travelers and 69+% at The Buick---his best averages of the year. His problem all year long has been on the shortest holes on the course where he's played +48, while he thrives on the par 5s at -53 on the season and a 4.74 average. He cleaned his par 3 average up of late going +1 last weekend at The Buick and -6 at The Travelers. Two double bogeys and 2 bogeys on the first day at the Travelers netted him a 73 and kept him from final round contention despite only one bogey in the two middle rounds and an even par final round. At The Buick last week he had only two bogeys in the first two days, and scratched out a -8 over the final two days despite 5 bogeys. He has to learn to know when to attack the flag and when par is a good score. Maybe he needs a caddie?! He's got plenty of upside!
NO LPGA PICKS THIS WEEK!
AT&T NATIONAL @ CONGRESSIONAL -
ROBERT ALLENBY 20 / 1 - He placed 6th at Congressional in 2007. He's the Rodney Dangerfield of the PGA Tour, is always close and gets no respect from tour pundits although he hasn't missed a cut since the Sony Open in Hawaii....that's January 13th and 16 events ago for Allenby. And, he's gotten Top10 money 5 times this year. You may not like his meager looks and sporty sunglasses but he's money in GIR (3rd), and the smooth way swings his irons makes him a threat to win almost anytime when he running close. He's also 5th in scoring average before the cut, 25th in birdie average, and 12th in tour scoring average at 69.81.
STUART APPLEBY 25 / 1 - Here's a man with a chip on his shoulder, a score to settle, who is owed one big time by the golfing gods, etc. You know the drill, add your own cliche to describe what happened to Appleby at Congressional last year where he finished T3rd. If not for a fateful 76 on Sunday he might not have squandered a lead he had or shared for nearly all four days of the tournament. This season he has a 20th finish at The Memorial and a solid 15th at The Players, has only missed 2 cuts on the season and quietly ripped off a string of 5 straight Top10s at the season's outset. He's cooled off since then, but don't expect him to bow down to Congressional this year!
ROCCO MEDIATE 50 / 1 - The "Rock" finished T8th last year --- but that was last year! We all know his recent form: A tough battle mano-e-mano with Tiger for 19 holes in the U.S. Open playoff, a T6th at The Memorial, and how about that quiet quiet -11 he fired last week at The Buick Open. As an added incentive, if Rocco finishes in the top two of the money list for this week's tournament, he would qualify for an invite to The Open Championship schedule for Royal Birkdale later this month. Pennsylvania is not far away so I expect alot of Rocco's home state fans to be in attendance. He's not favored to win and that's less pressure on him and no biggie since he hasn't been on anyone's short list this year. It could be a fitting chapter in the Cinderella story on the greatest holiday weekend in our country. Maybe Rocco goes out with a bang this weekend! Some said that Torrey Pines was too long for him and all he did was plod along hitting fairways and greens despite him 169th and 82nd rankings in those stat areas. But like in the U.S. Open his stats have been much improved as he was T9th in GIR and 51st in driving distance at The Buick last week!
KEVIN STREELMAN 85 / 1 - The darling of the opening round of the U.S. Open when he had the lead, but since then he hardly gets a mention in the pre-tournament stories! Why? He made plenty of noise the The U.S. Open, is one of the young guns poised to get the 20 somethings back into the winner's circle, and is due, I say he's due! Streelman has made 12 of 19 cuts this year with 3 Top 25s and 1 Top10 to his credit, but he's been in contention and late into the weekend with finishes of T10th at The Travelers at -12, and a T12th in The Buick last week at -14. His recent form shows he accelerated his GIR stat to 72+% in the Travelers and 69+% at The Buick---his best averages of the year. His problem all year long has been on the shortest holes on the course where he's played +48, while he thrives on the par 5s at -53 on the season and a 4.74 average. He cleaned his par 3 average up of late going +1 last weekend at The Buick and -6 at The Travelers. Two double bogeys and 2 bogeys on the first day at the Travelers netted him a 73 and kept him from final round contention despite only one bogey in the two middle rounds and an even par final round. At The Buick last week he had only two bogeys in the first two days, and scratched out a -8 over the final two days despite 5 bogeys. He has to learn to know when to attack the flag and when par is a good score. Maybe he needs a caddie?! He's got plenty of upside!
NO LPGA PICKS THIS WEEK!
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