By Bryan Douglass
July 21, 2009 10:57am CDT

~ Hot Topic of the Week ~
- Observations

As always, we look to the major from the previous week for statistical gems and potential flags of note to keep in mind for the weeks ahead.

- Stewart Cink's win at the Open Championship was just his third stop in the top 10 this season. In fact, Cink boasts just five finishes in the top 25 over 16 starts this season. Even after the first major title of his career, he still ranks 128th on the Tour in putting (1.791/green) and 149th in driving accuracy (59.1 percent).

- Chris Wood spends no time on a course that matters to fantasy owners, but we hope that changes. Over his last six starts he's finished T24, T10, T5, T10, T30, all capped with the T3 at the Open Championship. He's withdrawn from the next Euro event (the SAS Masters) with a wrist injury, but he's needed just 26 career starts to work his way into the world's top 100 (currently ranked No. 59).

- The last time we had a weekend at a major without both Tiger and Phil: 1995.

- Another missed cut has pushed K.J. Choi out of the top 50 on the latest World Golf Rankings. In 16 PGA starts this season, he has just one top-10 finish.

- It's hard to believe, but the T38 registered by Sergio Garcia at the Open Championship has allowed another golfer to surpass him on the latest World Golf Rankings. Now Sergio is looking up at Paul Casey and Kenny Perry. Garcia started the season with two top 10s and a T11, but he has reached the visible part of the final leaderboard just three times since.

- We used this space last week to suggest you give Retief Goosen some heavy thought as you filled your fantasy roster for the Open Championship, touting one of the most illustrious resumes on the field for the event. He made good, finishing T5, and may have earned title as the hottest hand on the links today. Over his last five starts, Goosen has finished T11 at Quail Hollow, T22 at THE PLAYERS, T29 at the St. Jude, T16 at the US Open, topped by the major overseas. However, we would warn you look before you leap as the swing stats indicate troubles may return, including Tour ranks of 147th in driving accuracy, 129th in greens in regulation, and 141st in birdies.

- No one seemed to notice with Tom Watson making magic, but Ernie Els made his way into the top 10 at the Open Championship. His schedule has been severely limited, and while he has dropped out of the World Golf Ranking's top 20 (now at No. 24), he's been playing rather well of late. Starting at the Ballantine's Championship on the Asian Tour with a T4 finish, Els has posted a T21 at the BMW PGA Championship on the Euro Tour, T8 at the Memorial, T23 at the Scottish Open, and the T8 at the Open Championship. He hasn't won us over yet, but we like what we are seeing.

- Two of our favorite fallen stars, Davis Love III and John Daly, finished at +4 for the Open Championship, good for the T27 finish. DL3 pushed up from T43 coming into Sunday while Daly fell back just a bit, starting at T14. That gives Love III 14 cuts made over 18 PGA starts with two top-10 finishes and ten in the top 20. He is only two cuts made away from matching his total for 2008 and has already surpassed his number (13) from 2007.

- Charley Hoffman and Geoff Ogilvy both suffered their first missed cuts of the season, putting an amazing string of 26 consecutive cuts made to rest. Ogilvy is of much greater concern for fantasy owners. Not only was he off his game, he was one of the worst golfers of the week, shooting 75-78 to missed the cut. That's three horrific outings over his last four starts (including T59 at the Crown Plaza and T47 at the US Open). Granted, his style is not meant for the links of Europe... but we had Ogilvy as one of our top stars to watch this season. Lately, he's been anything but.

- While you may not have been pleased with their finishes at the Open Championship, we found this note from the PGA in their FedEx Cup Update and felt compelled to share: "David Toms (11th) and Jim Furyk (14th) are the lone players without a 2009 win among the top 15 in the FedEx Cup standings through the British Open. Both players are tied for second in top-10 finishes on the PGA TOUR in 2009 with seven each." We've been touting their services all season long and will continue to do so moving forward... despite their fall in Scotland (T34 for Furyk, MC for Toms).


~ Hot Hand ~
- Jeff Overton
He's 26-years of age, he hails from basketball country, and Jeff Overton is trying his best to represent Indiana, youth, and golf all at the same time. Thus far in '09 he's doing a fine job, now standing at No. 62 on the PGA's Money Leaders list. He's a name few will recognize, but fresh off an outstanding performance at the Open Championship, that's changing.

We've reached a point where the entire season could be viewed as a window to a hot hand. In fact, there were signs at the end of the '08 campaign, including T5 at the Texas Open, T18 at the Ginn sur Mer, and T21 at the Children's Miracle Network Classic. He's moved that momentum into '09 with grace and beauty, putting strong performances on the course at nearly every stop on the calendar.

Over 19 starts this season Overton has suffered just four missed cuts, nearly balanced by three top-10 finishes. The notes of highlight include T22 at Pebble Beach, T9 at the Honda Classic, T8 at the Puerto Rico Open, T19 at the Transitions Championship, T13 at the Zurich Classic, T13 at the Crowne Plaza, T10 at the St. Jude, and last week's T13 at the major.

Read through that list again... those are some of the best non-major fields we see during the season with the exception of the Puerto Rico Open (the PGA's secondary offering during the WGC Match Play Championship). If Overton keeps playing like this, he won't be playing in Puerto Rico any more.


~ Cold Feet ~
- Robert Allenby
We tend to look at Allenby as a competitor in the toughest of situations, but his record of late has left disappointment and frustration for fantasy owners. He's long on the Tour, both in game and experience, and he puts it to use much more often than not. However, recent weeks are making us wonder if the reputation is beginning to crack.

Over Allenby's last six starts he has produced just one finish, 4th place at the St. Jude Classic, to reward those that pay the cost to employ him. The T65 at the Byron Nelson was the first clue, followed by T41 at the Memorial. After the surge at St. Jude he failed to make the weekend at his next two starts, the US Open (understandable for some, but not for a player of this caliber) and the AT&T National. Last week he fell early at the Open Championship, grinding to make the weekend, only to fall back again (T52).

He's much better than this and could break out at his next start, but to gamble on it with a spot on your fantasy roster might be a wager best declined.


~ Official World Golf Rankings ~

RANK PLAYER PTS.AVG.
1 Tiger Woods 10.82
2 Phil Mickelson 8.54
3 Paul Casey 6.60
4 Kenny Perry 6.22
5 Sergio Garcia 6.02
6 Steve Stricker 5.89
7 Henrik Stenson 5.88
8 Geoff Ogilvy 5.74
9 Stewart Cink 5.04
10 Jim Furyk 5.01
11 Vijay Singh 4.86
12 Martin Kaymer 4.80
13 Camilo Villegas 4.69
14 Lee Westwood 4.65
15 Sean O'Hair 4.39
16 Padraig Harrington 4.33
17 Anthony Kim 4.22
18 Robert Karlsson 4.21
19 Ian Poulter 3.98
20 Lucas Glover 3.94
21 Retief Goosen 3.86
22 Zach Johnson 3.76
23 Ross Fisher 3.75
24 Ernie Els 3.66
25 Luke Donald 3.65


~ PGA Money Leaders ~

PLACE PLAYER MONEY
1 Tiger Woods $4,560,163
2 Steve Stricker $3,985,752
3 Kenny Perry $3,920,124
4 Phil Mickelson $3,810,561
5 Zach Johnson $3,738,079
6 Geoff Ogilvy $3,346,454
7 Sean O'Hair $3,020,480
8 Lucas Glover $2,782,235
9 Brian Gay $2,647,480
10 Nick Watney $2,582,181
11 Paul Casey $2,553.114
12 David Toms $2,419,619
13 Rory Sabbatini $2,414,015
14 Jim Furyk $2,330,521
15 Stewart Cink $2,166,365
16 Retief Goosen $2,116,595
17 Hunter Mahan $2,149,719
18 Dustin Johnson $2,116,595
19 Kevin Na $1,994,468
20 Ian Poulter $1,965,116
21 Jerry Kelly $1,850,767
22 Angel Cabrera $1,772,346
23 Tim Clark $1,707,776
24 Luke Donald $1,705,046
25 Mike Weir $1,690,408


~ FedEx Cup Point Standings ~

PLAYER FEDEX POINT
Steve Stricker 2,059
Tiger Woods 2,051
Kenny Perry 1,901
Zach Johnson 1,892
Phil Mickelson 1,616
Geoff Ogilvy 1,533
Lucas Glover 1,527
Brian Gay 1,510
Sean O'Hair 1,472
Nick Watney 1,333
David Toms 1,272
Paul Casey 1,161
Stewart Cink 1,127
Jim Furyk 1,119
Rory Sabbatini 1,115
Retief Goosen 1,102
Hunter Mahan 1,098
Dustin Johnson 1,038
Charley Hoffman 962
Kevin Na 906
Jerry Kelly 901
Luke Donald 901
Tim Clark 884
Steve Marino 868
Mike Weir 846


Bryan Douglass is an Associate Editor for Fanball.com, providing analysis and commentary for the NFL, NBA, and PGA neighborhoods of the world's preeminent sports community. He also serves as the Denver Broncos Correspondent (BroncosStable.com) and Denver Nuggets Correspondent (DunkingNuggets.com) for the Fanball Sports Network. You can also find his work syndicated at RotoTimes.com, TheGolfChannel.com, and Comcast.net. He appears on The Statsman Show on Wednesday evenings to discuss the NBA. You can contact Bryan via email, Facebook, and Twitter.