Fantasy Golf Predictions – The 2013 Deutsche Bank Championship

Fantasy Golf Predictions for the 2013 Deutsche Bank Championship Aug 30 – Sept 2, 2013

Last Week: With Adam Scott’s win at The Barclays, our staff is now one-for-one in this year’s FedExCup playoff picks.  We liked his chances last week and we strongly feel he’ll carry that momentum into TPC Boston for round two.

Tiger Woods hung on to the No. 1 spot in points with his T2 last weekend, and Scott pulled up a whopping 11 spots to No. 2 with his win at Liberty National.   

Preview:  All of the remaining 100 players will tee it up this weekend as Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson return to the field after sitting out last week for personal reasons.   Last year’s winner, Rory McIlory, will be defending his title but we won’t be buying his stock this time around, simply because the Rory of 2012 has yet to return.

The Course: TPC Boston, measures 7,207 yards and plays as a par 71. The course opened back in 2002 and was created by golf legend Arnold Palmer.  The notorious “chocolate-drop” mounds and grass bunkers were added recently to give the layout more of a New England flair.

The Deutsche Bank Championship has been played on Labor Day weekend since 2003 and the final round always concludes on Monday.

Photo by TPC.com

Weather Forcast for the 2013 Deutsche Bank Championship in Great Woods, MA (from weather.com)

• Round 1: Friday (Aug 30) 79 degrees, 10% chance of rain, partly cloudy.
• Round 2: Saturday (Aug 31) 82 degrees, 10% chance of rain, partly cloudy.
• Round 3: Sunday (Sept  1)  80 degrees, 10% chance of rain, partly cloudy.
• Round 4: Monday (Sept  2)  81 degrees, 40% chance of rain, scattered T-storms.

2012 Results: Shortly after winning the PGA Championship and taking home his second career major, Rory McIlroy added his first FedExCup Playoffs victory at TPC Boston in 2012. The young Irishman had a three-shot deficit to start the day and he hit only one fairway over his final five holes. His closing stretch included a 6-foot par save after plugging a bunker and he managed to save bogey at another. It wasn’t assured until Louis Oosthuizen missed his birdie attempt at No.18 that Rory was able to seal the win.  That putt, if made, would have forced a playoff.  Although that win popped him to the top of the FedEx standings (he would go on to win the BMW Championship in the following week) Rory still managed to let the $10 million dollar prize slip through his fingers.

Notes: Tiger Woods has just one Deutsche Bank trophy and a sore back, which judging by how strong he’s playing might just be more of an excuse than an issue lately.  Either way think he’ll come out strong given the wealth of treatment he’ll undoubtedly be receiving over the next couple of days.

Rory McIlroy’s disappointing season seems to be on the upswing heading into his title defense, but we still don’t buy it.   Phil Mickelson has turned up the juice last week so look out for momentum from him and Adam Scott as they stroll into TPC Boston with guarantees to advance to the BMW.

Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win the 2013 2013 Deutsche Bank Championship

• Tiger Woods (Golficity Odds 8/1): Tiger, bad back and all, still sits on top as FedExCup points leader.  He posted a T2 at The Barclays where he co-led the field in par-4 scoring and is still the favorite going into this tournament…and every other for that matter.  Woods is second in all-time earnings at the Deutsche Bank Championship with a win in 2006, a pair of T2s, and a solo third.  He knows this track well, and as perhaps the ultimate competitor we can all see he wants a win badly. 
• Adam Scott (Golficity Odds 12/1): Scott moved into consideration with Tiger this past week for player of the year with his surprise victory at The Barclays.  Adam tore up Liberty National on Saturday and Sunday with a bogey-free 24 hole run to go 8-under in that stretch. Winner of the tournament’s first edition in 2003, the Aussie has since added four top 10s and sits third in all-time earnings at this event.
• Phil Mickelson (Golficity Odds 15/1): Did you see Lefty’s performance on Sunday? Phil holed seven birdies in a closing 65 and if he chose the right club on 18, he could have been the comback winner.  With that bogey on 18, he finished T6 at Liberty National where he placed T4 in greens hit and sixth in strokes gained-putting. Phil won at TPC Boston in 2007 and has a T10 in 2011 and T4 in 2012 to boot. The smart fantasy pickers will go with experience in Round 2 of the playoffs…
• Jim Furyk (Golficity Odds 20/1): Speaking of experience, Furyk likes to show up to important events. Jim finished T6 at The Barclays which extended his streak of top 10s to four.  He ranked T4 last week at Liberty in greens hit and led the field in strokes gained-putting.   Keep in mind that he hasn’t missed a cut in eight trips to TPC Boston (that’s 32 rounds played there) and he has five top 15s.
• Jason Day (Golficity Odds 23/1): Jason Day is like a low priced stock that is about to pop to a 52 week high. There is something about this Aussie contender that leads us to believe he has a playoff win under his belt.  Day opened the Barclays with a 66 and looked great in practice rounds, but slowly faded to finish T25. He’s 5-for-5 at TPC Boston with a co-runner-up in 2010 and a share of third in 2011.

Sleeper Picks/Odds to Win:

• Bill Haas (Golficity Odds 30/1):  The 2011 FedExCup winner is still in a good position.  Remember he was in 15^th in 2011 when we won it all, so don’t count him out just yet. Haas has four consecutive top 25s entering the week and he led The Barclays in scrambling.  Bill has also recently jumped to third on TOUR in bogey avoidance.  Keep in mind that he’s 7-for-7 at TPC Boston with four top 25s when you’re making your long shot picks this week.
• Jordan Spieth (Golficity Odds 45/1): This kid continues to amaze us.  After coming off a playoff loss at the Wyndham, he carried the momentum into early rounds at the Barclays but eventually fell off the pace to finish with a T19. Still not too shabby.  He ranked third in total driving and T1 in proximity to the hole at Liberty National and we think he has a chance to light it up at TPC Boston.

Last Week’s Fantasy Golf Predictions Results (2013 Barclays Championship)

• Tiger Woods (Golficity Odds 6/1):  T2
• Jason Day (Golficity Odds 12/1):  T25
• Adam Scott (Golficity Odds 18/1): WINNER
• Jason Dufner (Golficity Odds 22/1):  T37
• Henrik Stenson (Golficity Odds 25/1):  T43

Last Week’s Sleeper Picks/Odds to Win:

• Keegan Bradley (Golficity Odds 31/1):  T33
• Bill Haas (Golficity Odds 40/1):  T25

CLICK HERE to receive our Fantasy Golf Predictions for free each week via email.

(Cover Photo Credit)