PGA / Chris Ryan / 22 October 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now

The fact is this: We have to wait a couple of weeks for the big boys on the PGA Tour to get back from vacation at the HSBC Champions event (Nov. 4-7) in Shanghai where Tiger and Phil, Y.E. Yang (sure to be a fan favorite there), Geoff Ogilvy, Padraig Harrington, Stewart Cink, Paul Casey, Sean O'Hair and Henrik Stenson have put their names in the field, writes Brian Heard.

But again, that's a couple of weeks away. First, we have two more Fall Series events to talk about. So, invoking the names of the "big boys" of golf won't be a necessity for a little while longer.

Nope, right now it's about the Martin Laird's of the world. The 26-year-old, strapping Scot won his first-ever Tour title last week in Las Vegas at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (boy that's a mouthful ... deep breath now ... good cause) after missing the cut nearly 55 percent of the time in 22 previous events this year and coming in ranked 125th on the money list. The win assures the sophomore Tour player will be around full-time next season. He took down Chad Campbell and George McNeill in a playoff to pull it off.

"I was standing there thinking, you know, is this really happening right now?," Laird said after winning. "I was out there. I felt great all day. I know I'm good enough to do it. ... It's the first time I'm ever in the final group. It's the first time I'm really in contention in the last round. It's a learning experience. And I was really proud how I played."

That's what the Fall Series is all about. It's not about Tiger or Phil or even Vijay or Steve Stricker or anyone else near the top of the World Rankings. Most likely this week at the Frys.com Open at the warm and wonderful Grayhawk Country Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, we'll see another similar story, someone or someones clinging to their professional lives and possibly making their mark(s) on the world of golf.

The field

That said, we do have a few "names" to speak of at Grayhawk this weekend. Three of the top 30 on the Tour money list are in attendance - Rory Sabbatini (18th), John Rollins (27th), Mike Weir (28th). Weir, at 30th, is the only player currently among the top 30 in the world playing.

But there are 10 Tour winners this year in the lineup - Pat Perez, Mark Wilson, Michael Bradley, Sabbatini, Bo Van Pelt, Nathan Green, Rollins, Ryan Moore, Heath Slocum and Laird.

Cameron Beckman is the reigning champ at the Frys.com and at 112th on the money list could use another good outing at this year's event. Weir won the inaugural Frys.com in 2007.

Predictions

Grayhawk ranked 41 of 54 in difficulty on Tour a year ago - in other words, not too tough. Expect some low scores.

The same was said about TPC Summerlin in Vegas last week and my predictions, were, let's say, not awful. I did say Steve Marino was due, and while he didn't exactly pay off (missing the cut), he didn't play poorly (69-71; 3-under, one stroke off the cut line). My Ryan Moore pick was on the mark - though he didn't pull it off he did go low in the first two rounds (67-63) and wound up tied for seventh.

My ones to watch included Charley Hoffman (6th), Matt Kuchar (tied for 7th) and Hunter Mahan (tied for 14th), who were all right there. To be fair, I did mention Sabbatini too, and he was, well, as Rory has been want to do, off his game a little and missed the cut.

All in all, though, not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

This week: Imminently winnable field, imminently score-able course. To me that means a wide-open tournament, with plenty of potential contenders. But here you go:

Picks to win:

Ryan Moore - I'm not going to back up on this guy. He's got an awful lot of shots in his bag, has won against a "B" field and can score. He also has four runners-up in his career. To be honest, it's not unfair to say he's probably underachieved in his five years as a pro.

Rich Beem - OK, admittedly this is a pick from the heart. He won the first PGA Tour event I ever covered (the 1999 Kemper Open) and he did so coming out of nowhere - he was selling cell phones and stereo equipment a year before he won at the Kemper, for crying out loud, and asked me if I knew a good place to get a hot steak and a cold beer after his second round that year. He also told me he needed to make a lot of burdies because he knew he was going to get his share of bogeys - that's just the way he played the game.

Right, so he's a real cool guy (and also the 2002 PGA Championship winner, let's not forget, holding off one Eldrick T. Woods to win) and a "Tin Cup" type shot-maker, who can go low and get real hot. He shot two 64s last week. Can he put four rounds together and come out of nowhere again - he's done it before, though it's been a long time. But the what the heck, talk about a good story (didn't I say that's what the Fall Series is all about?).

Mike Weir - Well, this is the no-brainer, the safe pick. The classy Canadian won at Grayhawk in 2007 and tied for fourth last year. Plus, he's coming off a pretty good Presidents Cup performance, going 2-2-1.

Others to watch:

Tim Clark - I put him in my top picks last week and he tied for 27th after a pretty good first two days. He's got to win sooner or later, he's just got to, right? Played well in the Presidents Cup (2-2-1).

Charley Hoffman - Sorry for the repeat choices, but I like who I like and Hoffman is talented and can score. His biggest opponent is often himself.

Troy Matteson - The serious darkhorse. Hasn't won since 2006. But played well last week, at least in the first two rounds, and truthfully hasn't been all that bad this year (18 of 29 cuts made) . That said though, he needs a big-time performance or two to keep his Tour card for next year. He's currently 131st on the money list.

Notes

For the record, a few of the big names, at least from this season, were in action early this week at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda, which pits the Majors champions of the season against each other in a two-day, 36-hole, stroke-play event. Since we didn't have any serious big names as Major champions this season, the event did fly under the radar a little bit.

U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover (11-under) trounced the competition, winning by five strokes over Masters champ Angel Cabrera. Cink (the British Open champ) took third and PGA Championship winner Yang was fourth.