2009 PGA Tour Picks - Matt vs. Luke: An Introduction

A tradition unlike any other. Okay it's not the Masters, but it's right up there in my opinion. For those who are unfamiliar with our competition, check out Barnes' post HERE. It explains the format, all of our rules, and even a few new wrinkles we added during our off-season meeting.

You should check out that post before continuing. I'll wait. Go ahead.

Good to go? Fan-tastic. Giddy up. (Side note: the only thing that Barnes failed to mention is that the winner of the previous year gets the first pick the next year AND starts the year with two more Tiger picks.)

We are three weeks into the 2009 season, having completed the Mercedes Championship, Sony Open, and the Bob Hope Classic. Instead of going over the rules, or talk about upcoming tournaments, let's take a look back at the 2008 season, as it was the first time Matt Barnes and I made it through an entire year of selecting picks.

The best way to go about recapping the 2008 season is to first look at the statistics.

We picked one tournament for 38 weeks, with the majors counting as double strokes.

WINS - Advantage Luke (Eight vs. Five)

It didn't take long for one of us to pick a winner outright in the 2008 season, as yours truly correctly picked K.J. Choi during the Sony Open. It would be the first of eight wins for the King of Arguments, while Barnes ended up garnering five victories (one being for the higher point total in the WGC Accenture Match-Play Championship ... we both correctly picked Tiger to win). These extra wins allowed for more opportunities to pick Tiger, which ended up being for nothing as Mr. Woods didn't play a single tournament after the U.S. Open.
Barnes notched his first victory of the year when Phil Mickelson won the Northern Trust Open. Matt followed that performance by claiming the aforementioned Match Play Championship, creating a two-tournament winning streak. Two weeks later, Tiger Woods came through for Barnes (it would be the only time Tiger won on Matt's side the entire season) in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In a span of five weeks, Barnes had himself three winners. A pretty impressive mark, but I would better it during the second half of the season.

Luckily for me, I had Tiger Woods for the U.S. Open. The way Tiger was able to win arguably the toughest test in golf on one leg was inspirational. It certainly inspired me to continually pick winners. The very next week Stewart Cink got the job done for me at the Travelers Championship. Then, the week after, Kenny Perry took home the Buick Open title, giving me three consecutive tour victories. I misfired at the AT&T National, choosing Ryuji Imada over the eventual winner Anthony Kim. Instead of being flustered by my near four in a row, I bounced back the next week at the John Deere Classic thanks to Kenny Perry. Giving me four victories in a five week span, besting Barnes by one win.

MAJORS - Advantage Luke (One vs. Nothing)

After we both failed to pick Trevor Immelman at the Masters, I took Tiger Woods with the first pick at the U.S. Open. We all know the rest was history. It was the one and only time that we were able to pick a major champion.
Padraig Harrington won the next two big ones (British Open and PGA Championship), but we apparently were not sold on Paddy. In fact, only once did either one of us pick the eventual 2008 Pga Tour Player of the Year. Barnes chose Harrington with the fourth and final selection for The Barclays (the first tournament of the FedEx Playoffs). How did Harrington fair? Well, he promptly missed the cut.

An interesting note about majors developed within our picks last season. Double strokes are huge (that's what she said), because one bad week or one terrific week can swing momentum in your favor quite quickly. Barnes won the week of the Masters and PGA Championship, while I took the other two. Every single time, the person who won the week of a major had the first pick, meaning they won the week prior.

What does this mean? Well, it places a top priority on tournaments the week prior to a major. The Houston Open, Stanford St. Jude Championship, John Deere Classic, and the Bridgestone Invitational might not meen much to the general sporting public, but to Barnes and myself, they are vital.

PLAYOFFS - Advantage Luke (4-for-5 vs. 0-for-2)

Four of my eight victories came via playoffs, while Barnes was not nearly as fortunate, misfiring on both occasions he had a horse running in a playoff.

For those who do not believe in fate, well check this out.

In the season ending Tour Championship (our last tournament), Barnes chose Anthony Kim and Sergio Garcia, while I picked Vijay Singh and Camilo Villegas. The tournament was not decided after all the golfers had played the four required rounds. Villegas and Garcia were tied and headed to a playoff.
For the first time, we each had a golfer in a playoff. Needless to say, Villegas triumphed over Garcia that day, giving me my fourth playoff win, and eighth total victory of the season. It was a fitting end to the 2008 season for Barnes and myself.

THE REST OF THE STATISTICS

BARNES - LUKE
5 - WINS - 8
0 - MAJORS - 1
0/2 - PLAYOFFS - 4/5
12 - MISSED CUTS - 13
1 - WITHDRAWALS - 0
20 - WINNING WEEKS - 19
AT&T Classic (-28) - BEST WEEK - (-35) Travelers Championship
British Open (+82) - WORST WEEK - (+62) British Open
(Week One) 2 Strokes - BIGGEST LEAD - 103 Strokes (Week Twenty-Nine)
1 - WEEKS LED - 36 (Consecutive)

(-114) - FINAL SCORE (-173)

So there you have it. I was the winner last year by 59 strokes. With all the different twists we have this year, it should be interesting to see how it all goes down. Missed Cuts have the possibility of being very dangerous, and with the four FedEx Cup Playoff Tournaments acting as double stroke events, it could come down the very end.

Every week I will give you our picks for the week so you can follow right along with us as we set out to embark on the 2009 PGA Season.

Until next time, "Read it, roll it, hole it."