Less is More for Stenson?

Henrik Stenson has opted to curtail his schedule in 2008 in an effort to be more well-prepared for major tournaments. Stenson will relinquish his membership on the PGA Tour (which requires players to play at least 15 PGA events each season) and will cut back on the number of tournaments he plays in all over the world.

“I’m not going to play as much in America in ‘08,” Stenson told Reuters UK. ”I played in 30 events (worldwide) in 2007 and I played 31 weeks in 2006. I’m trying to cut down a little bit on my schedule so I can get the number down to about 25 events.”

This news doesn’t come as a huge shock for fantasy owners who watched Stenson card just one top 10 in 14 events after his win at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship a year ago. That win was expected to vault the strapping Swede into the fantasy stratosphere, but instead he missed the cut at three of the four majors and bowed out of the FedEx Cup Playoffs after finishing no better than T52 in the first three events. Part of the problem for Stenson might be that his base of operations is Dubai, which isn’t exactly a hop, skip, and a jump from, well, anywhere – a fact which might be conducive to piling up frequent flier miles, but probably isn’t conducive to getting in a lot of quality practice time (or sleep, for that matter).

Stenson will play only four times in the U.S. – including this week’s Mercedes-Benz Championship – prior to the Masters, and is still scheduled to defend his WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in late February. Based on his No. 16 spot in the World Rankings and his win last year, he would have had a spot on most fantasy golf cheatsheets for 2008, but this news means fantasy owners shouldn’t bother wasting an everyday roster spot on him. He may make an impact at some of the WGC events and majors, but I’ll personally have to see him improve his play at the marquee events before I’d consider using him over a more established performer.

Scott Won’t Play ‘Til February

Adam Scott won’t tee it up in the United States until mid-February, and his representatives disputed a recent report that attributed his withdrawal from this weekend’s festivities in Hawaii to exhaustion. Scott reportedly won’t play on the PGA Tour until the Northern Trust Open (previously the Nissan Open) on February 14 as he focuses instead on overseas events such as the Abu Dhabi Championship, which Scott will play on January 17th.

My initial reaction to this news was that it seemed like a big deal for a player who has only played 19 events on the U.S. Tour in each of the last three seasons, but the reality is that he’s generally only played once or twice before Riviera anyways – usually at one or both of the season-opening Hawaii events.

Upon further reflection, the bigger news from the same report on golfchannel.com is that Scott is trying to focus more on contending at major championships this season (then again, aren’t we all?). That’s all fine and dandy, but is teeing it up (and cashing in on lucrative appearance fees) in the Middle East really a better way of preparing for majors than, say, heading to the Buick Invitational for a little practice at Torrey Pines (which just so happens to also be this year’s U.S. Open venue) at the Buick Invitational in late January?

As noted, I don’t think Scott skipping what amounts to one significant tournament (since most fantasy golf leagues don’t include the limited-field Mercedes-Benz Championships) that he usually plays in should detract significantly from his fantasy value – he’s still a threat to win every time he tees it up and will almost certainly rank as one of the top 10 fantasy golfers by the end of the year.

Casey Properly… Loves America?

Paul Casey is coming to America… again. You’ll recall the difficulties he had two years ago when an ill-timed remark about “properly hating” Americans during the 2004 Ryder Cup made him the most hated Brit this side of Colin Montgomerie. He claimed he was going to play full time in the States in 2005, but after four missed cuts and zero top-10s in his first six events, he tucked tail and played in only four more U.S. PGA events that season. He again spent last year in blissful anonymity amongst his fellow Europeans, but has now decided he needs to play in the U.S. full time to take his game to the next level.

“I want to play against Tiger (Woods), (Jim) Furyk and (Phil) Mickelson week in and week out,” he said. “I’ve got to test myself against those guys all the time. I want to win a major, at least one. And I think in order to raise my game, I’ve got to be here all the time.”

This is fantastic news for fantasy hackers. Casey ranks 21st in the Official World Golf Rankings and is generally regarded as one of the best young players in the game. In just 10 events a year ago, Casey carded four top-10 finishes on this side of the pond and played well enough across the Atlantic to finish 13th on the European Tour Order of Merit. It’s always tough to tell what, exactly, “full-time” means for professional golfers – my guess is he may play as many as 20 events, but not more – but Casey immediately became a top-notch fantasy sleeper the minute he announced his intention to challenge the American stars. In fact, I’m so excited about the possibilities here I’ve already moved him into the top 20 on my preseason cheat sheet.

Immelman Undergoes Surgery

Trevor Immelman underwent surgery to remove a growth from his diaphragm last week. Immelman came down sick during the South African Airways Open, and testing revealed the presence of a benign tumor on his diaphragm.

He is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks of action, but this news certainly isn’t good for Immelman’s fantasy prognosis. It was a mysterious injury in April of last season that sidelined Immelman for over a month and sapped much of his strength for another three months; that is, assuming we can attribute his four missed cuts and inability to card a single top 10 between the Masters and the PGA Tournament on his health issues. I’m not a doctor, but it seems like having surgery to remove a tumor from your diaphragm might hamper one’s ability to a) breath, b) maintain strength, and c) practice your golf swing. I was fully expecting a huge bounce back season from Immelman this year (especially after he won the Nedbank Golf Challenge in December), but now I’m not so sure.