2010 PGA Tour Picks Contest - Intro

Enough talk about the New Year, NFL playoffs, and Gilbert Arenas. Tomorrow is a great day in the world of sports. No, not because of the BCS championship game, but because it's the start of the PGA Tour season. And while many of you may not get excited about it, you should be, because it's also the start of the PGA Tour golf picks between myself and my good friend Luke Florence.

This picks contest began 3 years ago, just as something fun to do during the school year. The first 2 years were tough as we didn't really keep track that well. Last year, we fell behind at times but thanks to saved text messages, e-mails and memory, we were able to complete last year's contest. No surprise, I won with a better score.

The basic concept is pretty simple. Pick 2 golfers each week, combine their score, keep on adding each week and whoever has the best score at the end of the season wins. There are other rules though and they are as follows:

2010 PGA TOUR PICKS RULES (new rules in italics)
1. The winner of the week gets 1st pick in the next week's tournament. The loser then gets picks #2 and #3, leaving the 4th pick to the winner. In the case of a tie in the week, the previous' week's winner goes first again.

2. In an effort to keep both of us from picking Tiger Woods (the world's #1 and most dominant golfer) every week and adding a little strategy to this contest, both of us are only allowed to pick him 3 times during the entire golf season.

3. In an effort to keep us both from picking the same golfers and adding a little strategy to this contest, both of us are only allowed to pick the same golfer 5 times during the entire golf season.
4. If either Luke or I pick the tournament winner using our 2 picks, we earn another opportunity to pick Tiger Woods in a tournament. This includes if Tiger himself is the winner.

4a. If Tiger Woods does not return from his indefinite leave of absence, picking the tournament winner will earn the opportunity to have a "re-do" pick. A "re-do" entails of being able to change one golfer to any other golfer after the first round.

5. In major tournaments, the WGC events, THE PLAYERS Championship, and the 4 FedEx Cup events, strokes will be doubled. (Ex. -10 = -20, +6 = +12, etc...)

6. In the WGC Match Play Championship, Luke and I will pick it March Madness style, with a correct pick increasing in value as the rounds get further (1-2-3-4-5-6). The person with the most total points at the end earns another opportunity to pick Tiger Woods or a "re-do" in a tournament.

7. If a chosen golfer misses a cut (2nd or 3rd round), the total for that player will have 5 strokes added to their score unless their score is better than the 5th worst score at the end of the tournament. This applies to the majors and FedEx Cup events as well.

8. If a chosen golfer withdraws or is disqualified, the person who chose that player must change their pick to (one of) the playing partner(s) of the golfer once the round is complete. If it is the final round, the playing partner of the chosen golfer automatically becomes the score used.

9. During WGC events and the British Open, the secondary PGA Tour tournaments (ex. Reno-Tahoe Open) will also be chosen. However, Luke and I will only choose one golfer and it will NOT be worth double strokes.

10. The challenge begins with the SBS Championship on January 7th and ends with the final FedEx Cup event, THE TOUR Championship on September 26th.

11. The winner of the challenge wins pride. Well, that and first pick for the next season and two extra Tiger picks.

Got it? I hope so cause I don't want to explain it again. Unlike last year when I tried to keep track of the scores in a box in the corner, I plan on doing a post every Wednesday/Thursday. In that post, I will update last week's score and have our picks for the next tournament.

WEEK 1: SBS CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Matt - Nick Watney
2. Luke - Y.E. Yang
3. Luke - Ryan Moore
4. Matt - Dustin Johnson

I hope you follow along and even make up a contest of your own with a friend. Enjoy the season everyone!