Sunday Evening Takeaway: April 18

Congratulations to this week’s winners: Y.E. Yang at the Volvo China Open,Kevin Chappell at the Fresh Express Classic, and Jim Furyk at the Verizon Heritage. A few bits of takeaway from this week:

* Yang’s game has been improving at pretty much an exponential rate over the last two seasons. It will be interesting to see what lies ahead for him in the next few years.

* After Furyk won in Tampa four weeks ago, I thought he was “back”. His first-round 80 at the Masters had me doubting that. After watching him this week, I’m going to consider Augusta an aberration and say that he really is “back”.

* Another week, another top-10 for Ricky Barnes. I’m not on the Ricky bandwagon yet, but I’ll be watching his next few tournaments very closely.

* Brian Davis gave us another example of why golf is considered a “gentleman’s game”. Literally on the beach on the first playoff hole, Davis barely brushed a loose impediment on his backswing. He immediately called a rules official over, explained the situation, and ultimately incurred a two-stroke penalty. He didn’t attempt to justify himself or explain it away, or even wait for someone else to catch it before self-reporting. Perhaps Michelle “I lost my balance” Wie could benefit from a talk with Brian.

Until next week...

Predictions: Heritage

Like many golf fans out there, I’m still nursing a bit of a “Masters hangover” this Tuesday evening, so this week may be a bit of a letdown. But the PGA Tour marches on, and this week’s tournament is the Verizon Heritage in lovely Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

My “spotlight players” for this week:

* Luke Donald. Runner-up here last year, and two top-10's so far this year (Northern Trust, Travelers).

* Brian Gay. Defending champion. I was expecting more out of him at Augusta last week, but still optimistic about his chances to repeat this week.

* Tim Wilkinson. He finished 6th here last year. He’s completely off the map right now, but could factor as a “surprise/dark horse” pick if he finds the form he had here in 2010.

My Yahoo Fantasy Golf team for this week:
“Front 4": Luke Donald, Brian Gay, Lee Janzen, Davis Love III
“Bench team”: Heath Slocum, K.J. Choi, Rod Pampling, Tim Wilkinson

Last week was a good week for picks. My “spotlight” pro, Hunter Mahan, finished in 8th place, and Italian amateur Matteo Manassero (“spotlight” #2) finished a respectable 36th. My Yahoo Fantasy Golf standings: 2163, 81st percentile.

Best of luck to all!