Welcome to Balls in the Air, where I size up my Fantasy Golf picks of the week, featuring guys to watch (or not) and interesting story lines. I just started playing a few weeks ago, because, well, I really enjoyed Fantasy Football last year. Disclaimer: Don’t yell at me if my picks suck.

I know the tournament has already started and I believe the deadline was sometime on Wednesday. Going forward, I’ll have my picks posted earlier. FYI, I picked last week’s winner, Steve Stricker. /big high-freaking-five! And I just jinxed myself. My apologies to Luke Donald.

Group A

Luke Donald: The options were slim, but I went with Donald. He was runner-up at last week’s Northern Trust Open. He tied the course record at Spyglass with a 62 at this tournament in 2007.

Group A Bench Dude

Phil Mickelson: I was hesitant to pick FIGJAM, but like I said, it was slim pickings. Plus, I’m playing to win, so I’m doing my best to put my personal feelings aside. Phil has had two relatively disappointing weeks, but you never know when he’ll get hot. Hopefully he found his putting stroke, or got a new one since Sunday.

Group B

Jim Furyk: Safe pick. Plus, I played a few holes with him at Pebble on a simulator back in November at a Johnnie Walker junket. He knew the course very well and made two birdies in the three holes we played. Oh, Furyk also has a strong record at Pebble.

Dustin Johnson: The defending champ is always a good bet. He’s off to a decent start this season, too. He was the 36-hole leader at the Northern Trust Open and finished T3.

Group B Bench Dudes

Alex Prugh: This rookie has stayed under the radar and hype, but has actually been playing the best. He has three consecutive top-10 finishes. He’s also a fellow Washington State native. Hoping he plays well and is up for an interview after his round…stay tuned. (If you have any question suggestions, drop them below.)

Retief Goosen: In two starts on the PGA Tour, he’s placed fourth and T6. At the Qatar Masters he earned another top-10 finish. GOOSE!

Group C

Mike Weir: Last year he was runner-up at this event. He was cut last week, but finished sixth at the Bob Hope Classic, the other tournament where celebs run rampant.

Group C Bench Dude

Brandt Snedeker: Two top-10 finishes in 2010, including runner-up at the Farmers Insurance Open.

OK, I’ll do a better job next week. Time to watch the always enlightening coverage on the Golf Channel. I also might be dropping in comments to Mike Walker who is live-blogging the tournament over at Golf.com’s Press Tent.

/checking leaderboard

K.J. Choi is leading at 6-under through 11 holes. David “Mock Turtleneck” Duval is off to a good start at 5-under through 12 — now let’s see if he can keep it up for four rounds, or hell, even two. And what is this? John Daly is three-under through seven!

So who are your favorites for the week? Drop them below.

*Update: Because several people asked if “Balls in the Air” was my remix to “Pants on the Ground,” here’s this:

So, clearly this weekend I’ll be thinking up lyrics for a “Balls in the Air” song.

I couldn’t have been happier to see Steve Stricker win the Northern Trust Open and dethrone Phil Mickelson as the world’s number-two golfer. So the guy is a little boring, but it’s hard not to cheer for such a genuinely nice and humble player — especially one that has a great comeback story.

After struggling for most of the first half of the 2000s, Stricker fell so far in 2005 that his world ranking dropped to 337th and he didn’t make the top-125 on the money list. He was forced to return to Q-school, where he failed to regain his card. But things started looking up for Stricks in 2006 when he was named the PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year (if that can be taken as a compliment) after seven top-10 finishes. The following year he played his way back to the winner’s circle at The Barclays. Once again, he was named the CPOTY — an unprecedented consecutive season recipient.

So that partly explains the tears in his post-win interview with NBC’s Roger Maltbie. Stricker clarified in his presser:

That’s a common thread for me. I tell myself every time I’m not going to cry, and maybe it’s seeing Roger that makes me cry. I don’t know, it means a lot. I work hard at this, and when it finally — you pour everything into it for 72 holes, and there’s a lot of emotions through the course of the round, and I typically don’t show any emotion. So I think it’s just the ending of it all and finally coming out on top that I lose it.

With Tiger Woods on his indefinite leave from the game, there’s the possibility of Stricker reaching number one, but he’s not thinking about rankings:

[W]e all know who the best player in the world is, and I’ll just continue to do what I do, and that’s practice hard and work at it and try to improve. I’m not saying that I’m going to just not try to work at it anymore, but just continue to do the things that I do when I’m trying to — and that’s to try to get better. That’s all I can ask.

Meanwhile, with all the talking Phil has been doing, it hasn’t translated to his play. Let’s see, rewind back to the Farmers Insurance Open, where he confidently babbled about his improved accuracy and distance. Oh, and he launched his anti-USGA new grooves policy crusade, of course. He finished 19th at Torrey Pines, carding a final-round 73 — after he flew in swing coach Butch Harmon the night before.

Then there’s his putting. We can’t forget his success after working with putting guru Dave Stockton at the end of last year. Well, in eight rounds he’s averaged almost 30 putts a round. Looks like it’s back to the drawing board.

While he opened with an eagle in the third round at the Northern Trust, he played the remaining 35 holes four-over. Whoopsie. Blame it on those darn grooves. Now enough FIGJAM-critiquing from me, there was enough of that elsewhere.

First, let’s go to the guys at the SI Golf Group in the latest edition of PGA Tour Confidential:

Alan Shipnuck: The thing about Phil is that he regularly lays an egg, even when he’s ostensibly playing well. He might win five times this year, including a major or two, but there will be plenty of weeks when he’s a non-factor. That’s what’s so remarkable about Tiger’s body of work — even when he’s struggling he contends.

Gary Van Sickle: Once again, the Phil hype outpaced the Phil reality. I think that’s the hazard of pinning the marketing and hype on one guy. Golf isn’t a game where you can predict who’s going to do well every week. (Not like, say, NASCAR.) It’s also the hazard of pinning the game’s focus on one player whose entire career has been built on spectacular inconsistency. Phil may win at Pebble by 12; it wouldn’t be a surprise. Or he may miss the cut, and that wouldn’t be a surprise either.

That pretty much sums up the wonderful career of FIGJAM. Next up, excerpts from a FoxNews.com article without a byline:

[T]he grand transition plan didn’t allow for the fact that golf’s a meritocracy and Mickelson is now, officially, no longer the heir to the throne.

And after blowing his chances in both San Diego and L.A.’s Riviera, where he was seeking to become the first man to win three straight times at Hogan’s Alley, Mickelson doesn’t deserve to be. That might be a hard truth for Phil’s legions of fans to accept, but it’s also inescapable.

He had three months to prepare for the start of 2010 — knowing what was at stake — and couldn’t deliver. Think Tiger would’ve been an also-ran, finishing 19th and in a tie for 45th, if the roles had been reversed?

No, Phil blew it. He couldn’t even get himself into the running at Torrey Pines or Riviera because he couldn’t find a fairway with binoculars and a compass. Three months to prepare and he couldn’t keep the ball in play. It’s a sad reminder that obsession with distance in golf really is a double-edged sword.

Ouch. Perhaps the harsh tone explains why the writer decided to remain anonymous. But hey, if you’re going to bash someone, at least have the decency (and balls) to sign your name — and so I can email you to impart my praise.

[Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images]

The USGA finally responded to Phil’s scathing comments about the new grooves policy.

Last week Phil stirred up controversy when he decided to play with an old Ping Eye-2 lob wedge, which doesn’t conform with the new groove regulations, but is within the rules because of a loophole. He continued his crusade at his press conference on Wednesday, accusing the USGA of “killing” the game and manufacturers. But “out of respect” for the other players, he decided not to use the Ping wedge at this week’s tournament, confessing his “point has been made.”

He sure did.

Dick Rugge, the senior technical director of the USGA, said the system the organization uses to set equipment standards is meant to protect the game. He told Gary Smits:

The USGA does a lot to improve the game. As far as someone accusing us of killing the sport, I’m not going to get into a response to Phil Mickelson on that. He’s entitled to his own opinion.

Phil’s “opinion” is full of contradictions. To recap some of his previous comments, he wailed:

I’m very upset with the way the rule came about, the way one man essentially can approve or not approve a golf club based on his own personal decision regardless of what the rule says.

Rugge’s response:

…[T]he process is hardly “one man.”

I have a staff of 16 people, including six engineers with Ph.D.s. We get about 2,500 clubs submitted to us every year, and we approve about 80 percent of them as conforming. And the 20 percent have an appeal process. They can go to the USGA executive committee, so there’s 15 more people involved. We can’t please everyone, but I think we do the best we can.

Meanwhile, as Geoff Shackelford pointed out earlier this week, Phil admitted he stands to benefit from the groove change, but he refused to elaborate on his strong opposition to the USGA’s intent to bring back emphasis on skill.

Really, it seems that Phil launched his crusade to lash out at the USGA. He’s angry because a set of Callaway irons submitted to the USGA for approval were non-conforming. And it’s in his best interest to please his sponsor, which has always been his forte. Let’s be real — he’s not looking out for the other players as he so claims.

As for those who opt to use the Ping Eye-2 wedges, Rugge said, “They’re conforming clubs. I have no problem with a player who uses them.” But if the USGA’s intent is to protect the spirit of the game, it should have considered the repercussions of having such a contentious loophole — particularly one that allows players to arguably violate the honor and integrity the USGA is meant to uphold.

While the implementation of the policy could have been better, Phil has handled the situation poorly, acting like a spoiled child and launching a personal vendetta against the USGA because his sponsor’s clubs were rejected. But he can keep bitching about how it’s so terrible for his peers and the game. Nice work, FIGJAM.

[Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images Europe]

For the first time in ages, Phil Mickelson headlines the major golf story of the week in the Farmers Insurance Open held at Torrey Pines. With Tiger Woods on his indefinite leave, the media swarmed to the next best thing at Phil’s press conference, where we finally got to hear his thoughts (or lack thereof) on the revelations surrounding his frenemy, Tiger.

Phil kicked off the presser by reading a prepared statement. Talking points included  Tiger, the groove change, his game, and of course, his family. In other words, he took control of the situation, or simply, a media manipulation tactic:

Before we talk about that and the tournament, there’s a few other areas I’d like to discuss before we go into that. The first is obviously Tiger. That’s a common topic. The game of golf needs him to come back. I mean, it’s important for him to come back and be a part of the sport. But right now he’s got a lot more important things going on in his life. Amy and I are good friends with both Tiger and Elin, and we care deeply about how this turns out. But I’m going to choose not to talk about it publicly anymore, and I appreciate your understanding on that.

But this didn’t stop reporters from pressing him on the topic. Asked if he had tried to contact Tiger, “either through calling or text,” he stood by his no comment policy, politely replying, “You know, we’ve had limited communication with the Woodses, and again, I just feel like discussing any of that is just not appropriate.” But has he had contact with him? “With the family, not necessarily saying with who in the family.” So, no, he likely hasn’t directly spoken to Tiger.

When questioned on the prolific coverage of the scandal, he shrewdly cast it back at the press:

As far as the media exposure or coverage, reaction, I think it’s more a question for you. That’s your industry. That’s what you guys do for a living. How do you feel it was covered? I don’t know, that’s more of a question for you guys.

Phil also confirmed the report he would be playing with an old Ping Eye-2 lob wedge, which has been a contentious matter since it doesn’t technically conform to the new groove rule, but was grandfathered in following a lawsuit. Unlike some players who have voiced their disapproval of the loophole, deeming it as a form of cheating, Phil disagrees:

After talking about the TOUR and the USGA, the only thing that matters is are they approved for play. So I don’t feel that there’s any problem if I were to play those clubs or if anybody else were. All that matters is that it is OK under the rules of golf.

He freely voiced his disdain for the groove change:

You know, this affects my career. This is a big change. I think it’s a ridiculous change. I think that it costs each manufacturer millions of dollars. I think it’s confusing, and I don’t agree with it one bit.

His viewpoint caught me a bit off-guard, considering he’s celebrated for his deftness around the greens. But perhaps his disapproval stems from his bomb-and-gauge style of play, and the new grooves will make things tougher on those guys, according to Ryan Moore. Phil is also known for his sometimes questionable decision-making on the course and players will have to make smarter decisions and have more trouble recovering from missed shots.

Phil went on to discuss his optimistic feelings about his game and prognosticates this year will be one of the best of his career — with or without Tiger. He believes he has the opportunity to “challenge” Tiger’s throne and move to the number-one spot, which he says is something he’s aspired to his whole career, but he just “hasn’t had much success.” Even if Phil surpasses Tiger in the rankings, there will still be an asterisk that goes along with the title (it doesn’t count unless he does it with Tiger actually competing). I guess he’ll take it, though.

Going into Torrey Pines this week, Phil is the overwhelming favorite given his past success at the tournament, including three wins. Not surprisingly, the world’s number two is now the most beloved player — the one who is the quintessential family man, gracious to the media, friendly with fans and always smiling (or secretly smirking these days).

After living in Tiger’s shadow for over a decade, Phil now has the limelight to himself. Get ready for FIGJAM-squared. Just hope he doesn’t run over a fire hydrant in 2010.

Here’s the proof from ESPN’s Dan Washburn, “Lefty’s win, appeal draw in Chinese”:

• [G]olf fans in China are in awe of Woods — but they adore Mickelson.

• The [Nanfang Daily] described Woods’ demeanor at his Wednesday press conference as “grave,” and said his face was “overclouded.” Meanwhile, Mickelson was “smiling,” “honest” and “sincere.” Mickelson, the paper wrote, was one of the “most popular stars” at Sheshan because “he doesn’t put up fences” — he’ll sign autographs for a half-hour after a round.

• When he hits a good shot he rewards fans’ applause by smiling or tipping his cap. When he goes through the crowd, if you put out your hand he’ll even give a ‘high-five.’

And here’s my best attempt to translate “FIGJAM” in Chinese: Gaan, Wuh Hun Hao, Ni Kuh Ee Whun Wuh.

[Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images AsiaPac]

The HSBC Champions tournament takes place in the faraway land of China (exotic!) this week. And, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are spending some quality time together off the course — they even went head-to-head in a game of Chinese Chess. Tiger kindly let Phil take the spotlight for this photo opp.

Hooray for FIGJAM.

[Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images AsiaPac]

At least Captain Couples didn’t try to pucker up.

The US retained the Presidents Cup, finishing with 19.5 points vs. the Internationals’ 15.5.

It was only fitting that Tiger’s dominating 6&5 victory over Y.E. Yang — the man who took him down at the PGA Championship — sealed it for the US. For Tiger, the hole was the size of a toilet bowl, where he dropped putt after putt on a defenseless Yang. There was never a doubt Tiger would seek some sort of redemption today. It appeared it was good enough for him:

He got me there, and I figured I could get him here. It certainly was not exactly the same atmosphere, but then it still was an important point.

And he closed the week with a pristine 5-0 record — which apparently Freddie was banking on:

I needed him — this is going to sound stupid — to go 5-0.

Tiger had a little help from his BFF Steve Stricker in the team matches, particularly yesterday, which the always insightful and tactful Johnny Miller pointed out during the telecast. But Tiger graciously concurred:

Man, I helped out on two holes pretty much — well, three holes all day, 17, 18 this morning and then here. Otherwise I was cheerleading all day.

Teamwork! But those contributions were spectacular enough: The clutch 22-foot birdie on the 17th to extend the match. The picture-perfect Tiger fist-pump, one more animated than usual. One that we haven’t seen enough of this year (despite his 6 wins). The beautiful 4-iron approach shot to 7 feet on the final hole.

Now of course there were 10 other guys that chipped in, too. Kinda. After struggling on the greens earlier in the week (despite Michael Jordan’s sage words of wisdom), Sean O’Hair cured his atrocious case of the yips with a putting lesson from Phil Mickelson. It helped, obviously — O’Hair obliterated Ernie Els 6&4.

Let’s not forget about Phil. I will happily admit his play highlighted the team matches and greatly contributed to securing a dominating US victory. Yay FIGJAM.

The team camaraderie and the match play format in the Presidents Cup are what provide the theatrics that make only the true die-hard fans swoon. Like me and you.

[Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images]

Final Score after Day 1: US 3.5, Internationals 2.5

Woods/Stricker defeat Ogilvy/Ishikawa 6&4: Fist-bump! No awkward high-5s a la Stevie/Tiger? Thank God. If there were ever a dream team pairing, it would be Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker. Talk about a match made in heaven. The two played virtually flawlessly. Their opponents performed solidly, but had no chance as Woods/Stricker were unbeatable on Thursday. And they’re teamed up again for Friday’s four-ball…Ogilvy faces the super-duo again, but this time is partnered with Angel Cabrera.

Mickelson/Kim defeat Weir/Clark 3&2: This was arguably the best match of the day. After a shaky start on the greens for the Americans, FIGJAM and AK regrouped to win the first point for Team USA. Both have similar play styles: aggressive. But sometimes that translates to “explosive” or “foolish.” On the 13th, AK stuck his approach to 8 feet and Phil drained the putt (finally), providing them the momentum to close out. Phil credited AK’s wedge shot for turning around the match. Oh Phil, always so humble!

Scott/Els defeat Mahan/O’Hair, 2 and 1: The Americans couldn’t make a putt to save their lives. It appeared the putting tips Tiger gave O’Hair at the Tour Championshp didn’t carry over. YIP! And, Scott is making Norman look like a genius…for now.

Yang/Goosen halve with Leonard/Furyk: On the 18th, Leonard missed a gimme putt to halve the hole. Apparently there was some confusion, which brought about questions of gamesmanship by Goosen. From Press Tent:

Goosen looked like he initially conceded the putt that Leonard missed. According to Capt. Greg Norman, Goosen didn’t concede the putt, he just though the match was over. To his credit, Leonard didn’t blame the confustion for his miss, but simply said, “I made a bad putt.”

Perry/Johnson defeat Cabrera/Villegas, 2 up: Nothing too exciting.

Singh/Allenby defeat Glover/Cink, 1 up: See above.

[Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images]

Freddie Couples is captaining the Presidents Cup team this year and just to make sure his squad is as motivated as possible, he called on a very special assistant captain. You know, MJ.

Second-time Presidents Cup team member Zach Johnson is completely OMFG about this news:

“That’s going to be awesome. I don’t really know how to explain it. To me, it almost seems a little surreal right now knowing that arguably the best or one of the best athletes of all time is your assistant captain.”

And one of the worst gamblers of all time. Who will lose more money on side bets during the tournament? His Airness or his FIGJAMness? Oh wait, they probably won’t talk to each other…

[Photo/Chris Condon/PGA TOUR]

FIGJAM’s putter failed him through most of the 2009 season, but with a little tinkering tutorial from Dave Stockton and the return of typical FIGJAM cockiness, he scored his first victory since the beginning of the year. (Putting aside irrational negative feelings. Mustering positivity. So far, so good…)

He opened the tournament with a lackluster three-over 73, which included a quadruple-bogey. Going into the final round, he was four strokes back of Kenny Perry, but he putted his way back to the top of the leaderboard with scores of 66, 67 and 65. His shot of the day came at the 16th, where he holed a chip from around 15 feet to get to 9-under, insomuch clinching the Tour Championship.

/Phil pumps fist. Twice. Crowd goes wild.

Meanwhile, Tiger struggled with his putter all day until he finally made his first birdie of the day on the 15th. He followed by sinking a 35-footer on the 16th.

/Tiger pumps fist. Once. Crowd goes wild.

He couldn’t catch Phil, though…but he still walks away $10 million richer. Phil made note of that: “I want to see if I understand this right. I shot 65 and Tiger shot 70. He gets a check for $10 million.”

Phil wins the Tour Championship. Tiger wins the FedEx Cup. Tim Finchem wins credibility. Kind of.

[Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images]