K.J. Choi is seeking his first win on TOUR since 2002. (Feldman/WireImage) TFI: International Team coulda-beens motivated for Greensboro Sep. 27, 2005 By Brett Avery The Fantasy Insider PGATOUR.com Contributor Revenge is a dish best served immediately. The Fantasy Insider was impressed by the International Team’s play in last week’s Presidents Cup. There's a large part of him that feels they should have won for the first time on U.S. soil, although key miscues by players across the depth chart proved costly. TFI has a sneaking suspicion that sentiment is shared by some players who were in the running for one of the 12 spots on the International Team but found themselves outside the squad. Nice job, guys, but not good enough. Revenge? You might believe that’s too strong a word, although with the ultra-competitive nature of the players on the PGA TOUR -- they don’t get a paycheck just for showing at the workplace -- it’s probably not too far off the mark. Now, a captain has only two selections to round out the lineup, so not every deserving player gets a call. And Gary Player, the International captain, had a lot of quality prospects. Several of them are playing in this week’s Chrysler Classic of Greensboro. That’s why TFI’s going to rely this week on the nucleus of that coulda-been-called list. First, Forest Oaks CC is anything but a pushover so it’s likely to take plenty of experience and ability to contend for the title. But there’s an incentive for the International players who would have loved nothing better than to provide what they envision would have been the crucial component missing in the team that played at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Revenge? Serve it up, gents. TFI hopes you’re famished this week. Pick One: K.J. Choi ($267,500). He skipped Greensboro last year after finishing in ties for fifth, seventh and fourth the three previous years. Missed his last two cuts this month after failed to make the Presidents Cup team but six earlier top 25s look tasty. Balance: $732,500. Pick Two: Shigeki Maruyama ($264,250). Shook off a stretch of four cuts in five starts with top 30s in his two most recent outings. The 2003 champ is on the cusp of the top 50 on the money list (and not too far away from the top 30) so he needs a few good weeks. Balance: $468,250. Pick Three: Olin Browne ($215,500). That’s one heck of a recent run: Won the Deutsche Bank Championship, missed the cut at the 84 LUMBER Classic, second at last weekend’s Valero Texas Open. More play like that could land him on the 2007 Presidents Cup team. Balance: $252,750. K.J. Choi is seeking his first win on TOUR since 2002. (Feldman/WireImage) Pick Four: J.J. Henry ($101,750). Last week's Valero Texas Open was his fourth top-10 placing of the season. Unlike earlier in the season, when he’d throw out a clunker high score every once in a while, he’s been steady (68.5 scoring average his last 14 rounds). Balance: $151,000. Pick Five:Ryan Moore ($98,500). Creeping closer to that card for 2006 and TFI likes his chances as the weeks roll along. His scoring average so far (70.17) would rank 23rd for the season, a nice indictor of his potential, right? Balance: $52,500. Hey, buddy, can you spare $917,500? Loved them, but ran out of slots or into the salary cap: • Steve Elkington ($270,750). Hardly a stellar record at this place but he’s had two top fives since late July, including most notably a run at the PGA Championship. Here’s another guy who could make The TOUR Championship field (46th in earnings). • Geoff Ogilvy ($261,000). Three times he’s made the cut without much fanfare. Two top 20s in the U.S. since his tie for fifth in the British Open. Oh, and he’s 33rd in earnings. • Jeff Sluman ($186,250). Right-hand man to Jack Nicklaus when he captained the U.S. to victory last week has a strong record at Greensboro and probably is hankering to play well after watching all that action at Robert Trent Jones GC. • Kevin Sutherland ($124,500). Three top 20s in his last five starts here. Plus TFI has a feeling. And that’s always a dangerous combination (especially the TFI “feeling” part). • Matt Gogel ($75,000). TFI had him in the top lineup until the last minute, when he swapped him for Moore. Of course, that’ll probably come back to haunt TFI, who is trying to push the main lineup into the top 1,000 before the season ends. Last week: $102,602 (8,797th place). Stephen Ames $0 (missed cut), Carlos Franco $0 (did not start), John Senden $94,500 (tied for eighth), Hunter Mahan $0 (missed cut), Ryan Moore $8,102 (tied for 53rd). Segment Three: $6,998,208 (4,127th place). C’mon, one of these guys couldn’t hole another putt and push TFI over $7 for Segment Three? Sheesh! From the 밐ey, buddy?lineup, three players made the cut and totaled $176,050 (4,536th place): Bart Bryant $70,000 (tied for 13th), Jerry Kelly $0 (missed cut), Harrison Frazar $94,500 (tied for eighth), Tag Ridings $11,550 (tied for 43rd), John Huston $0 (missed cut). Segment Three: $4,305,033 (24,566th place). Jeez, this lineup was looking sooo good Friday night. Sheesh! We all meant to spend $646,250 or $699,000: Maximum earnings from the Valero Texas Open were $1,647,000: Robert Gamez $630,000 (salary of $75,000), Olin Browne $378,000 (salary of $222,000), Woody Austin $303,000 (salary of $199,250; includes $100,000 bonus as third-round leader), Mark Wilson $203,000 (salary of $75,000) and either Bob Heintz ($133,000, salary of $75,000) or J.J. Henry ($133,000, salary of $127,750). Week 36 winner: Meadow_eagle $1,152,550 (69.98 percent of maximum). Segment Three leader: Flawed Swingers $11,692,925. Captain’s Choice: Last week’s main lineup of Bill Haas ($9,441, tied for 15th) placed 308th while the “Hey, buddy” lineup of Brandt Snedeker ($0, missed cut) placed 2,232nd. The main lineup totals $223,773 and ranks 1,203rd overall while the “Hey, buddy” lineup toals $187,315 and ranks 1,321st. Week 23 winner: skids $117,000 (one of four at that figure). Segment Two leader: Milt’s Oldtimers $1,376,665. This week: Main lineup, Craig Stadler and Eric Axley; “Hey, buddy” lineup: David Eger and Troy Matteson.