PB had a double meaning last week – Pebble Beach and personal best.

Yes, after a rather frustrating start to the season, I finished 2nd out of 744 in the £2 game to land a very nice profit. That beat my previous best Fanteam fantasy golf performance of 5th.

The result came courtesy of an experimental Scottie Scheffler team and, being contrarian (I was the only player in the top five finishers to have him), paid off.

Many, as in Phoenix, felt the 30M for the World No.1 didn’t leave enough budget elsewhere but I managed to spread it around to get some good picks on board.

This was my team:

T2nd Sepp Straka 141.00pts
T4th Scottie Scheffler (Captain) 157.50pts
T6th Akshay Bhatia 117.00pts
T8th Ryo Hisatsune 122.75pts
T14th Tom Hoge (Underdog) 131.88pts
72nd Michael Kim 63.25pts

With the captain and UD (underdog) – both score x1.25pts – performing well, it racked up 733.38pts.

The winner bagged 738.88 – well done Leegiles9 – so it was close. My six-man line-up would have finished 3rd in the £10 game.

As for the Season Game, my Scheffler team finished 20th out of 602 at Pebble Beach and is now exactly 100th in the overall standings. Work to do but some encouraging signs after it ended Week 1 way down in 350th.

My non-Scheffler team is going the other way: 58th after Week 1 but now down to a woeful 388th.

Next up, the PGA completes the West Coast Swing with a trip to famed Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

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Okay, let’s start building…

Top Tier Picks (18M and over)

Tommy Fleetwood (20.6M): After a rather modest start to the season in Dubai, Fleetwood’s first 2026 foray onto the PGA Tour ended with a very encouraging T4 at Pebble Beach, his best finish there. With strong Tee To Green figures – a key pointer for success at Riviera – hopes must be high that he can continue his record here of improving his result on every visit. So far the sequence reads 37-28-20-10.

Rory McIlroy (22.6M): McIlroy also left Pebble with a spring in his step after closing with a 64. That moved him up to 14th place and with a sense of momentum heading to LA. Six of the last 10 editions of this event at Riviera have been won by Masters champions which bodes well, as does his 4th place for SG: Approach at Pebble.

Others to consider: Scottie Scheffler (29.4M) has form this season of 1-3-4 and don’t forget that he was 10 shots off the pace after 18 holes in both of his last two events. He has four-year Riviera form (2021 to 2024) of 20-7-12-10 but should he be worth nearly 7M more than McIlroy? Hideki Matsuyama (19M) is still far from convincing with the driver but he’s still finished second and eighth the last two weeks. He produced a majestic Sunday 62 to win at Riviera two years ago and prior to that had logged fourth, fifth, ninth and 11th at this course. Collin Morikawa (18.8M) was back to his brilliant best with the irons to win at Pebble Beach last week and, with the Tour staying in his native California, he could be high up the leaderboard again. He loves Riviera (19-6-2 last three visits). Another Golden State local, Patrick Cantlay (18.6M) is another strong option in this price category having totted up three top fours along with two 15ths and a 17th in his last seven starts at The Riv. He’s made the top 15 in both California events so far (Amex and Pebble) in 2026.

Mid-Range Value Selections (14.2M up to 18M)

Ludvig Aberg (16.6M) is the defending champion although that win 12 months ago came at Torrey Pines due to the wildfires near Riviera. But the Augusta connection is strong – he’s had a piece of the R4 lead in the last two Masters – and was 19th on his only start here in 2024. He’s had a slow start to the season, partly due to illness, but the Swede shot the joint-sixth best score over the final three rounds at Pebble last week and could be ready to flourish again.

Harris English (15.8M) hasn’t finished worse than 28th in four starts this season and was a winner on the West Coast Swing last year as well as runner-up in two 2025 majors. He’s driving the ball superbly this year and brings course form too via seventh here in 2024 and 12th in 2023. English shot a round of 65 on the weekend in both years.

Others to consider: Adam Scott (15.8M) is another to have helped build the Augusta-Riviera connection. He won the Green Jacket in 2013 and has two wins, two seconds, a fourth and a seventh here. He’s been solid in three PGA Tour starts this season: 40-24-30. This is a Riveria debut for Jake Knapp (17.2M) but he’s been one of the stars of the West Coast Swing (11-5-8-8). His putting on Poa Annua greens (the surfaces here) has been superb. Jason Day (15.4M) is one of just two players to have cracked the top 10 in the last two editions of this event at Riviera (Cantlay is the other). The Aussie closed with three 68s for 24th at Pebble and was runner-up at The American Express. Max Homa (14.2M) represents the course form v current form dilemma. His form here from 2020 reads 5-1-10-2-16 but he’s started the season somewhat slowly (27-MC-66).

Underdog Options (14M and Under)

Sahith Theegala (13.8M) will be particularly determined to do well after tournament host Tiger Woods awarded him a spot in the field via the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption – a place given to the most deserving golfer from a minority background. Theegala made the cut as an unknown here in 2017, has cashed in all four four visits and took sixth in 2023. He didn’t get it going at Pebble but his 2026 form is impressive with top 10s at the Amex and Torrey Pines followed by 18th in Phoenix.

Tony Finau (13.6M) has definite UD (underdog) credentials. He’s twice been a runner-up at Riviera, has five top 20s in the last seven runnings on the par 71 and is definitely showing good signs again after a difficult 2025. Finau was 11th at Torrey Pines and 18th at Pebble last week and those two finishes form part of a run of four top 20s in his last five California starts.

Others to consider: Jacob Bridgeman (13.6M) got a mention in this section last week after putting up 2026 finishes of 4-13-18. Now we can add an ‘8’ onto that after his top 10 at Pebble. Bridgeman’s strong putting on Poa Annua greens bodes well for his Riviera debut. Tom Hoge (12.6M) did me proud as the UD last week and he’s definitely a contender for that role again thanks to some rather neat symmetry. He’s been eighth and 14th in the last two runnings at Riviera and has eighth (Amex) and 14th (Pebble) on his CV in 2026. Hoge was 8th for SG: Approach last week. Ryo Hisatsune (13.6M) actually has very marginally better form than his far more celebrated compatriot Hideki Matsuyama over the last three starts (8-10-2 v 8-2-11). Enough said. It’s Hisatsune’s course debut.

That’s this week in the books from a fantasy perspective.

Now to check out the revamped and much-boosted FanTeam Sportsbook.

Let’s have a couple of bets too.

In the Top 10 market, I like Tony Finau at 8.6. That’s great value given that he’s a course horse with two strong results in his last three events.

Second, I’ll play Tom Hoge in the Top 20 market at 4.4.

Remember, there are only 72 players in the field and Hoge has cracked the top 20 in his last two Riviera starts and boasts an eighth and a 14th already this season.

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