Showdown, Week 40: Bud Cauley vs. Jonas Blixt

So in an attempt to inject a bit more life and interest into tournaments, and because we’re all inveterate gamblers who are one bad card from being out on the streets, Jay Busbee and I are playing a golf version of a football suicide pool: We each pick one golfer per tournament and see how they do against each other, straight up. Victory over the other guy gets one point, victory in the tournament gets three points, and a tie lands you half a point. (Double for the majors.) We turn our attention to the Frys.com Open.

Wall: There’s something about the end of the season that brings out the best in Bud Cauley. Needing a strong Fall Finish last year to secure his card and bypass Q-School, he picked up a third-place finish at the Frys.com and a T-15 at the McGladrey Classic to secure full-time status as a non-member. I think his past success at the Frys, coupled with a nice run in late July that included four top 10 finishes in five events, makes him a great picks this week.

Busbee: Jonas Blixt! I’d pick him for the name alone, even if he wasn’t currently riding a hot streak. He held the lead for a good chunk last week at the Shriners, and he’s playing well enough of late to warrant taking a flyer on him at an otherwise, uh, quiet field. He’s got four top-10 finishes in his first 18 events on Tour, so he’s starting out solid. Plus, he’s a Florida State guy, which — along with the fact that his name would fit equally well on a European philosopher or a death-metal guitarist — makes him all right in our book.

Last week: We dropped the ball at JT’s Shriners Open. Chalk it up to a post-Ryder Cup hangover but Busbee and I forgot to make a pick for the first Fall Series event in Vegas. Our bad! Going back to the Tour Championship, Phil Mickelson (Busbee’s pick) edged out Jason Dufner (Wall’s pick) to even the Showdown battle with only three events to play.

Current score: Wall – 14.0, Busbee – 14.0.

Already Used: Wall – Gary Woodland, K.J. Choi, Martin Laird, Nick Watney, Lee Westwood, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson, Luke Donald, Ryan Moore, Jim Furyk, Webb Simpson, Sean O’Hair, Tiger Woods, Hunter Mahan, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Carl Pettersson, Rory McIlroy, Brandt Snedeker, Dustin Johnson, Jason Dufner, Bud Cauley. Busbee – Nick Watney, Webb Simpson, Bill Haas, Ben Crane, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Zach Johnson, Luke Donald, Robert Karlsson, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, K.J. Choi, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Lee Westwood, Brandt Snedeker, Bubba Watson., Tiger Woods, David Toms, Keegan Bradley, Louis Oosthuizen, Phil Mickelson, Jonas Blixt.

Devil Ball Golf – Golf – Yahoo! Sports