Heath Slocum

Slocum had three Top-10s in 12 events last season. The Spaniard was first in putting from 10-15 feet on the PGA Tour.

It was two years ago that Slocum entered the first FedEx Cup event square on the bubble only to go on and win that week. From that moment through the end of the 2010 season, Slocum played some of the best golf of his career. For some reason, he got off track last year and never really found his game. The good news is that you can get Slocum at a discount price this season. There's no guarantee that he'll return to his former self, but he's more likely to resemble his 2010 form rather than last year's.

Slocum gained a victory for the second consecutive season in 2010 and set a career high in earnings. The only troubling thing about his wins is the timing. In 2009, he barely crept into the FedExCup and ended up winning the first event; last year he waited until October to earn a victory. That win likely did nothing for anyone playing fantasy golf as the regular season had long been over. Slocum appears to have enough talent to be at or near the top 30 on a yearly basis, but until he can produce more often in the first seven months of the season, don't expect a bump in his numbers. Slocum is among the PGA TOUR's best at accuracy off the tee. He's also among the best at GIR.

With just one win at The Barclays last August, Slocum moved from Q-School territory to possible FedEx Cup champion. Slocum entered The Barclays as the 144th-ranked player on the Tour, but he proved that any player can win during a given week. The victory guaranteed Slocum's tour card for the 2010 season, so hopefully he will be able to relax and simply play golf. It remains to be seen if the decreased pressure leads more success early in the season. Slocum's 2010 numbers will likely be similar to his 2009 results, but hopefully he can be a consistently-higher finisher throughout the entire season instead of just pinning his hopes on one big victory.

Slocum's production regressed in 2008 after his career year in 2007 due to his putter. Regardless of his issues with the putter, Slocum remains one of the most accurate drivers on the PGA tour. As long as that holds up and his putting improves even slightly, his numbers will improve.

The jury is still out on Slocum. He looks like a good player, but he tends to earn most of money at lower tier events. I suppose everyone has to start somewhere, but his price is a little steep for those in a salary cap league. He's probably closer to a top-40 pick in draft leagues, not top-30 as he ended up last year.

Slocum continued to produce at a good level in 2006, but where and when he produces is a little troubling. For instance, his first win on tour came at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson, better known as the "top 64 in the world not here event of Tucson." In 2005 he earned more than $1.6 million, the bulk of which came during the fall season. Last year most of his money was earned either during the fall or at weak-field events during the regular season. Slocum needs to show some game against the big boys before he can be considered a good pick.

Slocum showed some nice improvement in 2005. The consistency is still lacking, but it looks to be getting better. He won an event late in the year, which is a good sign, but both of his wins have come against less-than-stellar fields. Slocum is still fairly young, in the gold world at least, and he might still be learning how to compete on Tour. He made good progress toward the year's end. He picked up a couple top-10s against some good fields. That, with the late-season win, should get him off to a better start in 2006.

Slocum didn't really improve in his second full year on the Tour, earning in the $800,000-$900,000 for the second straight season. He's got a cool name, but we need to see him take the next leap before we're on board.