Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- British Masters (European Tour Package)

OVERVIEW

Another week in the books and another “Masters” event on the European Tour. It was fun to see our boy Ty Hatton get the win last week after having terrible form for about a month and a half, but last week’s GPP picks were a great success and I’ll look to keep that train rolling again this week. There’s no course history this week as the British Masters recently added The Grove to the rotation of courses so we’ll be relying heavily on form and the limited statistics we have.

TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND

• The Course
• The Grove
• Par: 72 (all 3 courses)
• Yardage: 7,121
• Greens: Bentgrass
• Location: Waterford, Hertfordshire – England
• Expected scoring: With a new course comes some unfamiliarity in scoring. That being said I’d like to think the setup will be similar as in years past and somewhere between -15 & -17 should get it done this week.   
• Past Champion: The event wasn’t played from 2009 to 2014 as they didn’t have a new sponsor in place once their previous deal with the Quinn Group ended and I don’t find going back further than 6 years is very indicative of past success.
• 2015: Matthew Fitzpatrick -15 over Soren Kjeldsen, Shane Lowry & Fabrizio Zanotti

 

KEY STATS TO TARGET

• Strong Emphasis – Greens in Regulation, Driving Distance, Putts per GIR
• Important – Current Form, Ball Striking, Scrambling

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STARS:

Bernd Wiesberger (DK $12,100)

• Course History: N/A
• Form: 7^th – 5^th – 2^nd – 41^st – 11^th
• Stats:58 – Scoring Avg, 59.29% – DA, 294.35 yards – DD, 74.44% – GIR
• Other – Wiesberger was featured here last week and didn’t disappoint with his 7^th place finish. This week he gets the bump in price and expectations, but I’m not ready to jump off quite yet. Things are rolling along nicely for Bergerstein and you get the feeling that he’s so close to putting it all together for four days. I wouldn’t roster him in cash this week, but he makes for a very good GPP play as the top man on the board.

Ross Fisher (DK $11,300)

• Course History: N/A
• Form: 2^nd – 2^nd – 45^th – 58^th – MC
• Stats:63 – Scoring Avg, 62.61% – DA, 297.32 yards – DD, 74.25% – GIR
• Other – I feel like this play is the “week late to the party” play, so he’s listed here as a fade. Fisher has been muddling around all year, missing cuts or just barely making them and not doing a thing afterwards. Let others jump on board this “far too good to be true” train and fade the masses.

Danny Willett (DK $10,500)

• Course History: N/A
• Form: MC – 2^nd – 12^th – 37^th – 79^th – 53^rd – MC
• Stats: 33 – Scoring Avg, 58.20% – DA, 290.06 yards – DD, 72.99% – GIR
• Other – I was wrong on Danny last week, but he needed the rest after the Ryder Cup so I’m coming back for more. Yes, he hasn’t been the same since the Masters, but his schedule has been much different this year with all of the press and exposure he’s gotten because of the green jacket (and his brother). Danny is too good of a player to miss another back to back cut (something he’s done just once over the past two years) so I feel much more confident in recommending him this week.

ALSO CONSIDER – It’s no secret that Matthew Fitzpatrick (DK $9,500) plays extremely well in events titled “Masters”; finishing T7 at the Omega Euro Masters, 5^th at the Czech Masters, 1^st at the Nordea Masters and T7 at The Masters. It’s tough for me to suggest him again this week, but like Willett & Westwood, I think the Ryder Cup may have taken too much out of them and look for all three to bounce back this week. Tommy Fleetwood (DK $9,300) backed up his 10^th place finish with a 15^th last week and even though he let down those that bet him outright I think he’s in play again this week. He’s been trending along nicely now for a solid month and a half and could put it all together this week. I don’t see Tyrrell Hatton (DK $10,700) backing up his win last week with anything close to paying off his price tag this week. It seems like an optimal time to fade him.

 

VALUE PLAYS:

  Richard Bland (DK $8,500)

• Course History: N/A
• Form: 18^th – 7^th – 5^th – 16^th – 5^th – 27^th
• Stats: 34 – Scoring Avg, 60.26% – DA, 290.16 yards – DD, 65.69% – GIR
• Other – Possibly one of the most consistent golfers on the Euro Tour, Bland continues to make cuts and payoff his salary week in and week out. You get the sense that a win is coming, but I’m not sure he has what it takes to be a front runner so if he does win it’ll be because he posts the low round on a Sunday morning while the overnight leaders come back to the field. That being said, he’s a lock for cash games this week again, and I don’t mind eating the chalk here for GPPs.

Bradley Dredge (DK $8,200)

• Tournament History: N/A
• Form: 11^th – 13^th – MC – MC – 2^nd
• Stats:31 – Scoring Avg, 59.95% – DA, 290.50 yards – DD, 67.69% – GIR
• Other – Dredge has been another DFS favorite on the Euro Tour and after some untimely missed cuts appears to have righted the ship. I think his game sets up well for pretty much any course and really it just comes down to avoiding the big numbers and making birdies on holes that the rest of the field is making them on. Fire him up in cash games again this week and if you don’t mind some increased ownership, feel free to roll him out in GPPs as well.

ALSO CONSIDER – Renato Paratore (DK $7,300) comes in riding a nice streak of three consecutive cuts made – including two Top 20’s and has two Top 10’s in his last five events. He doesn’t move the needle for me by any means, but at this price he’s worth a look. As is Pablo Larrazabal (DK $7,300) who comes in off his most recent Top 25. I wouldn’t recommend him for cash purposes as his game has been quite volatile, but he makes for a nice GPP pivot off of Marc Warren (DK $7,400) who I expect people will gravitate to since they know his name as well as the 5^th place finish they see next to his name.

 

DEEP DIVERS:

   Craig Lee (DK $6,500)

• Tournament History: N/A
• Form: 25^th – 24^th – MC – 51^st – MC – 44^th – 19^th
• Stats: 79 – Scoring Avg, 60.35% – DA, 282.08 yards – DD, 68.11% – GIR
• Other – Normally this spot is reserved for Magnus, but I’m waving the white flag on him and moving on. Lee has shown some serious upside in the past two weeks and that’s all I needed to motivate me to find another gem in the bargain bin. He’s not as long as he was when he joined the Euro Tour (292 off the tee), but he’s been consistently above average in that area as well as being accurate, which is a huge bonus. I’d look to roster him in GPP’s only this week as he’ll have no ownership to speak of and could continue his Top 25 streak.

Oliver Fischer (DK $6,400)

• Tournament History: N/A
• Form: MC – 28^th – 53^rd – 28^th – 12^th – MC
• Stats:89 – Scoring Avg, 53.31% – DA, 290.14 yards – DD, 67.12% – GIR
• Other – Fischer was trending along nice since his last missed cut and fortunately (for whatever reason) I was able to avoid last week’s missed cut. Fischer has missed back to back cuts earlier in the year, but seeing how he played for five straight weeks following his previous missed cut is encouraging enough for me to jump on board this week at a really good price.

 David Drysdale (DK $6,100)

• Tournament History: N/A
• Form: 47^th – 39^th – 59^th – MC – 12^th – 44^th
• Stats: 40 – Scoring Avg, 71.06% DA, 279.70 yards – DD, 74.14% GIR
• Other – Dad Drysdale returns to the preview article after several made cuts in a row. I think the 12^th place finish was a flash in the pan at a course he was familiar with, but after getting three straight paychecks on courses where he’s had minimal success I’m willing to give him another shot. I’m not looking for anything outside of 50 DK points this week and really in this price range we’re just hoping he’s gaining points for four days playing the type of golf you’d expect to see your dad play; Hits fairway off the tee, hits green from fairway, two putt par.

ALSO CONSIDER – If you missed out on Joakim Lagergren (DK $7,000) last week, now isn’t the time to chase points and knowing when to get off the wagon is just as important at getting on before everyone else. Last week he had some good course history from last year to go off of and it paid off. Instead, look at Mike Lorenzo-Vera (DK $6,700). MLV comes in with solid form since the KLM Open, and is even cheaper than Joakim and has exceeded his value in three of his last four events (all of which he made the cut in).

 

GPP PLAYS :

 Nicolas Colsaerts (DK $8,400)

• Course History: N/A
• Form: 31^st – 13^th – 38^th – 24^th – 24^th
• Stats: 73 – Scoring Avg, 55.04% – DA, 304.39 yards – DD, 74.51% – GIR
• Other – Colsaerts is a weekly GPP play. He offers very little consistency in his game and typically is overpriced (with the exception of the Olympics). With little consistency comes high upside as he hits the ball a Belgian mile which often gives him opportunities at birdie or better. If rostered, he’ll need to finish in the Top 15 which isn’t asking too much. The real upside comes in his fluky out of nowhere Top 5 finishes, which could be a possibility this week.

Alejandro Canizares (DK $7,500)

• Course History: N/A
• Form: 41^st – MC – 7^th – 4^th – 24^th
• Stats: 96 – Scoring Avg, 61.69% – DA, 275.79 yards – DD, 63.56% – GIR
• Other – It wasn’t a bad result, just not what I was expecting last week. I guess its all relative when you think about a guy coming off a missed cut and playing 3 different courses; its tough to get in a groove. I think Canizares makes his way back into the Top 25 this week and might not see any kind of increased ownership which is what we’re looking for in GPP only plays.

ALSO CONSIDER – I think it’s time to get Joost Luiten (DK $9,600) at a lower ownership following two straight putrid tournaments. Last week’s opening round really set him back and he was never able to get it going before the cuts were made. Luiten should get things straightened out this week as he’s only missed back to back cuts once this year and is a much better player than people give him credit for. Thongchai Jaidee (DK $9,400) feels like its chasing the last two tournaments, but his ownership should be down due to who’s priced around him and has been playing some really high quality golf the past month (8^th – 9^th – 20^th). Florian Fritsch (DK $7,200) may not be a household name, but he’s been playing extremely well for the last month including three 7^th place finishes in his last four events. Victor Dubuisson (DK $6,100) because, why not? He has done nothing all year, he’s bottom of the barrel priced and his recent form includes a WD. He’ll have zero ownership and in the event that he actually shows up, he could be a huge difference maker. Do not let him anywhere near your cash games.

Thanks for reading and good luck this week from the FGI team!

• Pari, (@hitthehighdraw)

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