Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- Desert Classic

OVERVIEW

My least favorite week is upon us this week as we head back to the continental United States for my least favorite event of the year. There are three courses in play this week only the Stadium Course will be played twice, and as far as watching the event goes, you’ll basically see the leaders and a handful of players regardless of where they are on the leaderboard (Rahm, Phil, etc). The courses are short and easy, as PGA West & La Quinta ranked as 50 & 51 out of 51 last year in “toughness”, The Stadium Course ranked 36/51 last year making it the “toughest” of the three, which makes sense as it hosts the final round, but we’re not talking about guys struggling to shoot -2 here. Four of the last five winners placed inside the Top 20 in either of the two Hawaiian events prior to winning. Rahm placed 2^nd at the ToC in 2018 before winning, Swafford finished 13^th at the Sony in 2017, Dufner finished 9^th at the Sony in 2016, and Patrick Reed finished 16^th at the ToC in 2014 before winning. Obviously, it makes sense that players who kick the dust off their game prior to winning, but as far as nailing down this week’s winner goes, I think that’s a fairly correlated result to finding this week’s winner, especially since Wai’alae is a corollary course. Outside of Rahm last year, this event has been won by mid-level or longshots to win so I don’t think burning Rose or Rahm this week is an ideal play for one & done leagues (though I wouldn’t fault you for firing at Rahm again following his strong play at Kapalua). My top 5 one & done targets this week are Cantlay, Kizzire (top 20 in both events held in Hawaii), Putnum (Top 20 in both events), CH3 (Top 20 in both), and Sungjae Im as a longshot (though I don’t think this is necessary this week and prefer to bet him as a Top 10 or Top 5 finisher).

 TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND

• The Courses
• PGA West Stadium Course, PGA West Course, La Quinta Country Club
• Par: 72 (all)
• Yardage: 7,100 (Stadium), 7,200 (PGA West), 7,000 (La Quinta)
• Greens: Bermuda (all)
• Location: La Quinta, California
• Corollary Tournaments/Courses: Waste Management (TPC Scottsdale), Valspar (Innisbrook), Sony (Wai’alae)
• Past Champions:
• 2018: Jon Rahm -22 in a playoff over Andrew Landry
• 2017: Hudson Swafford -20 over Adam Hadwin
• 2016: Jason Dufner -25 in a playoff over David Lingmerth
• 2015: Bill Haas -22 over Charley Hoffman, Matt Kuchar, SJ Park, Brendan Steele & Steve Wheatcroft
• 2014: Patrick Reed -28 over Ryan Palmer

KEY STATS TO TARGET

• Strong Emphasis – SG: APP, SG: P, P4 Scoring 350-400 yards, Birdie or Better
• Important – P5 Scoring, Scrambling

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