Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- Turkish Airlines Open

OVERVIEW

After a week off for most of the regular European Tour professionals, the Tour finds themselves in Turkey for another no-cut event as we head down the final stretch of the Race to Dubai standings. This week’s course isn’t new to the rotation, but it is new to us as DFS players as The Montgomerie Maxx has hosted this event in the past (from 2013-2015, Dubuisson won in 2015 and Brooks won in 2014 with Ian Poulter finishing 2nd so you can see there’s a difference in playing style for past winners). Some players have some history here, but how relevant course knowledge is, is yet to be seen. The course is located off the coast, so winds will be expected to play a role in scoring, but most of the holes are tree-lined which, in theory, should knock down the wind a bit (trees are 90% air, apparently). The fairways are a mix of narrow and wide, so there’s really no edge on accuracy players versus bombers who aren’t (especially since most of the “accurate” players are some of the worst players in the field – career wise). Water comes into play on eight holes, there are five par 5’s and all of them should be reachable in two for the longer hitters in the field, putting even more emphasis on Par 5 scoring than usual. There are also two Par 4’s that can be played as drivable holes, so that should add a bit more entertainment to the scoreboard. If the wind doesn’t blow this week, it should be an absolute score fest. If it does, I’m sure we’ll still see scores in the -15 range.

TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND
o The Course
• The Montgomerie Maxx Royal
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,100 yards
• Greens: Bentgrass
o Location: Turkey
o Past Champions:
• 2018: Justin Rose -17 in a playoff over Haotong Li
• 2017: Justin Rose -18 over Nicolas Colsaerts & Dylan Fritelli
• 2016: Thorbjorn Olesen -20 over Haotong Li & David Horsey
• 2015: Victor Dubuisson -22 over Jaco Van Zyl
• 2014: Brooks Koepka -17 over Ian Poulter

KEY STATS TO TARGET
o Strong Emphasis – SG: OTT + SG: APP, Par 5 scoring, Birdies or better, Scrambling
o Important – Par 4 Scoring, Current Form

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