Humana Challenge- Tournament Preview

Only six days after losing in heart-breaking fashion to Patrick Reed at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Jimmy Walker responded with a dominating win in the Sony Open in Hawaii. Following up on his third round lead, Walker blew away the field with a 7-under 63 to win the Sony Open for the second consecutive year. It was his fourth win in his last 32 starts, and will move him up to No. 13 in the world rankings. Scott Piercy closed with a 66 to finish alone in second. Matt Kuchar, who started the final round two shots out of the lead, didn’t make a birdie and shot 71 to tie for third with Harris English and Gary Woodland, who each had a 67. Kuchar ended his streak of 255 rounds on the PGA Tour with at least one birdie.

It was an outstanding week for our picks here at Fantasy Golf Insider as we had Jimmy Walker as our top pick and also had Jason Day and Russell Henley as our top stud plays. Our top value pick, Robert Streb played well with a T17 and Sang Moon Bae and Francesco Molinari both made the cut and racked up some points over the weekend. Our sleepers are the ones who delivered huge for us. Shawn Stefani, Jeff Overton, David Hearn, and Spencer Levin all made the cut and played extremely well for their price. We mentioned John Peterson as a great sleeper and he was in the Top 10 before Sunday when he posted a 72 and fell back to T37. He was still an outstanding value for his price however. The only two players that underperformed our predictions and expectations were Hideki Matsuyama and Tony Finau. Both had been playing lights out in their last 4 events, but did not come through at the Sony Open.

The PGA Tour leaves Hawaii and heads to California this weekend for the Humana Challenge. The format for this tournament is very different as the first 54 holes are a Pro Am where the 156 professionals will play with a different amateur partner each day on different courses for three days. On Sunday, the low 70 professionals and ties will play the final round of the event at the Palmer Private at PGA WEST. Palmer Private at PGA West is a par 72, 6,950 yard course and has been the tournaments host course since 2001.(except for 2006-2008). The other two courses that will be played include PGA West’s Nicklaus Private course, which is also a par 72 and stretches 6,951 yards. Finally, there is La Quinta Country Club, a par 72, 7,060 yard course.

The Humana features four of the Top 20 players in the world including Matt Kuchar, Billy Horschel, Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson, and defending champ Patrick Reed. Phil Mickelson is making his first appearance since the Ryder Cup and has won this tournament twice before (2002 and 2004). Patrick Reed is the focus however as he won two weeks ago in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and looks to repeat in this event.

This week the field is a bit weaker, so we will attempt to roster the few big names in the field who have a very good chance of winning and complete the roster with some sleepers.

Top Stud picks-

Matt Kuchar- He is too consistent not to put him on your roster. Kuchar has been in the Top 25 in each of his events this 2015 wrap around season and is coming off an impressive T3 at the Sony Open last weekend. He will have a legitimate chance of winning the Humana Challenge.

Patrick Reed- Reed decided to take the week off to soak up some sun rather than play in the Sony Open after his come-from-behind victory at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. The strategy doesn’t make much sense to me, but I am writing fantasy golf columns and he is laying on the beach with one of those oversized checks for $1 Million dollars. Reed missed the cut in the Humana two years ago but came up victorious last year. His $16,000 salary on Draftkings however makes him nearly impossible to roster.

Chris Kirk- Outside of blistering final rounds in both the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open, Chris Kirk has not looked outstanding so far this season. He is however one of the most talented players in the field this weekend, and no doubt the most consistent. In 2014 Kirk made an incredible 26 cuts in 28 events played and 12 Top 25s.

 

Value Picks-

Ryan Palmer– Palmer is ranked amongst the highest players in this tournament field in Total Strokes Gained at 13th . He is also ranked third in driving distance. A good past couple of years at the Humana with two Top 10s (runner up last year and sixth in 2013) combined with strong showing -10, T17 performance at the Sony Open last week, help make Palmer a top value pick this week.

Bill Haas– Like Chris Kirk, Haas is an incredibly consistent player. In 2014, he made 27 cuts in 28 events, including 17 top 25s. He also has a great track record in the Humana Challenge with three Top 10s, including a 6th last year and was the champion in 2010. Look for him to at least crack the Top 15 this weekend.

 

Sleepers-

Fabian Gomez– Gomez had made Top 25s in each event played in 2015 until last weekend he missed the modified cut at the Sony Open. Gomez is currently ranked number 22 in Total Strokes Gained. We look for a bounceback from Gomez this weekend.

David Hearn- One of our favorite sleepers for all of 2015, Hearn continues to play well and remains undervalued. In six events this season, Hearn has made all six cuts including three Top 25s. He should make another cut at the Humana Challenge and possibly crack the Top 20.

John Peterson– If not for a poor final round 72, Peterson could have easily had a Top 25 and maybe a Top 15. In six events this season, Peterson has made six cuts and two Top 25s. He will offer you a guy who makes the cut and gives you some salary cap relief

Andres Gonzales- So far this 2015 season Gonzales has played very consistenly making five cuts in five events played including a T3 at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. Gonzales has only played in the Humana once before and that was in 2013 when he missed the cut. He will simply be a guy who will save you money toward your salary cap and give you a Top 40 finish.

 

Deep Sleepers:

Kyle Reifers- Call me crazy, but I am going to have this guy on a couple of my rosters. So far in the 2015 season, he has made five of six cuts, including three Top 30s and a T14 at Sanderson Farms. He is extremely cheap on most daily sites and surely will be owned by very few as he missed the cut last week in the Sony Open. He has made one appearance at the Humana and he made the cut, taking 42nd in 2012.

Late added Sleeper:

Since we try our best to get our content out to our premium members as early as possible, sometimes we stumble across players that we may have missed with our initial information.

Ryo Ishikawa–  This is more of a play on daily, as we have noticed the pricing on Ishikawa is extremely low.  In his first three events of the year, Ishikawa has made the Top 30 all three times.  Last year in this event he took 25th.  Ishikawa is currently ranked 10th in Strokes Gained Tee-To-Green.  He is probably not going to win this event, but if he makes another Top 30, he will easily pay off his price.