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Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club(West Course) - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Par 72, 6,951 Yards
For a second straight tournament to open the new season a rookie has taken the hardware on Sunday afternoon. It was Smylie Kaufman's turn this past weekend at the Shriners Hospitals for Childrens Open. He shot a closing round 61 to finish 1 stroke ahead of a 6 way tie for 2nd which included 2 other rookies in Patton Kizzire and Brett Stegmaier. Kevin Na was also in the tie for second marking his second consecutive runner up to start the year. It has been an exciting start to the new season and hopefully a sign of things to come for another big PGA Tour season.
This week the PGA Tour makes a stop at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Country Club(West Course) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This will be the third year in a row the CIMB Classic will be played at this course. Kuala Lumpur G & CC is 6,951 yard Par 72 setup that requires accuracy and ball placement to avoid fairway bunkers. Players that have done well here in past two years have been ranked high in Strokes Gained Tee to Green. Other stats I am ranking highly this week are Driving Accuracy, Par 4 & 5 Performance and Strokes Gained Putting. The field will consist of 78 players(60 PGA Tour players, 10 Asian Tour players, & 8 sponsors exemptions) this week and will have no cut on Friday. Below are all the stats being used on the cheatsheet this week.
*Stat rankings are from the 2015 season to start the year*
Henrik Stenson
Vegas Odds - 8/1
Draftkings - $12,100
Fantasy Feud - $180,000
Rickie Fowler didn't payoff his top price last week with a slow start on Thursday resulting in a T25. I feel a lot more confident in Stenson as the top priced guy this week. During the 2015 season he was 2nd in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, 12th in driving accuracy, 1st in GIR, 5th in par 4 performance, and 16th in Strokes Gained Putting. He finished the year strong in the playoffs and should be able to carry it over into the new season. Look for Stenson to be a part of the mix come Sunday. With the high price tag I would reserve him for large field tournaments only.
Kevin Na
Vegas Odds - 15/1
Draftkings - $10,800
Fantasy Feud - $172,000
He has finished runner up in back to back weeks now and has been so close on both occasions. He made it to a playoff two weeks ago but lost with bogey on the second playoff hole. This past week at the Shriners he was 2 holes away form joining Smylie Kauffman in a playoff before bogeying the par 3 17th and finishing in a 6 way tie for second. He is playing good, consistent golf and it's his tee to green game(28th) that has carried him. He is also highly ranked in par 4 and 5 performance as well as a great putter. Look for another solid finish from Na this week. Oh ya, he also finished 2nd at this tournament last season. Wouldn't it be creepy if he was runner up again?
Patrick Reed
Vegas Odds - 19/1
Draftkings - $10,10
Fantasy Feud - $130,000
When looking at this price range I decided to go away from the chalky play in Ryan Moore(won back to back years) and go with a projected lower owned play in Patrick Reed. Vegas has them both at 19-1 this week and while most players will gravitate towards the back to back champ I will take a GPP risk with Reed. He was 41st in SG:T2G, 22nd in Par 4 Perf, 7th in Par 5 Perf, and is one of the best putters on the Tour. I will definitely have some shares of Moore in cash games, but for GPP lineups Reed should come in much lower owned.
Justin Thomas
Vegas Odds - 23/1
Draftkings - $9,600
Fantasy Feud - $123,000
He had a good rookie season in 2015 with 7 top 10 finishes and 23 made cuts out of 30 tournaments played. His future on tour is very bright and it might not take long for him to get a win. He started off this year with a T3 at the Frys.com and seems to have a nice game that fits this course as well. He was ranked 17th in SG:T2G, 15th in driving distance, 27th in GIR, and absolutely crushed par 4's and 5's in his rookie season. At a salary under $10K he is safe in all formats.
Harris English
Vegas Odds - 29/1
Draftkings - $9,100
Fantasy Feud - $116,000
He was one of the most consistent cut makers on tour last season making 24 of 29 cuts including making the cut in each of his last 14 tournaments to close out the season. His upside seems capped with top 20's and top 10's which makes him a perfect cash game play. He has distance off the tee which helps him with his 9th rank in par 5 performance. He is also 70th in GIR, 29th in par 4 performance and top 10 in Strokes Gained Putting. Start your cash games with English and move on.
Daniel Berger
Vegas Odds - 41/1
Draftkings - $8,600
Fantasy Feud - $109,000
He should only be used in GPP lineups this week as he was very inconsistent in his rookie season making just over 50% of the cuts. He did however show some tournament winning upside with 2 runner ups and 6 total top 10 finishes. He also finished the 2015 season string with a T12 at the Tour Championship, 2nd at the BMW Championship, and T12 at the Deutsche Bank. A very positive finish to the season that has already carried over into this season with a T17 at the Frys.com Open. His weakness is putting and if he can keep improving on that part of his game he is going to contend a lot in the near future.
Keegan Bradley
Vegas Odds - 51/1
Draftkings - $7,900
Fantasy Feud - $81,000
One would think that a player ranked 126th in Strokes Gained: Putting wouldn't be very consistent throughout a season. Bradley proved that wrong by only missing 4 cuts all of last season. His 14th rank in Strokes Gained Tee to Green is what carried him through the year. He started off the new season with a missed cut at the Frys.com Open and I can't see him missing two in a row. He played here 2 years ago and finished 10th so he is familiar with the course and has had success here. He makes a great choice in any format.
Stewart Cink
Vegas Odds - 101/1
Draftkings - $7,000
Fantasy Feud - $46,000
He makes a great choice for cash games at a cheap price tag. He was top 10 ranked in GIR and Proximity last season and top 40 in par 4 performance. Last season he made 15 of 23 cuts and started out the new season making the cut and finishing T56 lats weekend at the Shriners Open. He has played here in each of the two years when the CIMB was played at this course and made the cut both times highlighted by a T10 in 2014. Place Cink in your cash game lineups to help reach up for some higher end golfers.
Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for The FRYS.com Open? Chris is selling lineups for only $5. He covers DraftKings and Fantasy Feud. Fill out the form below or click here to purchase using PayPal. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.
FRYS.com Open
Chris Durell has been playing Daily Fantasy Sports for three years and fantasy in general for more than a decade. He is active player in college football, NFL, NBA and of course PGA. He lives in Saskatchewan, Canada with his wife and two daughters. You can follow him on Twitter at @jager_bombs9 for advice, strategy, answers to any PGA questions and how he copes with the winters up north.
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