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Sheshan International Golf Club(West) - Shanghai, China
Par 72, 7,266 Yards
It was a hard fought battle for 22 year old Justin Thomas at the CIMB Classic as he captured his first career PGA Tour win. He shot a tournament record -26 en route to the win and almost seen it slip away on the back 9 Sunday. He put his approach on the 14th hole in the water and came away with a double bogey. He did not let that affect him mentally as he went on to birdie 3 in a row and par the 18th to close out the tournament and avoid a playoff. Adam Scott, switching to a conventional putter, tied for 2nd at the CIMB Classic and proved the transition won't be a hinder to his game at all. Another notable finish was Kevin Na's T3. He has now started the new season with a T2, P2, and T3 and is playing the best golf of his career. The back to back defending champion Ryan Moore finished T10 at the CIMB Classic.
This week the PGA Tour will head to Shanghai, China for the WGC HSBC Champions event. The field will consist of 78 players with four of the top 5 in the world and 12 of the top 20. It will be the best field we will see going forward until the Tour hits Hawaii in January. The course used for this event is the Sheshan International Golf Club. It is a Par 72 that totals 7,266 Yards in length. It is a beautiful course set amid 1000 year old Ginko trees with waterways and bunkers scattered around the course. It is a tough test for the players with all four par 3 holes over 200 yards and par 5's that will not be reachable in 2 for all players. The fairways present tricky doglegs, bunkers, and water making it very important to be accurate off the tee. Also very important this week will be Par 4 and Par 5 Performance where the scoring will take place. Due to the high amount of sand around the greens I will also be looking closely at Sand Save Percentage and as always putting will be important. Below are all the stats being used on the cheatsheet this week.
*Stat rankings are from the 2015 season*
Rory McIlroy
Vegas Odds - 7/1
Draftkings - $12,300
Fantasy Feud - $186,000
The top tier in pricing consists of Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. I am going with McIlroy due to his success here at Sheshan GC. He has played here four times and hasn't finished worse than 6th. Add to it that he is leading the Race to Dubai over on the European Tour, he has a lot more to play for this week than almost any other player. His form is also trending up as he finished 23rd at the Frys.com Open and 6th last week at the Turkish Airlines Open. Look for another strong finish this week. Great play for GPP's but a little too high priced to build a cash lineup around. He didn't record enough rounds on PGA Tour to show up in the stat ranks but I recorded his stats below as a very close estimate.
Kevin Na
Vegas Odds - 29/1
Draftkings - $9,500
Fantasy Feud - $123,000
If you are picking a golfer off of solely recent performance, Kevin Na would be at the top of the list. He has started the new season with a playoff loss for 2nd, a T2 at the Shriners and a T3 this past weekend at the CIMB Classic. He was asked multiple times in interviews the last few weeks if getting close but not winning is affecting him. The answer is no every time. He has remained focused and playing the best golf of his career. He played here last year and finished 20th. Ride the hot streak in any format this week.
Rickie Fowler
Vegas Odds - 17/1
Draftkings - $10,300
Fantasy Feud - $144,000
He cemented himself as one of the games top players during the 2015 season with two wins with the most important of those wins at the PLAYERS Championship. He was top 40 on Tour in SG:T2G, Driving Distance, Sand Save %, and Putting. He opened up the new season two weeks ago at the Shriners with a T25 and will be looking to top that this week in a high caliber field. He is still at a low enough salary where he can be used in cash games and he has the upside to pick up the win as well making him a great GPP option.
Martin Kaymer
Vegas Odds - 34/1
Draftkings - $9,100
Fantasy Feud - $109,000
A really good player who could come in under owned this week as he doesn't make many stops on the PGA Tour throughout the season. He has three wins on Tour and all in the biggest tournaments possible. He won the 2010 PGA Championship and in 2014 he picked up a US Open win and a PLAYERS Championship win. Pretty nice resume for a "part time" player on this tour. He has played here in each of the last 5 years and picked up top 10 finishes in each of the last four including a win in 2012. He should only be used in GPP's this week as he can be up and down but always seems to show up when the field is stacked with the top talent in the world. The below stats are from the European Tour.
Ian Poulter
Vegas Odds - 41/1
Draftkings - $8,600
Fantasy Feud - $102,000
He is a very consistent player and should be used in cash games this week. He only missed four cuts all of 2015 and comes back to a tournament he has owned over the years. In his last 5 trips to the HSBC Champions, Poulter has recorded a 13th, 13th, win, 2nd, and 6th last year. Definitely one of the top horses for the course. He was fairly average statistically last year but really stood out in Par 4 Performance and Putting.
Anirban Lahiri
Vegas Odds - 51/1
Draftkings - $8,300
Fantasy Feud - $81,000
Another European Tour player who makes multiple PGA Tour stops during the year for the WGC events, majors and the occasional regular tour stops. His most notable finish on the PGA Tour was a T5 at last years PGA Championship. He is a fairly long hitter who is average with accuracy but a great GIR player. He will be low owned and much less know than Kaymer making him an even better choice for GPP lineups this week. He can help separate you from the rest of the field while giving you the upside needed to win.
Kevin Kisner
Vegas Odds - 101/1
Draftkings - $7,300
Fantasy Feud - $53,000
He makes a great cash game play as one of the most consistent players on Tour last season. He only missed 7 cuts all year and picked up three runner ups and six top 10's in total and has started this season off with a T25 and T37. He was also very good statistically with a top 50 ranking in SG:T2G, Driving Accuracy, Proximity, Par 5 Performance, and Putting. His salary on DraftKings is also very attractive at $7,300.
Russell Knox
Vegas Odds - 101/1
Draftkings - $7,000
Fantasy Feud - $40,000
In cash games, Knox is the lowest I will go this week. He was top tier statistically in a few categories last season and ended up with a pretty solid year. He picked up two top 5's, three top 10's and made 20 out of 27 cuts. He opened the new season missing the cut at the Frys.com Open but then followed it up with T38 at the Shriners and a T21 last weekend at the CIMB Classic. He is trending in the right direction at a course where his game fits perfectly and his price is depressed. Get some exposure to Knox in cash games and sprinkle him in on a few GPP's as well.
Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for The WGC-HSBC Champions? 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.
WGC-HSBC Champions
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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