Fantasy Golf Preview: The Open Championship
Recap John Deere Classic:
Last week felt like my golf ball got buried in the bunker and I had a ton of lip outs. I only wrote about value picks so I wasn’t expecting the picks to go 100%, but they only went 2 of 4 in made cuts (technically 3 of 5 if you include my Chez Reavie mention). Both of the picks that missed the cut were by one shot only and I think I was one golfer away from the cut falling to -3. It was a disappointing week, but I only played at Draftday. I failed to cash in my two big tournaments there while cashing three times in the $1 double up which resulted in a losing week.
Preview British Open Championship:
This year the tournament will be held at Muirfield Golf Links in East Lothian, Scotland. The course will be playing 7,192 yards to a par 71. Ernie Els is the defending champion after Adam Scott bogeyed the last four holes in regulation to lose the tournament. However, the course rotates year to year, so it is not 100% beneficial to look at previous results of this tournament.
I always dedicate a small paragraph to the weather for every tournament. This week deserves a big one, but the weather is largely unpredictable for the British Open. Weather conditions usually play a HUGE role in determining the Open Champion, especially the Thursday/Friday draws. I HIGHLY suggest looking at the weather forecast for the tournament Wednesday night before you go to bed. There is a possibility I might be doing it wrong, but East Lothian does not show up on weather.com. You will need to view Burwick, United Kingdom to get your info. As of now, it looks like Thursday has the greatest chance of rain at 40%. Winds should be relatively calm with highs in the mid 60s.
I’m mixing up the format this week and will have one golfer I think is underpriced and one that I think is overpriced from each of the various sites. I am including Fanthrowdown even though I don’t play there since it is the British Open. I just signed up for an account.
DraftStreet:
FADE: Branden Grace $15,675 – I had a tough time picking who to fade on Draftstreet. Grace’s price was surely bumped up since he lost in a playoff last week to Mickelson at the Scottish Open. He does have solid finishes on the European Tour but given Grace hasn’t performed well at the British Open and he’s missed four of his last six cuts on the PGA Tour, I think he is the one to fade on Draftstreet.
PICK: Bubba Watson $14,613 – I really can’t believe I am able to get Bubba Watson this cheap. He’s only missed two cuts all year and has seven top 10s in 14 starts on the PGA Tour. Sure he has had some problems with playing in Europe in the past, but Watson has a T23 last year along with a T30 in 2011. For the price, I think he has to be one of the most picked on Draftstreet this week.
DraftDay:
FADE: Sandy Lyle $15,400 – This is absurd. He is retired and only plays in tournaments he really wants to. Granted, he did make the cut in the Masters this year, but shot 81 on Saturday. He is from Scotland, so he has that going for him. But, no one in their right mind should take him as a pick this week. He hasn’t made a cut in his last four British Opens. He has a withdrawal in 2008 and a T65 in 2007. I wouldn’t take him at the minimum price, let alone a solid 2-4 player in your 6man lineup.
PICK: Tiger Woods $20,800 – I don’t think I need to explain this pick. You are either win him or against him. Even non-golf enthusiasts know what is going on with him. He is definitely worth a shot on Fantasy Feud as well and under $21k I think it is a must have on Draftday.
FantasyFeud:
FADE: Kevin Streelman $95,000 – If you plan on taking the highest priced golfers on FantasyFeud, the 90-100k range is probably where you would look next for a couple golfers. I’d advise to stay away from Streelman. He has missed 4 of 5 cuts with a T44 at the John Deere. In his only appearance at the British Open, Streelman missed the cut in 2011.
PICK: Henrik Stenson $109,000 – Stenson has really found his game lately. Since a missed cut at the Wells Fargo, he has four consecutive PGA tour made cuts with the worst finish being a T41 at the Memorial. That stretch includes a T21 at the US Open. Most recently he has a T3 finish at the Scottish Open last week after leading going into the final round. Stenson has performed poorly lately in the British but has a T3 finish in both 2008 and 2010.
Fanthrowdown:
FADE: Ok granted, I know very little about this site. But you have Brian Davis as the most expensive golfer this week? I won’t give 1 auto fade. I will give 8. The first 8 golfers according to salary prices you should avoid. Tiger should be the number 1 cost on any site, but ok I will give you Justin Rose ahead of him since he just won the US Open. Anyone ahead of them in price is laughable. Any of the first 8 might perform well, but it clearly isn’t worth the risk. Even Chez Reavie is listead ahead of them (come on, you know I have to mention him at least once in the blog).
PICK: Adam Scott – I’m really not big on Adam Scott this week. His performance since the Masters has been falling week by week. However, he doesn’t play many weeks. It is hard to gauge him. He finished runner up here last year after bogeying the final four holes, as I mentioned earlier. There clearly aren’t 35 players better than him in this field and he is the 36th priced golfer on Fanthrowdown. It seems like an easy pick to me.
Good luck this week. I will be away so I won’t be able to check for withdrawals, but there shouldn’t be any given a major unless it is serious. Please check Wednesday night.