Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2021 PLAYERS Championship

The 2021 PLAYERS Championship Fantasy Sleeper Report

Shenanigans ensued as Bryson DeChambeau took aim at the green on the 506-yard Par 5 at Bay Hill over the weekend.

He was never likely to trouble the putting surface, but he got darn close and left himself with a short wedge into the green for an eagle putt.

In the end, Bryson *only* birdied the hole on Saturday and Sunday, but you sense there was yet another shift in the discussion about whether driving distances are ruining golf. You wonder what Arnold Palmer, watching the tournament that bears his name, made of it all.

Embed from Getty Images

In the end, DeChambeau lifted the trophy and slipped into the natty red cardigan – did they have his size ready to go or did they have to order one in special? And it wasn’t necessarily pure length that took him to victory either, as he had a decent week in all departments.

That was Bryson’s eighth PGA TOUR title, and you wonder if another will follow this week at TPC Sawgrass and the PLAYERS Championship.

The route Rory McIlroy took to glory here in 2019 was Bryson-esque – he found less than 60% of fairways, but scrambled like a machine to win by one shot from the rather more conservative Jim Furyk.

And that really sets the scene for the tournament, because there’s more than one way to tame this Pete Dye classic – Webb Simpson, who won’t be winning any long drive contests in the future, is also a former champion, and that shows its different strokes for different folks in Ponte Vedra.

You’ll need a handy short game though, as the postage stamp greens at Sawgrass leave very little margin for error – particularly with the run-off areas shaved so close. Add in more than 80 bunkers, a sizable watery presence and a wind of up to 12mph, and you have a recipe for a dogfight – albeit one where mid-teens under par may still be the winning mark.

It should be a fascinating week, with 48 of the world’s top 50 turning up for golf’s nominal fifth major. There are lots of interesting players to back at odds of 50/1 or greater too, and no shortage of killer fantasy action on FanDuel, so who is on our sleeper shortlist for THE PLAYERS Championship 2021?

[membership level=”0″]

You must be a Premium Member to view our exclusive fantasy golf picks.

Already a member?  Sign in Here.

[/membership]

[membership level=”1,2,3″]

The 2021 PLAYERS Championship Fantasy Sleeper Report

Sungjae Im – 55/1 – We had to do a double take when we saw such lofty odds available on Sungjae Im.

The Korean will surely go on to win many more PGA TOUR titles, and you would assume that it will be on Bermuda – his favorite surface – where many of those will come.

This sort of test could suit too, because his short game is solid enough to take care of business and his iron game, when on song, is outstanding.

He is close to form, with four consecutive finishes between T17 and T32, so maybe its Sawgrass that will spark a more forceful showing.

Joaquin Niemann – 55/1 – When you’re looking at players who are strong with clubs all through the bag, Joaquin Niemann springs to mind.

Okay, so that doesn’t always include the putter, but Niemann has been in form lately – he twice finished runner-up on the Hawaiian Swing – and that came as part of an improvement on the greens.

While the fact he is a debutant this week isn’t helpful, note that Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler all missed the cut at Sawgrass the year prior to their wins.

Niemann is shaping up to be a classy operator on the PGA TOUR, and layouts like Sawgrass offer a great opportunity to strut his stuff.

Adam Scott – 66/1 – It’s the in-out form that sees Adam Scott priced at 66/1 here, and while that is of some concern there is no way that the Australian should be so readily discounted here.

Not many can boast a Sawgrass record quite like this – in his last eight visits, Scott hasn’t missed a cut and has served up six top-20 finishes, and it’s his tee-to-green game that ensures such consistency.

While his putting is mediocre right now, a switch to Bermuda for a guy who has previous in Florida surely won’t harm his chances of a considerable improvement.

Louis Oosthuizen – 70/1 – He was well fancied to go well at the Arnold Palmer last week before a late withdrawal laid rest to those plans, but there is nothing untoward apparently and the South African is good to go.

He’s always somebody that springs to mind in the tougher tests because he is such a classy operator, and Bermuda suits given his extensive experience on the European Tour.

Oosthuizen’s form at Sawgrass is a mixed bag but there is a T2 in there, and with good form not hard to find recently – T6 at the Workday, T11 at the Phoenix Open – we can hope for something similar in 2021.

Sergio Garcia – 80/1 – An impressive showing in the Desert Swing on the European Tour caught the eye from a player who, not many moons ago, was winning the Sanderson Farms Championship.

A return to American soil has not necessarily yielded the results the Spaniard was after, but his ball striking at the WGC Workday was excellent – that was duly noted.

And here’s a guy who does love Sawgrass – in ten trips, he hasn’t missed a single weekend and has delivered three top-10s and three other top-25s.

Sergio’s all around game can sing at Sawgrass.

[/membership]

Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the 2021 PLAYERS Championship here.

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2020-2021)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”1.90%” bar_text=”2 out of 105 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent= “10.47%” bar_text=”11 out of 105 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”27.61%” bar_text=”29 out of 105 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=0%” bar_text=”0 out of 21 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”9.52%” bar_text=”2 out of 21 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”70.47%” bar_text=”74 out of 105 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

---

Cover photo via Instagram