Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2015 WGC-HSBC Champions

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the 2015 WGC-HSBC Champions

2015 WGC-HSBC Champions Fantasy Sleeper Preview

The final WGC event of the year is set to kick off in Shanghi, China on Thursday (Wednesday local time) as the PGA and European Tour elite meet at Sheshan International Golf Club behind a strong field.  The course has hosted this tourney in 10 of its 11 installments and features 7,266 yards of par-72 golf which has numerous man-made changes in elevation.

This WGC-HSBC Champions event is big for many different reasons as it is part of the tough WGC series while also being part of the Race for Dubai on the European TOUR.  As a result, 12 of the top-20 players in the World Golf Rankings; including No.2 Jordan Spieth and No.3 Rory McIlroy, will be in attendance.

Also joining the 78-man field will be last year’s victor, Bubba Watson, who is coming off a PGA TOUR season where he finished fifth in the FedExCup standings for the second consecutive campaign.  Last year his win was an exciting one as he was able to hole an eagle out from the sand, forcing Tim Clark into a playoff before defeating him with a long birdie putt on the first hole.

Bubba is one of a long list of impressive names that have taken down the trophy at this event in the past, with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer, Phil Mickelson, and Sergio Garcia all topping the leaderboard since the 2008 season.  With so many top names it’s no surprise that the HSBC Champions typically features a close finish and this year should be no different.  The victor here has taken home money after a margin of victory of one or fewer, including three times going into a playoff, in every installment since 2007.

Getting his first chance at a WGC title will also be World No. 37 Emiliano Grillo who was born in Argentina and has moved into the top-50 of the OWGR after a win at Frys.Com Open to open up the PGA TOUR season.  He is one of two rookies to get their first career win to kick off the 2015-16 season, but the other, Smylie Kauffman, will not make the trip as he does not fit any of the required entry criteria.

Although the field is very deep in this week’s no-cut event, all the players here are extremely talented and can put together four big rounds on any given week.  With that said, there will surely be some who outperform expectations and take a stab at the win come Sunday.  Let’s take a look at a few of those sleepers and long-shots who have a fighting chance in Shanghi for this upcoming tournament.

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2015 WGC-HSBC Champions Fantasy Sleeper Report

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2015 WGC-HSBC Champions Fantasy Sleeper Report

Mix and match these players with your usual rosters (or play them separately) to get the most out of your picks this week.

Anirban Lahiri – Vegas Odds 50/1: Lahiri has yet to make his mark when playing in major events among the world’s elite players, but he certainly knows how to win and has taken down 11 Professional Golf Tour of India events, seven Asia Tour tourneys, and two European Tour victories.  The last two victories both came within the last year, as he won both the Maybank Malaysian Open and Hero Indian Open back in February.  His recent performances have been impressive as well, as he ranked fifth at the Omega European Masters, fifth at the PGA Championship, and seventh at the UBS Hong Kong Open.  He drove the ball for an average of 294.4 yards per on the PGA TOUR last season and has been able to nail 71.1% of GIR on the European TOUR in 2015.  Watch out for the 28-year-old to bust out with some more solid showings on big stages in the near future.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat – Vegas Odds 66/1: Aphibarnrat is another young golfer coming out of first the Asian TOUR and then the European TOUR who will be looking to make his mark among the best in the world in the next few years.  Just as Lahiri has been able to win with general ease in his entered events, Aphibarnrat has earned himself two Asia TOUR wins and three more on the European TOUR—including two in 2015.  He has had some experience in major events, playing at the U.S. Open three times, while failing to make the cut in any of them, and tying for 25th in his one attempt at the PGA Championship.  The 26-year-old will look to use this event to springboard himself higher in the Race for Dubai—in which he currently ranks ninth thanks to a stroke average of 70.75.  Kiradech has ranked fifth or better in each of his last three times out and should continue his hot streak in Shanghi this week.

Daniel Summerhays – Vegas Odds 100/1: Summerhays has had a solid start the new PGA TOUR season, finishing 32nd or better in each of the first three events while tallying two top-16s along the way.  He has hit better than 72% of GIR at each of these previous events and has seen his earnings go up in each successive season since 2011, culminating in a career-best FedExCup standing of 31st as he earned over $1.6 million in 2015.  Much of his success stemmed from gaining the third-most strokes putting on TOUR (0.642) as he had the 30th-best scoring average (70.4).  Summerhays looks to be improving each year and he is due for a win after two runner-up showings in his career.

Luke Donald – Vegas Odds 100/1: Donald is a far cry from the golfer he once was when he ranked as the number one golfer in the world, but he seems to be coming back around after making it to the weekend in 15-of-20 events during the last PGA TOUR season.  Among those made-cuts were two top-10 finishes while he rides a streak of 10 made cuts in a row on the TOUR.  Recently he has shown that he still has some fight left in him with a tie for 12th at the Open Championship back in July and an even more recent tie for fifth at the British Masters.  His short game has kept him going as the majority of his game has declined, and last year he ranked 38th in strokes-gained putting (0.290) while ranking in the top-50 in scrambling (61.14%, 46th on TOUR) and sand save percentage (61.17%, 9th on TOUR).  Watch out for Donald to find some of his former self at this WGC event.

Soren Kjeldsen – Vegas Odds 100/1: Kjeldsen primarily plays on the European TOUR and saw his best years between 2008 and 2010 when he won twice.  In that time he also participated in 9-of-12 major events, making five consecutive cuts during one stretch with his best finish being a tie for sixth at the 2009 PGA Championship.  He didn’t have a professional win since 2009 until his playoff victory at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open back in May of this year.  That victory has vaulted him on to a string of strong performances, playing in 15 tournaments since and putting up three runner-up finishes and another six top-15s.  Just last week he went 12-under-par at the Turkish Airlines Open and netted a tie for 11th.  Kjeldsen is past his prime at the age of 40, but has found a second wind in his career and should be competitive come Sunday.

Need a few more options to fill up your roster?  Remember to check out our new fantasy predictions stats page for Golficity Predicted Fantasy Points, Price Per Fantasy Point, and more info on every player in this week’s field!

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions?  Check out our full fantasy preview for the 2015 WGC-HSBC Champions here.

Cover photo by @europeantour on Instagram