Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2016 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the 2016 Golf World Championships-Bridgestone Invitational from Akron, OH

The 2016 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Fantasy Sleeper Preview

On the heels of an impressive first career win by Billy Hurley III at the Quicken Loans Invitational last week, the top players from around the world converge on the famous Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.  What was once a company course has become one of the most well-known golf venues in the country.  The par 70, 7,400-yard course has hosted the Bridgestone Invitational event for the WGC every year since 1999, and has also hosted three PGA Championships in 1960, 1966, and 1975.

The field is a thin one, as many of the top European golfers are choosing to take their skills to the Open de France instead.  Among those missing this prestigious event from overseas is Rory McIlroy, Masters champion Danny Willett, and the winner of last week’s BMW International Open, Henrik Stenson.  With that said, there will still be a ton of elite talent in Akron, with Official World Golf Rankings No. 1 golfer Jason Day leading the way.

Looking to piggyback off of his recent U.S. Open victory will be No. 3 Dustin Johnson.  He’ll be joined by No. 2 Jordan Spieth to create a formidable trio at the top of the odds.  In all, 40 of the top 50 players in the world will be setting their sites at the big paycheck and FedExCup points earned for taking down this tournament.

They will need to get through last year’s champion, Shane Lowry, in order to do this.  The Irish-born player put his name out there with his first win on the PGA TOUR after winning twice before on the European TOUR.  He has risen to 25^th in the world thanks to that victory and a slew of impressive performances in majors.  He was able to get the job done here in 2015 thanks to a score of 11-under-par as he beat out Bubba Watson by a pair of strokes.  His winning mark was the worst in this tourney since 2008, as the victor in this event took home the trophy with an average score of 14-under from 2009-2014.  There has been only one player who was able to win here more than once since the WGC took over the event back in 1999, and that would be Tiger Woods.  He was able to win the first three years (1999-2001) and then proceeded to win another five times (2005-2007, 2009, 2013) while holding the record with a 21-under-par showing in 2000, where he left runners-up Justin Leonard and Phillip Price in the dust by a ridiculous 11 strokes.

Last week proved once again that you shouldn’t count anyone out of the winner’s circle, as then No. 607 player in the world, Billy Hurley III, beat out the rest of the field in impressive fashion.  The likes of Vijay Singh, Jon Rahm, Ernie Els, and Robert Garrigus also threw their names into contention with top eight finishes.  The players this week have all qualified after either showing they know how to win, or at least consistently be in contention, but there are certainly still plenty who are long shots. Below are a few of those players who could make some noise in the WGC tournament this week.

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The 2016 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Fantasy Sleeper Report

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The 2016 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 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.

Daniel Berger – Vegas Odds 60/1 – Berger had a fantastic rookie season in 2015, with two runner-up finishes among six top-10’s in his 31 starts, but still was very inconsistent, with 14 missed cuts.  He has become a better competitor each week now, though, and is an impressive 16 for 19 (84%) at getting to the weekend.  Among those trips was his first professional win, which came just a few weeks ago at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, where he went 13-under-par thanks to hitting 75% of GIR.  He has not played at Firestone before in his career, but should have no problem putting up a strong showing, as he is strong in nearly all facets of his game.  Berger can get it done off the tee, as with an average drive of 298.8 yards (26^th on TOUR), he has hit 67.01% of GIR (54^th on TOUR), and has gained 0.329 strokes with his flat iron (38^th on TOUR).  His showings at the HSBC Champions (11^th), the Masters (10^th), and THE PLAYERS (9^th) proved he can compete with the best and should do so once again in Akron.

Justin Thomas – Vegas Odds 66/1 – Also making his first visit to Firestone will be Justin Thomas.  Similar to Berger, Thomas also earned his first PGA TOUR win in his second full season on TOUR after taking down the CIMB Classic back in November, and has continued a great season, sitting in eighth in the FedExCup standings.  Coming into this week, Thomas has made the cut in three of his past four outings, and nearly grabbed a victory in THE PLAYERS Championship thanks to a Sunday 65, which put him in third.  He crushes the ball an average of 300 yards off the tee (23^rd on TOUR) and has gained 0.527 strokes when approaching the green (23^rd on TOUR), so long as he puts up a solid putting performance, he should be in contention come Sunday.

David Lingmerth – Vegas Odds 66/1 – Lingmerth has always been a solid performer on the PGA TOUR, but missed 34 cuts over 77 events (44%) between 2013 and 2015.  As his game matures, that ratio has improved.  He is 14-for-18 (78%) in 2016 while nearly picking up his second win in PGA TOUR play with a runner-up week at the CareerBuilder Challenge (he ended up losing in a playoff).  Last year, Lingmerth made his debut at Firestone and played it like he was one of the members there, carding a score of five-under and finishing in sixth place.  He should be able to see a repeat performance thanks to his accurate driver (68.64%, 16^th on TOUR), which has aided him in gaining 0.420 strokes off of the tee (38^th on TOUR).  Lingmerth will look to become the sixth consecutive non-American to take home a WGC trophy as he brings his talents to Ohio.

Harris English –Vegas Odds  80/1 – English has been one of the more consistent golfers on TOUR since 2013, making 80-of-103 (78%) cuts with two victories.  He has not been able to get into the winner’s circle since 2014, but has been a runner-up once in both 2015 and 2016, and looks to finish in the top-35 of the FedExCup standings for the fourth straight season.  English has been in good form of late, with his best showing of the year coming at the end of May in the Dean and Deluca invitational, where he shot 14-under-par after four rounds in the 60’s.  He’s been dominant on the greens in recent events, and that should continue, as he ranks sixth in strokes gained on the short grass (0.662) while also doing well off the tee (296.3 yards per, 38^th on TOUR) over the course of the 2016 campaign.  There are more wins in English’s future, and this week could be a big outing for the 26-year-old.

Charley Hoffman –Vegas Odds 90/1 – Hoffman is often overlooked despite his great performances through the years, and that is the case once again going into this WGC event.  The 39-year-old has four career victories under his belt and has not slowed down as he’s gotten older, with a win coming in each of the past two years.  His 2016 win came at the Valero Texas Open with a score of 12-under, and since then, he has some impressive finishes at both the Zurich Classic (11^th) and the AT&T Byron Nelson (12^th).  Much of his scoring comes from his 0.430 strokes gained off the tee (37^th on TOUR), but his overall game has allowed him to own a scoring average of 70.421 (24^th on TOUR).  Expect Hoffman to improve on his 31^st place here last year and show everyone that he deserves to be here.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions?  Check out our full fantasy preview for the 2016 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational here.

Cover photo via Instagram.