Fantasy Golf Picks & Predictions – D+D REAL Czech Masters

Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions for the D+D REAL Czech Masters

The D+D REAL Czech Masters Fantasy Preview

After a lengthy period of absence dating back to the Open Championship, the European Tour finally returns and enters its final throes with the Race to Dubai in sight.  With ten sanctioned Tour events left in the campaign, there is still plenty of time to pick up the necessary points to qualify, and it is the rather sparsely populated tournaments like the D+D REAL Czech Masters that offer ample opportunity for a high finish.

After a punishing last few weeks and months, it comes as little surprise that many of the Tour favourites have decided to put their feet up this week, and the upshot is that we are left with a particularly thin field to work with in the Czech Republic this week.  Former Tour winners like Andy Sullivan, Matt Fitzpatrick, and the defending champion here, Thomas Pieters, are all worthy of consideration, as are, of course, Lee Westwood and Jamie Donaldson.  Other than that quintet, however, it’s fairly slim pickings.

As mentioned, Pieters is the reigning champion here, and the only other winner in the event’s two-year history has been Jamie Donaldson, so clearly this is a tournament where the cream rises to the top.  Played at the Albatross Golf Resort in Prague, this is a mammoth 7,466-yard stretch that is clearly aligned with the long, straight hitting of Pieters and Donaldson.  All of our picks this week must be able to give it a bunt off the tee to have success here.  The course was designed by Keith Preston back in 2010, with Bentgrass greens running at 12 on the stimp requiring a steady four days with the flatstick.  Last year’s winner, Pieters, ranked first for Putts Per Round, for further evidence.

The test offered by the Albatross Country Club is a tough one.  Despite Pieters smashing it to bits in 2015 to finish -20, 11 of the holes finished above par on average, and it was the four par 5’s that saw some 845 birdies made on them across the four days; more than the the ten par 4’s combined.  With 22 eagles made, playing the par 5 holes in a smart fashion is essential – adding further evidence to our need for a long hitter or two this week.

Pieters’ victory offered us a number of key angles in, and the fact that he ranked first for Putts Per Round and Driving Distance is an indicator of what and who we need in the Czech Republic.  And while he was slightly lacking in Greens in Regulation down at 22nd, Pelle Edberg – who finished second – was first for this metric, so the classic long drive/strong iron play/efficient putting journey is the play.

So who is making the team this week?

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D+D REAL Czech Masters Fantasy Picks and Predictions

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D+D REAL Czech Masters Fantasy Picks

Andy Sullivan – $12,400 –  With a possible Ryder Cup place in his sights, there will be no let up from Andy Sullivan in the coming weeks, and that should augur well for the Nuneaton man if fields continue to be as sparse as this one.

A three-time European Tour winner, Sullivan has enjoyed a phenomenal season that has seen him climb inside the world’s Top 50.  That has been aided by strong form in the majors – T23 in the US Open, T12 in the Open Championship and T49 in the PGA Championship – and if we’re being brutally honest, he thoroughly deserves his place at the head of the betting market and at the top of the DFS roster this week.

Top 10 returns in the Scottish Open, French Open and Dubai Desert Classic highlight his versatility, and an average drive distance of 290 yards highlights why he is well suited to this test.  He is also putting better than at any other time in his career, so if you put those ingredients together – plus the fact he is a proven winner – you could argue that Sullivan is the man to beat in the Czech Republic this week.

Eddie Pepperell – $8,100 –  It’s easy to get behind a guy that’s in good form, has had good results in the Czech Republic before, and who has Race to Dubai points to play for, so we’re happy to support Eddie Pepperell this week.

A run of three cuts made culminated in a T6 at the Kings Cup at the end of July, and having gone two-for-two at the Albatross Club with a T5 in 2014 and T22 last year, Pepperell looks well set for the Czech test.

He’s not particularly accurate off the tee, but hopefully that won’t matter in the agreeable set up here, and an average distance of 286 yards suggests he can get the job done – that went up to a mammoth 326 yards in the Kings Cup.  Hitting two out of three greens in regulation needs improvement, but ranking inside the top ten for both Putts Per Round and Putts Per GIR at the Kings Cup indicates that his flatstick game is working very nicely at the moment.

Pelle Edberg – $7,900 – Another guy who enjoyed success in Thailand was the Swedish veteran Pelle Edberg, who was also T6 alongside Pepperell.

Like the Brit, he has Czech Masters pedigree, too, having finished T2 here last year, and he’s a guy who has a habit of performing well in the same tournaments year on year.  That’s a happy knack this week.

Edberg ranked inside the Top 10 for Driving Distance and Greens in Regulation at the Kings Cup, and he is comfortably inside the Top 50 on the European Tour for these metrics this season, too.  Those are the basic building blocks for success at the Albatross Club.

Edberg has an unfortunate habit of missing cuts, but he does also tend to string good performances back-to-back, so let’s hope his exploits in Thailand are the catalyst for another good week here.

Zander Lombard – $7,700 –  The rest of our line-up consists of three big-hitting South Africans, the first of whom is Zander Lombard.

Lombard has enjoyed plenty of success on the Sunshine Tour, and in his last four starts in European Tour events, has made the cut happily, including at the Open Championship where he fired a first round 69.  T21 at the competitive BMW Championships joins a host of other top performances in 2016, including T5 at the Lyoness Open, second at the Johannesburg Open, and fourth at the Australian PGA Championship, so it’s been a sultry six months or so for the man from Pretoria.

The foundation for a strong showing in the Czech Republic is in place: he ranks 40th on tour for Driving Distance, eighth for Average Putts, and eleventh for Putts Per GIR.  A GIR ratio of 62% is slightly below par, but good form heading into the event should drag that percentage higher.

Haydn Porteous – $7,500 –  The second South African in our draft looks a really smart play this week, and after going one-for-one at the Czech Masters (T60 in 2014), he is playing some of the best golf of his career at the moment.

He played some sublime stuff at the Paul Lawrie Matchplay before departing in the quarter finals, and a T30 at the Open Championship highlights just what a talent this young man is.

A Tour winner this term (Jo’burg Open), Porteous has failed as yet to make a real mark on mainland Europe, but this looks like the perfect place for him to make amends.  This is a guy who burns it off the tee (ranking 16th for Driving Distance), and if you cast your mind back to the Open, you may recall his birdie spree on day one that took him into a temporary lead, so low scoring is not a problem.

He hits greens too, and if his putter is hot, expect Porteous to go close.  He won’t lack in scoring opportunities with his power game, anyway.

Dean Burmester – $6,300 –  The third prong of our South African holy trinity is Burmester, who offers a rather tasty sandwich of ranking first on the European Tour for Driving Distance and an average of 67.6 FPPG for draft managers.  Yummy.

He is an inconsistent fellow, but you expect that at this price point.  Mind you, he has made nine out of ten cuts on Tour this term, and while he is another player who excels in his homeland, a T20 at the Kings Cup shows he can do the business on foreign turf, too.

His GIR stat is up to 68% – wholly respectable, and while his Average Putts Per Round is higher than you might expect, at least the greens at Albatross are easy enough to handle.

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Cover photo via Instagram