Fantasy Golf Picks And Predictions For The Omega European Masters

Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions for the Omega European Masters

The 2016 Omega European Masters Fantasy Preview

One of the longest standing events on the European Tour will take center stage this week as the players overseas head to the land of the Swiss for the Omega European Masters. This event dates all the way back to 1905 and has been a part of the European Tour ever since its inception in 1972. The host for this historic golf tourney is the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, a par-70, 6,848-yard which provides some of the most amazing sights seen anywhere at over 5,000 feet above seas level.

The field this year will be led by Masters Champion Danny Willett who is choosing to forgo the Deutsche Bank Championship; ending his season on American soil. He is certainly the favorite going into the week, but there are plenty of golfers to keep an eye on at the top of the odds list in Switzerland. Willett will contend with plenty of talent from his home country in Tyrell Hatton, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Lee Westwood, and Chris Wood as well as some bigger names in Alexander Noren and Bradley Dredge. Miguel Angel Jimenez will also make his way back to Crans Montana with a second career victory here in his sights, first winning on his 22^nd attempt in 2010 with a score of 21-under-par.

Willett was the victor of the tournament in 2015, finishing 17 shots under par and defeating his country mate, Matthew Fitzpatrick, by a single stroke after a mistake-free final round of 65. He will come into this week looking to join Seve Ballesteros (1977, 1978, 1989) as the only players to take home this trophy in consecutive years since it became the Swiss Open in 1972 and would also been in the same group as other multiple winners here; Eduardo Romero (1994, 2000) and Thomas Bjorn (2011, 2013). It would be no surprise to see the Omega Masters come down to a decision in extra holes as it has done so in four of the past nine years.

The European Tour being added to daily fantasy sports sites has opened the door for players to both expand their knowledge about this fantastic sport worldwide while also making some money. Below are a few options to take a hard look at when you are making your lineups for the Omega European Masters.

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The Omega European Masters Fantasy Picks and Predictions

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The Omega European Masters Fantasy Picks

Top Option – Tyrell Hatton – $12,200 – We are going to skip on Willett this week, but not move too far down the line to Hatton. He hails from the same country, but enters this week playing much better with eight made cuts in his last 10 outings. During that stretch he has done just about everything but win at some very difficult events, getting a fifth at the Irish Open, seventh at the BMW PGA Championship, second at the Scottish Open, and consecutive top-10s at the Open Championship and PGA Championship. Not only has he been playing some of the best golf out there right now, but he seems to love this course with a pair of third-place finishes in each of the past two years. Over his last two visits here he has totaled 32 shots below par and was two shots or fewer off the leader each time. We expect the 24-year-old to bring his fourth-best scoring average (70.29) into Switzerland and leave the rest of the field looking up not only at the beautiful mountain ranges, but also him on the leaderboard.

Mid-Tier – Chris Wood – $9,300 – Wood topped a European TOUR leaderboard for the third time in his career at the BMW Championship back in late May and followed that with a trio of top-23 performances. The 2016 rookie to the Ryder Cup team will make his first official start since missing the cut at the PGA Championship and should have no issues getting back on track thanks to his tremendous putter (1.759 putts per GIR, 34^th on TOUR). Many DFS players out there may be off of Wood because of his history here, missing three cuts in his past three visits, but we believe that he has the confidence going in with the recent Ryder Cup announcement and will be out to prove he can compete against the best each and every week.

Mid-Tier – Marcus Fraser – $7,900 – Australian Marcus Fraser is certainly not part of a youth movement at the age of 38, but he is playing some great golf of late and should be coming off the high of a nice showing at the Olympic Games. In Rio, Fraser was able to take on the best the world had to offer and just miss out on a medal with a fifth-place performance thanks to a score of eight-under. He is a golfer who can go off on any given week and that was the case earlier in the year when he took home top honors at the Maybank Championship; his first victory since 2010. His last handful of attempts at the Omega Masters has been a mixed bag as well with a runner-up in 2012 along with a pair of top-20s (2010, 2013) while missing the cut in 2011 and falling apart over the weekend for a 60^th-place last year. Watch for Fraser to navigate this course with his 66.5% driving accuracy (23^rd on TOUR) and put up a nice score when all is said-and-done.

Mid-Tier – Gregory Bourdy – $7,700 – Bourdy is a four-time winner on the European TOUR and has been putting together yet another solid campaign as he sits in 25^th in the Race to Dubai. Much of his success has come on the biggest of stages with nice results at the recent Olympics (21^st), PGA Championship (18^th), and U.S. Open (18^th). Bourdy also has seven top-10s this year as he is on pace for a career season. The Frenchman owns the 18^th best scoring average (71.01) this year thanks in part to an accurate driver (66.4%, 24^th on TOUR) and the ability to hit greens in regulations with frequency (70%, 37^th on TOUR). There haven’t been too many impressive showings by Bourdy here in the past, with his best finish being a 34^th in 2012, but when there’s a hot hand out there, it may be smart to go along for the ride.

Bargain Buy –  Felipe Aguilar – $6,800 – Aguilar has been around for quite a while, but the 41-year-old out of Chile continues to be a competitive golfer despite his age. With four professional victories to his name between the European and Challenge tours, Aguilar knows what it takes to win, and nearly added to that at the Volvo China Open where he was the runner-up after posting a ridiculous score of 19-under-par. Since then he has made it into the money on four of six attempts and was one of the few men in the world lucky enough to compete in the Olympics. He is as accurate as they come with 67.6% of fairways hit (18^th on TOUR) and 70% of greens in regulation (37^th on TOUR) and will look to add to his four cuts made here, including a sixth-place in 2012, over the last six years.

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